Sir Hamilton Alexander Rosskeen Gibb (2 January 1895 – 22 October 1971), known as H. A. R. Gibb, was a Scottish historian and Orientalist.

Early life and education

Gibb was born on Wednesday, 2 January 1895, in

Alexandria Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...

, Egypt, to Alexander Crawford Gibb, the son of John Gibb of Gladstone, Renfrewshire, Scotland, and Jane Ann Gardner of

Greenock Greenock (; ; , ) is a town in Inverclyde, Scotland, located in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. The town is the administrative centre of Inverclyde Council. It is a former burgh within the historic county of Renfrewshire, and forms ...

, Scotland. His father died in 1897, following which his mother took up a teaching position in Alexandria. Hamilton returned to Scotland for his formal education at the age of five: first, four years of private tuition, after which he started at the Royal High School, Edinburgh in 1904, staying until 1912. His education was focused on

classics Classics, also classical studies or Ancient Greek and Roman studies, is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, ''classics'' traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek literature, Ancient Greek and Roman literature and ...

, though it included French, German, and

physical sciences Physical science is a branch of natural science that studies non-living systems, in contrast to life science. It in turn has many branches, each referred to as a "physical science", together is called the "physical sciences". Definition ...

. In 1912, Hamilton matriculated at

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

, joining the new honours program in

Semitic languages The Semitic languages are a branch of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. They include Arabic, Amharic, Tigrinya language, Tigrinya, Aramaic, Hebrew language, Hebrew, Maltese language, Maltese, Modern South Arabian language ...

(

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

, and

Aramaic Aramaic (; ) is a Northwest Semitic language that originated in the ancient region of Syria and quickly spread to Mesopotamia, the southern Levant, Sinai, southeastern Anatolia, and Eastern Arabia, where it has been continually written a ...

). Hamilton's mother died in 1913 while he was studying in his second year at university. He had two brothers, Euston Gibb and Archibald Gibb.(family knowledge)

Military service

During

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, Gibb broke off his studies at the

to serve for the

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

of the United Kingdom in France from February 1917 and for several months in Italy as a

commissioned officer An officer is a person who holds a position of authority as a member of an armed force or uniformed service. Broadly speaking, "officer" means a commissioned officer, a non-commissioned officer (NCO), or a warrant officer. However, absent ...

. He was commissioned at the age of 19. He was awarded a "war privilege" undergraduate Master of Arts (MA) because of his service until the

Armistice of 11 November 1918 The Armistice of 11 November 1918 was the armistice signed in a railroad car, in the Compiègne Forest near the town of Compiègne, that ended fighting on land, at sea, and in the air in World War I between the Entente and their las ...

Academic career

After the war Gibb studied Arabic at

SOAS University of London The School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS University of London; ) is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the federal University of London. Founded in 1916, SOAS is located in the Bloomsbury area ...

, gaining his

postgraduate Postgraduate education, graduate education, or graduate school consists of academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications usually pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate (bachelor' ...

MA in 1922. His MA thesis, published later by the

Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland The Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, commonly known as the Royal Asiatic Society, was established, according to its royal charter of 11 August 1824, to further "the investigation of subjects connected with and for the encourag ...

as a monograph, was on the

Muslim conquest of Transoxiana The Muslim conquest of Transoxiana, also called the Arab conquest of Transoxiana, was part of the early Muslim conquests. It began shortly after the Muslim conquest of Persia enabled the Arabs to enter Central Asia. Relatively small-scale incur ...

. From 1921 to 1937 Gibb taught Arabic literature at the then School of Oriental Studies, guided by Professor Thomas Arnold, becoming a professor there in 1930."H.A.R. Gibb," ''

Great Soviet Encyclopedia The ''Great Soviet Encyclopedia'' (GSE; , ''BSE'') is one of the largest Russian-language encyclopedias, published in the Soviet Union from 1926 to 1990. After 2002, the encyclopedia's data was partially included into the later ''Great Russian Enc ...

'', 3rd Edition (1970–1979). During this time he was an editor of the ''

Encyclopaedia of Islam The ''Encyclopaedia of Islam'' (''EI'') is a reference work that facilitates the Islamic studies, academic study of Islam. It is published by Brill Publishers, Brill and provides information on various aspects of Islam and the Muslim world, Isl ...

''. Among his students was the British Arabist and Reader in Arabic, James Heyworth-Dunne. In 1937 Gibb succeeded David Samuel Margoliouth as Laudian Professor of Arabic with a Fellowship at

St John's College, Oxford St John's College is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded as a men's college in 1555, it has been coeducational since 1979.Communication from Michael Riordan, college archivist Its foun ...

, where he stayed for eighteen years. In 1955, Gibb became the James Richard Jewett Professor of Arabic and University Professor at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

. He became director of the Center for Middle East Studies in 1957, and retired in 1963. H. A. R. Gibb was one of the trustees of the E. J. W. Gibb Memorial, an organisation which since 1905 has published the Gibb Memorial Series.

