Leonhard Harding
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Leonhard Harding (born September 14, 1936, in
Paderborn Paderborn (; Westphalian language, Westphalian: ''Patterbuorn'', also ''Paterboärn'') is a city in eastern North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, capital of the Paderborn (district), Paderborn district. The name of the city derives from the river Pade ...
) is a German historian and scholar in African studies.


Biography

Leonhard Harding attended elementary school in Paderborn for four years. From 1948 to 1956 he attended high schools in
Rietberg Rietberg () is a town in the district of Gütersloh in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located approximately 10 km south of Gütersloh and 25 km north-west of Paderborn in the region Ostwestfalen-Lippe. The town is l ...
and
Großkrotzenburg Großkrotzenburg is a municipality in the Main-Kinzig district, in Hesse, Germany. It has a population of around 7,500. The town is mainly known for its swimming lake and its Großkrotzenburg Power Station, coal-fired power station. Geography Lo ...
. In 1956 the matriculation examination followed. He studied philosophy for four semesters at the philosophical college of the
White Fathers The White Fathers (), officially known as the Missionaries of Africa (), and abbreviated MAfr, are a Roman Catholic society of apostolic life of pontifical right (for men). They were founded in 1868 by Charles-Martial Allemand-Lavigerie, who w ...
in
Trier Trier ( , ; ), formerly and traditionally known in English as Trèves ( , ) and Triers (see also Names of Trier in different languages, names in other languages), is a city on the banks of the Moselle (river), Moselle in Germany. It lies in a v ...
. From 1959 to 1963 he studied Catholic theology and history of missions in
Leuven Leuven (, , ), also called Louvain (, , ), is the capital and largest City status in Belgium, city of the Provinces of Belgium, province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located about east of Brussels. The municipalit ...
. In 1963 he began studying history at the
Saarland University Saarland University (, ) is a public research university located in Saarbrücken, the capital of the German state of Saarland. It was founded in 1948 in Homburg in co-operation with France and is organized in six faculties that cover all major ...
. In 1965 he passed the secondary school teacher examination for history. Then he went to
Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...
. From 1969 he was a student at the
Free University of Berlin The Free University of Berlin (, often abbreviated as FU Berlin or simply FU) is a public university, public research university in Berlin, Germany. It was founded in West Berlin in 1948 with American support during the early Cold War period a ...
. Under the direction of :de:Franz Ansprenger (1927–2020), he dealt with problems in Africa's colonial history. In 1972 he received his doctorate from Ansprenger at the Free University of Berlin with a thesis on ''French religious policy in West Africa''. In it he examined the French religious policy in the colony "Soudan Français", the area of today's states
Burkina Faso Burkina Faso is a landlocked country in West Africa, bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the south, and Ivory Coast to the southwest. It covers an area of 274,223 km2 (105,87 ...
,
Mali Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the List of African countries by area, eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of over . The country is bordered to the north by Algeria, to the east b ...
and
Niger Niger, officially the Republic of the Niger, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is a unitary state Geography of Niger#Political geography, bordered by Libya to the Libya–Niger border, north-east, Chad to the Chad–Niger border, east ...
. Harding worked at the African Politics Office at the Free University of Berlin. From 1981 to 2001, Harding taught as a professor of African history at the Historical Seminar of the
University of Hamburg The University of Hamburg (, also referred to as UHH) is a public university, public research university in Hamburg, Germany. It was founded on 28 March 1919 by combining the previous General Lecture System ('':de:Allgemeines Vorlesungswesen, ...
. Harding established intensive cooperation with African universities and research institutions. From 1980 to 1982 he organized an international research project on Commerce and Traders in West Africa: Senegal and Ivory Coast (19th and 20th Century). African professors and doctoral students were regularly in Hamburg. Hamburg students and postgraduates travelled to various African countries for study and research purposes under his supervision. Through his long tenure, Harding helped Hamburg develop into a leading centre for teaching and research on the history of Africa in Germany. In 1998, Harding, together with three other Hamburg historians, successfully opposed the discriminatory treatment of foreign, especially African, guest professors by the immigration authorities, which endangered the international reputation of Hamburg as a science location. From 2008 to 2014, Harding was lecturer in African history at the
University of Cologne The University of Cologne () is a university in Cologne, Germany. It was established in 1388. It closed in 1798 before being re-established in 1919. It is now one of the largest universities in Germany with around 45,187 students. The Universit ...
. Harding's research focus is the
History of Africa Archaic humans Out of Africa 1, emerged out of Africa between 0.5 and 1.8 million years ago. This was followed by the Recent African origin of modern humans, emergence of anatomically modern humans, modern humans (''Homo sapiens'') in East A ...
, in particular the economic and social history of
West Africa West Africa, also known as Western Africa, is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations geoscheme for Africa#Western Africa, United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Gha ...
, the intellectual and cultural history of West Africa, the
Kingdom of Benin The Kingdom of Benin, also known as Great Benin, is a traditional kingdom in southern Nigeria. It has no historical relation to the modern republic of Benin, which was known as Dahomey from the 17th century until 1975. The Kingdom of Benin's c ...
and conflicts in
Central Africa Central Africa (French language, French: ''Afrique centrale''; Spanish language, Spanish: ''África central''; Portuguese language, Portuguese: ''África Central'') is a subregion of the African continent comprising various countries accordin ...
. He authored a well-known introduction to the study of African history, which was published in 1992. In 1999 he published an event- and problem-oriented overview for a first introduction to the history of Africa in the 19th and 20th centuries.See the review by Ralph Erbar in: ''Historische Zeitschrift'', vol. 271, 2000, pp. 494–495. One of Harding's most important academic students is :de:Andreas Eckert. After Harding retired in 2002, Eckert became his successor as Professor of African History at the
University of Hamburg The University of Hamburg (, also referred to as UHH) is a public university, public research university in Hamburg, Germany. It was founded on 28 March 1919 by combining the previous General Lecture System ('':de:Allgemeines Vorlesungswesen, ...
(2002–2007) before the latter moved in 2007 teaching on the history of Africa at the
Humboldt University of Berlin The Humboldt University of Berlin (, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin, Germany. The university was established by Frederick William III on the initiative of Wilhelm von Humbol ...
.


