Difference between revisions of "Elizabeth Wiskemann (1899-1971)"
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| − | '''Elizabeth Wiskemann (1899-1971)''' was Edinburgh University's [[First Woman Professor, 1958|first woman professor]], holding the Montague Burton Chair of [[International Relations]] from 1958-1961. | + | '''Elizabeth Meta Wiskemann (1899-1971)''' was Edinburgh University's [[First Woman Professor, 1958|first woman professor]], holding the Montague Burton Chair of [[International Relations]] from 1958-1961. |
== Early Years == | == Early Years == | ||
| − | + | Wiskemann was born in Sidcup, Kent, to a German father and English mother. After schooling in London, she read history at Cambridge, graduating in 1921 and going on to study for a Ph.D. on Napoleon III and the Roman question. She was deeply disappointed to gain only a MLitt for her doctoral dissertation thwarting initial hopes of an academic career. | |
== Wiskemann and the Rise of Nazism == | == Wiskemann and the Rise of Nazism == | ||
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Wiskemann officially spent the Second World War as an assistant press attaché to the British Legation in Switzerland. This, in fact, was cover for her real task of collecting non-military intelligence from Germany and occupied Europe. | Wiskemann officially spent the Second World War as an assistant press attaché to the British Legation in Switzerland. This, in fact, was cover for her real task of collecting non-military intelligence from Germany and occupied Europe. | ||
| + | == Sources == | ||
| + | |||
| + | *James Joll, 'Wiskemann, Elizabeth Meta (1899–1971)', ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004) | ||
[[Category:Academics|Wiskemann, Elizabeth]][[Category:Incomplete]] | [[Category:Academics|Wiskemann, Elizabeth]][[Category:Incomplete]] | ||
Revision as of 11:28, 26 March 2015
Elizabeth Meta Wiskemann (1899-1971) was Edinburgh University's first woman professor, holding the Montague Burton Chair of International Relations from 1958-1961.
Early Years
Wiskemann was born in Sidcup, Kent, to a German father and English mother. After schooling in London, she read history at Cambridge, graduating in 1921 and going on to study for a Ph.D. on Napoleon III and the Roman question. She was deeply disappointed to gain only a MLitt for her doctoral dissertation thwarting initial hopes of an academic career.
Wiskemann and the Rise of Nazism
In 1930, Wiskemann went to Berlin as a journalist, where she witnessed the rise of Hitler and developed a passionate interest in German politics. She was one of the first British journalists to realize the threat posed by Nazism, writing influential articles in the New Statesman and other journals warning of the imminent danger to international peace. Such was the impact of her writing that she was expelled from Germany by the Gestapo in 1936. She nonetheless continued reporting on political developments from other parts of central Europe. In 1938, she published her first book, Czechs and Germans, the result of a commission from the Royal Institute of International Affairs to study the crisis arising from the presence of a large ethnic German population in Czechoslovakia. Her second book, Undeclared War, which appeared the following year, was a further exposé of Nazi ambitions in central and eastern Europe. With the coming off war, the accuracy of Wiskemann’s forecast greatly enhanced her reputation as a journalist and political analyst.
Second World War
Wiskemann officially spent the Second World War as an assistant press attaché to the British Legation in Switzerland. This, in fact, was cover for her real task of collecting non-military intelligence from Germany and occupied Europe.
Sources
- James Joll, 'Wiskemann, Elizabeth Meta (1899–1971)', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004)