Research

Gibb worked in three areas, Arabic literature and language, Islamic history and institutions, and Islam. After ''The Arab Conquests in Central Asia,'' his first major work was ''Arabic Literature – An Introduction'' (1926). His most important work on Islam was ''Modern Trends in Islam'' (1947) and ''Mohammedanism: An Historical Survey'' (1949), later republished as ''Islam: An Historical Survey''. One of his major late works was ''Studies on the Civilization of Islam'' (1962),

Personal life

Also in 1922 Gibb married Helen Jessie Stark. They had one son, Ian (1923–2005), and one daughter, Dorothy (1926–2006, now Dorothy Greenslade). Gibb died on 22 October 1971.

Associations

* Fellow of

British Academy The British Academy for the Promotion of Historical, Philosophical and Philological Studies is the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and the social sciences. It was established in 1902 and received its royal charter in the sa ...

, Danish Academy,

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...

* Honorary fellow of

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...

Medieval Academy of America The Medieval Academy of America (MAA; spelled Mediaeval until ) is the largest organization in the United States promoting the field of medieval studies. It was founded in 1925 and is based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The academy publishes the q ...

* Member of Academy of the Arabic Language in Cairo, Institut d'Egypte (Associate Member), Arab Academy of Damascus (Honorary), Iraqi Academy of Sciences

Bibliography

* ''The Arab Conquests in Central Asia'' (1923), The Royal Asiatic Society. * ''Arabic Literature – An Introduction'' (Oxford University Press, H. Milford, 1926; new edition, Clarendon Press, 1963; Oxford Paperbacks edition, Oxford University Press, 1974). * ''

Ibn Batuta Ibn Battuta (; 24 February 13041368/1369), was a Maghrebis, Maghrebi traveller, explorer and scholar. Over a period of 30 years from 1325 to 1354, he visited much of Africa, the Middle East, Asia and the Iberian Peninsula. Near the end of his ...

, 1304–1377'
''Travels in Asia and Africa 1325-I354''
trans. and selected by Gibb, Hamilton Alexander Roskeen (London: Routledge, 1929), ().
''Travels in Asia and Africa, 1325–1354''
(1929), translated and selected with an introduction and notes, R. M. McBride.

(1939), from Arnold J. Toynbee, ''

A Study of History A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, and others worldwide. Its name in English is '' a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes''. It is similar in shape to the Ancient ...

'', Part I. ''C'' I (''b'') ''Annex I'', p. 400-02. * ''Modern Trends in Islam'' (1947). * '' Mohammedanism: An Historical Survey'' (1949) retitled ''Islam: An Historical Survey'' (1980), Oxford. * ''Islamic Society and the West'' with Harold Bowen (vol. 1 1950, vol. 2 1957). * ''Shorter Encyclopedia of Islam'' (1953), edited with J. H. Kramers, Brill. * '' The Encyclopaedia of Islam'' (1954– ), new ed. Edited by a number of leading orientalists, including Gibb, under the patronage of the International Union of Academies. Leiden: Brill, along with that edited by J. H. Kramers, and E. Levi-Provençal. * "Islamic Biographical Literature," (1962) in ''Historians of the Middle East'', eds.

Bernard Lewis Bernard Lewis, (31 May 1916 – 19 May 2018) was a British-American historian specialized in Oriental studies. He was also known as a public intellectual and political commentator. Lewis was the Cleveland E. Dodge Professor Emeritus of Near ...

and P. M. Holt, Oxford U. Press. * ''Studies on the Civilization of Islam'' (1962), Princeton U. Press * ''The Damascus Chronicle of the Crusades. Extracted and translated from the Chronicle of ibn al-Qalānisi'', Luzac & Company, London, 1932.

Citations

External links

Harvard Library: Gibb Islamic Seminar Library

Hamilton Alexander Rosskeen Gibb Papers, Harvard University ArchivesWorks by Hamilton Alexander Rosskeen Gibb
at

Project Gutenberg Project Gutenberg (PG) is a volunteer effort to digitize and archive cultural works, as well as to "encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks." It was founded in 1971 by American writer Michael S. Hart and is the oldest digital li ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gibb, Hamilton Alexander Rosskeen 1895 births 1971 deaths 20th-century British historians People educated at the Royal High School, Edinburgh Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Scottish Arabists Scottish orientalists Historians of Central Asia British Army personnel of World War I British expatriates in Egypt Fellows of St John's College, Oxford Fellows of the British Academy Harvard University faculty British historians of Islam Knights Bachelor People from Alexandria Royal Artillery officers Scottish expatriates in the United States Scottish scholars and academics Laudian Professors of Arabic Arabic–English translators Members of the Academy of the Arabic Language in Cairo Members of the American Philosophical Society