Publications (selection)


''Le retrait de la France du Mali : un échec militaire et politique ?''
WP,
academia.edu Academia.edu is a commercial platform for sharing academic research that is uploaded and distributed by researchers from around the world. All academic articles are free to read by visitors, however uploading and downloading articles is restrict ...
, 8 May 2022 (accessed: 25 March 2022)
''Le Cameroun par les sources: Le début de la servitude. Le Cameroun sous domination allemande''
WP,
academia.edu Academia.edu is a commercial platform for sharing academic research that is uploaded and distributed by researchers from around the world. All academic articles are free to read by visitors, however uploading and downloading articles is restrict ...
, 7 December 2017 (accessed: 25 March 2023) * ''Geschichte Afrikas im 19. und 20. Jahrhundert''.vol. 27, 3. ed, Oldenbourg, Munich, 2013, . * ''Das Königreich Benin. Geschichte – Kultur – Wirtschaft.'' Oldenbourg, Munich, 2010, . * ''Einführung in das Studium der afrikanischen Geschichte'' (= ''Hamburger Studien zur afrikanischen Geschichte.'' vol. 4). Lit, Münster u. a. 1992, . * ''Die Politik der Republik Südafrika. Eine Strategie der regionalen Kooperation'' (= ''Entwicklung und Frieden.'' Bd. 6). Kaiser Verlag u. a., Munich u. a. 1975, . * ''Französische Religionspolitik in Westafrika. „Soudan Français“ 1895–1920.'' Berlin (West), Free University, Doctoral Thesis, 1972.


References


External links

*
Harding's page at the University of Cologne

Leonhard Harding
academia.edu Academia.edu is a commercial platform for sharing academic research that is uploaded and distributed by researchers from around the world. All academic articles are free to read by visitors, however uploading and downloading articles is restrict ...

Leonhard Harding
ResearchGate ResearchGate is a European commercial social networking site for scientists and researchers to share papers, ask and answer questions, and find collaborators. According to a 2014 study by ''Nature'' and a 2016 article in ''Times Higher Education' ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harding, Leonhard 1936 births Living people German historians African studies Academic staff of the University of Hamburg Saarland University alumni Academic staff of the University of Cologne Free University of Berlin alumni