Colin Nicholas Jocelyn Mann,

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

, FBA (usually Nicholas or Nico Mann) (born 24 October 1942) is a scholar of Italian humanism, and especially of

Petrarch Francis Petrarch (; 20 July 1304 – 19 July 1374; ; modern ), born Francesco di Petracco, was a scholar from Arezzo and poet of the early Italian Renaissance, as well as one of the earliest Renaissance humanism, humanists. Petrarch's redis ...

. He was director of the

Warburg Institute The Warburg Institute is a research institution associated with the University of London in central London, England. A member of the School of Advanced Study, its focus is the study of cultural history and the role of images in culture – cros ...

from 1990 to 2001. He is now an

emeritus ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who 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". In some c ...

professor in the

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 ...

Early life and education

Mann was born in

Salisbury Salisbury ( , ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers River Avon, Hampshire, Avon, River Nadder, Nadder and River Bourne, Wi ...

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated to Wilts) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the north-east, Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorset to the south, and Somerset to ...

. He read modern languages and literature at

King's College, Cambridge King's College, formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, is a List of colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college lies beside the River Cam and faces ...

, and completed his PhD there in 1965.

Career

Following his formal education, Mann was a fellow at

Clare College Clare College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. The college was founded in 1326 as University Hall, making it the second-oldest surviving college of the University after Peterhouse. It was refounded ...

from 1965 to 1967. In 1967 he took up a lectureship at the

University of Warwick The University of Warwick ( ; abbreviated as ''Warw.'' in post-nominal letters) is a public research university on the outskirts of Coventry between the West Midlands and Warwickshire, England. The university was founded in 1965 as part of ...

, where he remained until 1972. In 1972 he went to

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

, where he became a visiting fellow at All Souls in that year, and subsequently a fellow and tutor at Pembroke from 1973. While at Pembroke, Mann took on various roles, including the role as Dean of Graduate Students, and latterly, in the

Museum of Modern Art, Oxford Modern Art Oxford is an art gallery established in 1965 in Oxford, England. From 1965 to 2002, it was called The Museum of Modern Art, Oxford. The gallery presents exhibitions of modern and contemporary art. It has a national and international ...

, the position of Chairman of the Council. In 1990, Mann was appointed Director of the

and Professor of the History of the Classical Tradition in the

. Mann's years at the Warburg involved him deeply in the administrative apparatus of the University, and he was made Dean of the

School of Advanced Study The School of Advanced Study (SAS), a postgraduate-only institution of the University of London, is the UK's national centre for the promotion and facilitation of research in the humanities and social sciences. It was established in 1994 and ...

in 2002 and then a Pro-Vice-Chancellor of the University in 2003. Upon his retirement in 2007, he was awarded an emeritus professorship in Renaissance studies in the University. Mann was elected a Fellow of the

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 ...

in 1992; he also served as the Academy's Foreign Secretary and Vice-President (1999-2006). Mann was appointed

in 1999. He was elected the Vice-President of ALLEA (the federation of European Academies) in 2006 and served in the role from 2007 to 2011. Mann has also been awarded a number of other honours and fellowships.

Works

Mann's scholarly works consider problems in the study of Petrarch and of the early Italian humanists. His brief book of 1984 offered his succinct assessment of the value of Petrarch to the study of the humanists. Petrarch's legacy among Anglophones had suffered due to an over-earnest revival in

Tudor England Tudor most commonly refers to: * House of Tudor, Welsh and English royal house of Welsh origins ** Tudor period, a historical era in England and Wales coinciding with the rule of the Tudor dynasty Tudor may also refer to: Architecture * Tudor a ...

. While Director of the Warburg, Mann co-edited a number of books, including ''Giordano Bruno, 1583-1585: The English Experience'' (with Michele Ciliberto) and ''

Lorenzo the Magnificent Lorenzo di Piero de' Medici (), known as Lorenzo the Magnificent (; 1 January 1449 – 9 April 1492), was an Italian statesman, the '' de facto'' ruler of the Florentine Republic, and the most powerful patron of Renaissance culture in Italy. Lo ...

: Culture and Politics'' (with Michael Mallett). A list of Mann's publications to 2010 is available from the SAS website.

References

External links

https://research.sas.ac.uk/search/fellow/575/professor-nicholas-mann/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Mann, Nicholas 1942 births Living people Alumni of King's College, Cambridge Directors of the Warburg Institute People from Salisbury Fellows of Clare College, Cambridge Academics of the University of Warwick Academics of the University of London Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Fellows of the British Academy Fellows of Pembroke College, Oxford