Robert Arthur Humphreys (1907–1999), known as Robin Humphreys, was a British historian, the first professor of

Latin American studies Latin American studies (LAS) is an academic and research field associated with the study of Latin America. The interdisciplinary study is a subfield of area studies, and can be composed of numerous disciplines such as economics, sociology, histor ...

in the United Kingdom, and the founder of the Institute of Latin American Studies at

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

. His books cover the emancipation of South America, British diplomacy in Central America, and the evolution of modern Latin America.

Life and career

Born on 6 June 1907, Humphreys was educated at Lincoln Grammar School and graduated from

Peterhouse, Cambridge Peterhouse is the oldest Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge in England, founded in 1284 by Hugh de Balsham, Bishop of Ely. Peterhouse has around 300 undergraduate and 175 graduate stud ...

. In 1934 he was appointed assistant lecturer in American history at

(UCL). During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Humphreys worked at the

British Foreign Office The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) is the ministry of foreign affairs and a ministerial department of the government of the United Kingdom. The office was created on 2 September 2020 through the merger of the Foreign an ...

in a research capacity. After the war he returned to UCL and was promoted to reader, becoming, in 1948, the UK's first

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

of Latin American history. In 1965 Humphreys was the founding Director of 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 ...

's Institute of Latin American Studies, a position he held until 1974. From 1965 to 1969 he also served as the President of the

Royal Historical Society The Royal Historical Society (RHS), founded in 1868, is a learned society of the United Kingdom which advances scholarly studies of history. Origins The society was founded and received its royal charter in 1868. Until 1872 it was known as the H ...

. Lynch, John (2001), "Obituary: Robert Arthur Humphreys (1907-1999)", ''

Hispanic American Historical Review The ''Hispanic American Historical Review'' is a quarterly, peer-reviewed, scholarly journal of Latin American history, the official publication of the Conference on Latin American History, the professional organization of Latin American historia ...

'', 81(1):135-138; He died on 2 May 1999 aged 91.

Works

* ''British Consular Reports on the Trade and Politics of Latin America, 1824-1826'' (1940) * ''Latin America'' (1941) * "The Study of Latin-American History in England" * ''William Robertson and his History of America'' (1954) * " William Hickling Prescott: The Man and the Historian" (1959)
''Tradition and Revolt in Latin America, and other essays''
(1969) Bloomsbury Publishing Plc * ''Latin America and the Second World War'' (2 vols., 1981–82) ** ''Volume 1: 1939 - 1942'', Bloomsbury Academic, ** ''Volume 2: 1942 - 1945'', Bloomsbury Academic,

References

1907 births 1999 deaths Historians of Latin America Latin Americanists Officers of the Order of the British Empire Academics of University College London Fellows of the Royal Historical Society Presidents of the Royal Historical Society Alumni of Peterhouse, Cambridge 20th-century British historians People educated at Lincoln Grammar School {{UK-historian-stub