Kenneth John McCracken (1 July 1938 – 23 October 2017) was a British historian and Africanist. He was known particularly for his works on the

history of Malawi The History of Malawi covers the area of present-day Malawi. The region was once part of the Maravi Empire (Maravi was a kingdom which straddled the current borders of Malawi, Mozambique, and Zambia, in the 16th century). In colonial times, t ...

Biography

John McCracken was born in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

, Scotland, on 1 July 1938. He was educated at

Sedbergh School Sedbergh School is a public school (English independent day and boarding school) in the town of Sedbergh in Cumbria, in North West England. It comprises a junior school for children aged 4 to 13 and the main school for 13 to 18 year olds. It ...

and later studied at

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge founded by the Tudor matriarch Lady Margaret Beaufort. In constitutional terms, the college is a charitable corporation established by a charter dated 9 April 1511. Th ...

, where he became interested in African history. He undertook a PhD at Cambridge under the supervision of

Ronald Robinson Ronald "Robbie" Edward Robinson, FBA (3 September 1920 – 19 June 1999) was a distinguished historian of the British Empire who between 1971 and 1987 held the Beit Professorship of Commonwealth History at the University of Oxford. After school ...

, focussing on

Church of Scotland The Church of Scotland ( sco, The Kirk o Scotland; gd, Eaglais na h-Alba) is the national church in Scotland. The Church of Scotland was principally shaped by John Knox, in the Scottish Reformation, Reformation of 1560, when it split from t ...

missions in colonial Malawi. While still a doctoral student, in 1964 McCracken left for Africa. He took up a teaching post at University College of Rhodesia and Nyasaland in

Salisbury Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath. Salisbury is in the southeast of Wil ...

Southern Rhodesia Southern Rhodesia was a landlocked self-governing British Crown colony in southern Africa, established in 1923 and consisting of British South Africa Company (BSAC) territories lying south of the Zambezi River. The region was informally k ...

(now Harare,

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

) and was present at the celebrations of Malawian independence in July 1964. After

Rhodesia's Unilateral Declaration of Independence Rhodesia's Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI) was a statement adopted by the Cabinet of Rhodesia on 11 November 1965, announcing that Southern Rhodesia or simply Rhodesia, a British Overseas Territories, British territory in souther ...

in 1965, he left the country to teach at the new history department in the

University of Dar es Salaam The University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM) is a public university in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. It was established in 1961 as an affiliate college of the University of London. The university became an affiliate of the University of East Africa (UEA) in 1 ...

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands ...

. There he completed his doctorate, which was subsequently published as ''Politics and Christianity in Malawi, 1875–1940'' (1977). He acquired a reputation as one of the leading historians of

Christianity in Africa Christianity in Africa first arrived in Egypt in approximately 50 AD, reached the region around Carthage by the end of the second century. In the 4th century, the Aksumite empire in modern-day Ethiopia and Eritrea became one of the first regions ...

. While in Tanzania, McCracken's wife Jane Purkis was killed in a car accident only ten months after their marriage. McCracken returned to Britain in 1968 in order to take up a post at the

University of Stirling The University of Stirling (, gd, Oilthigh Shruighlea (abbreviated as Stir or Shruiglea, in post-nominals) is a public university in Stirling, Scotland, founded by royal charter in 1967. It is located in the Central Belt of Scotland, built ...

, founded the previous year, where he remained for most of his academic career. He published a number of well-received articles and chapters on the social, economic, and political history of Malawi as well as

environmental history Environmental history is the study of human interaction with the natural world over time, emphasising the active role nature plays in influencing human affairs and vice versa. Environmental history first emerged in the United States out of th ...

. He remarried in 1972. McCracken left Stirling briefly between 1980 and 1983 to take up a senior post at the

University of Malawi The University of Malawi (UNIMA) is a public university established in 1965 and until 4 May 2021, when the university underwent a delinking, was composed of four constituent colleges located in Zomba, Blantyre, and Lilongwe. Of the four colleges, ...

. He also served as president of the

African Studies Association of the United Kingdom The African Studies Association of the United Kingdom (ASAUK) formed in 1963 "to advance African studies, particularly in the United Kingdom, by providing facilities for the interchange of information and ideas and the co-ordination of activities ...

(ASAUK) between 1990 and 1992. He retired from teaching in 2002. After his retirement McCracken continued to work on Malawian history, publishing several further monographs including ''A History of Malawi, 1859–1966'' (2012) and ''Voices from the Chilembwe Rising'' (2015). He died on 23 October 2017. A posthumous ''

festschrift In academia, a ''Festschrift'' (; plural, ''Festschriften'' ) is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during their lifetime. It generally takes the form of an edited volume, containing contributions from the ...

'', entitled ''Politics, Christianity and Society in Malawi'', was published in his honour in 2020.

Citations

References

External links

Dr John McCracken has Passed Away
at the Centre for African Studies (

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

) {{DEFAULTSORT:McCracken, John British historians of religion Scottish Africanists Historians of Malawi 1938 births 2017 deaths Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge Academic staff of the University of Zimbabwe Academic staff of the University of Dar es Salaam Academics of the University of Stirling Academic staff of the University of Malawi Academics from Edinburgh Historians of Christianity People educated at Sedbergh School 20th-century Scottish historians 21st-century Scottish historians Presidents of the African Studies Association of the United Kingdom