John Baptist Wolf (July 16, 1907 – April 22, 1996) was an American historian, specializing in modern European history.

Life

Born in Ouray,

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

, on July 16, 1907, Wolf was the son of a German immigrant. Wolf received his B.A. and M.A. from the

University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: the University of Colorado Boulder, the University of Colorado Colorado Springs, the University of Colorado Denver, and the U ...

, then attended

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

, before entering the doctoral program at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

. He received his doctorate in 1934 for a dissertation on the diplomatic history of the

Baghdad Railway Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...

, published in 1936. Wolf began his teaching career at the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou or MU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri, United States. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Univers ...

in 1934, remaining there until 1943, when he took a position at the

. In 1966 he moved to the University of Illinois, Chicago Circle, retiring in 1974 as

professor emeritus ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retirement, retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". ...

. Wolf died of

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia; pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and produce high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or '' ...

on April 22, 1996 while living in a retirement community located near Syracuse. Writing his obituary (''AHA Perspectives'' Dec. 1996), two of his students, Joseph Klaits and John T. O'Connor, recalled "his wit, passion for history, and zest for life" that stimulated his classes.

Work

Wolf published a number of important books, including ''France, 1815 to the Present'' (1940), ''The Emergence of the Great Powers (1685–1715)'' (1951), ''Toward a European Balance of Power (1640–1720)'' (1969). His most important study was the major biography, ''Louis XIV'' (1968).It is online a
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In retirement Wolf published ''The Barbary Coast: Algiers under the Turks, 1500-1730'' (1979), which was translated into Arabic. He was twice a fellow of the

John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation The John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation is a private foundation formed in 1925 by Olga and Simon Guggenheim in memory of their son, who died on April 26, 1922. The organization awards Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are Gr ...

, first in Paris (1959–60), then in Madrid (1967–68). For his work in French history, Wolf was decorated as a Chevalier des Palmes Académiques by the French government in 1979. He was also president of the Society for French Historical Studies (1968–69).

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wolf, John Baptist 1907 births 1996 deaths University of Minnesota alumni University of Missouri faculty Historians of Europe 20th-century American historians American male non-fiction writers People from Ouray, Colorado Royal biographers 20th-century American male writers