Matthew "Matt" Cook (born 1969) is a social and cultural historian specializing in LGBTQ and queer history. Since October 2023, he has served as the Jonathan Cooper Chair of the History of Sexuality at Mansfield College,

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

. The appointment makes him the UK's first professor of

LGBTQ+ history LGBTQ history dates back to the first recorded instances of same-sex love, diverse gender identities, and sexualities in ancient civilizations, involving the history of lesbian, Gay men, gay, bisexuality, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LG ...

. Cook was educated at a state secondary school in

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation ''Staffs''.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, ...

and received his BA from the

University of Sheffield The University of Sheffield (informally Sheffield University or TUOS) is a public university, public research university in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. Its history traces back to the foundation of Sheffield Medical School in 1828, Fir ...

and his MA and PhD from

Queen Mary University of London Queen Mary University of London (QMUL, or informally QM, and formerly Queen Mary and Westfield College) is a public university, public research university in Mile End, East London, England. It is a member institution of the federal University ...

. He then served as a lecturer at

Keele University Keele University is a Public university#United Kingdom, public research university in Keele, approximately from Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, England. Founded in 1949 as the University College of North Staffordshire, it was granted uni ...

from 2002 to 2005. He went on to teach for 18 years at

Birkbeck College Birkbeck, University of London (formally Birkbeck College, University of London), is a public research university located in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. Established in 1823 as the London Mechanics' ...

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

, where he ultimately was named professor of

modern history The modern era or the modern period is considered the current historical period of human history. It was originally applied to the history of Europe and Western history for events that came after the Middle Ages, often from around the year 1500, ...

and head of the Department of History, Classics and Archaeology. While at Birkbeck he also directed the Raphael Samuel History Centre. Cook worked with the

National Trust The National Trust () is a heritage and nature conservation charity and membership organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Trust was founded in 1895 by Octavia Hill, Sir Robert Hunter and Hardwicke Rawnsley to "promote the ...

in 2017 on their Prejudice and Pride programme and co-authored its associated guidebook. He has also advised on archival projects related to the history of gender and sexuality, including

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, a battlefield, medieval castles, Roman forts, historic industrial sites, Lis ...

's Pride of Place and the Pitt Rivers Museum's Beyond the Binary. He is a series editor of the Queer and Trans Histories series at

Manchester University Press Manchester University Press is the university press of the University of Manchester, England, and a publisher of academic books and journals. Manchester University Press has developed into an international publisher. It maintains its links with t ...

and an editor of ''

History Workshop Journal The ''History Workshop Journal'' is a British academic history journal published by Oxford University Press. ''History Workshop'' was founded in 1976 by Raphael Samuel and others involved in the History Workshop movement. Originally sub-titled " ...

''.

Personal life

Cook is gay. He has three children.

Selected publications

*''London and the Culture of Homosexuality, 1885–1914'' (Cambridge:

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press was the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted a letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it was the oldest university press in the world. Cambridge University Press merged with Cambridge Assessme ...

, 2003). *''A Gay History of Britain: Love and Sex Between Men Since the Middle Ages'' (Oxford: Greenwood, 2007); editor and lead author. *''Queer 1950s: Rethinking Sexuality in the Post-War Years'' (Basingstoke:

Palgrave Macmillan Palgrave Macmillan is a British academic and trade publishing company headquartered in the London Borough of Camden. Its programme includes textbooks, journals, monographs, professional and reference works in print and online. It maintains offi ...

, 2012); co-editor with Heike Bauer. *''Queer Cities, Queer Cultures: Sexuality and Urban Life in Post-1945 Europe'' (London: Continuum, 2014); co-editor with Jennifer Evans. *''Queer Domesticities: Homosexuality and Home Life in Twentieth-Century London'' (London: Palgrave, 2014). *''Prejudice & Pride: Celebrating LGBTQ Heritage'' (London:

, 2017); co-author with Alison Oram. *''Queer Beyond London: LGBTQ Stories from Four English Cities'' (Manchester:

, 2022); co-author with Alison Oram.

References

Living people 1969 births Academics of Birkbeck, University of London Academics of Keele University Historians of LGBTQ topics Historians of London Fellows of Mansfield College, Oxford Alumni of the University of Sheffield Alumni of Queen Mary University of London Historians of the University of Oxford Fellows of the Royal Historical Society 21st-century English male writers 21st-century English historians English gay writers Writers from Staffordshire British gender studies academics History journal editors {{UK-historian-stub