Anisfield-Wolf Book Award
1 appearances
-
Edition 33 (1968) Winner
Norman Rufus Colin Cohn
ノーマン・ルーファス・コリン・コーン
Norman Rufus Colin Cohn
Profile
- Gender
- Male
- Born
- 1915-01-12 （London, England）
- Died
- 2007-07-31 （Cambridge, England） age 92
- Nationality
- British
- Languages
- English
- Religion
- German-Jewish father, Catholic mother background (not baptized)
- Residence History
- London (birth) → Vienna (post-war posting) → Scotland (academic posts) → Ireland (academic posts) → England (academic posts, University of Sussex) → United States (academic posts) → Canada (academic posts)
Career
- Occupations
- Historian, Academic, Writer
- Active Years
- 1936-2007
- Affiliations
- University of Sussex (Astor-Wolfson Professor), The British Academy (Fellow)
- Influenced By
- Isaiah Berlin (nominator)
- Influenced
- Stuart Clark, Michael Burleigh, Daniel Pick, Pierre-André Taguieff, John Nicholas Gray, William Gibson, Ian McEwan, Anthony Storr
Education
| Institution | Faculty | Department | Degree | Period | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gresham's School | — | — | — | 〜1933 | United Kingdom |
| Christ Church, Oxford | Faculty of Modern Languages | French and German | First-class degree (Modern Languages) | 1933–1939 | United Kingdom |
Gresham's School
Period:
〜1933
Year of Graduation:
1933
Country:
United Kingdom
Secondary education prior to Oxford.
Christ Church, Oxford
Faculty of Modern Languages
/ French and German
Degree:
First-class degree (Modern Languages)
Period:
1933–1939
Year of Graduation:
1939
Country:
United Kingdom
First-class degree in French (1936) and German (1939); scholar and research student 1933–1939.
Awards
| Year | Award | Work | Category | Organization | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | Fellow of the British Academy (FBA) | — | — | The British Academy | 選出 |
Fellow of the British Academy (FBA)
Organization:
The British Academy
Result:
選出
Awards & Nominations
Works
Major Works
The Pursuit of the Millennium
1957 History, Religious historyTraces popular religious and social movements in Europe between the 11th and 16th centuries, analyzing millenarian upheavals and their links to modern fanaticism.
MillenarianismCollective psychologySocial movements
Warrant for Genocide
1967 History, Intellectual historyA scholarly critique of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion and an examination of how conspiracy myths fueled antisemitic violence, including factors contributing to the Holocaust.
AntisemitismConspiracy theoriesCollective delusion
Europe's Inner Demons
1975 History, Religious historyExamines the demonization processes within Christendom that culminated in the European witch hunts, analyzing cultural and religious foundations of persecution.
DemonizationPersecutionReligious fear
Cosmos, Chaos and the World to Come
1993 Religious history, Comparative cultural historyTraces apocalyptic and millennial themes in ancient civilizations and their continuity into later religious thought.
Ancient religionsApocalypticismSymbolic systems
Noah's Flood
1996 Religious history, Intellectual historyDiscusses the reception and interpretation history of the Genesis flood story in Western thought and its cultural-intellectual impact.
Genesis interpretationMyth receptionCultural history
Bibliography
- The Pursuit of the Millennium (1957)
- Warrant for Genocide (1967)
- Europe's Inner Demons (1975, rev. 1993)
- Cosmos, Chaos and the World to Come (1993, rev. 2001)
- Noah's Flood (1996)
Style & Themes
- Literary Style
- Clear, scholarly analytical proseComparative historical and interdisciplinary approach
- Recurring Motifs
- Apocalyptic/millenarian motifsScapegoating dynamicsCollective delusion and fanaticism
Health
-
Degenerative heart condition (cardiac disease in later life)晩年（2000年代）Deteriorated in later years; died in 2007 from a degenerative heart condition.
Legacy
Cohn's work tracing the historical roots of persecution and millenarian thought has had a major impact across modern intellectual and cultural history. The Pursuit of the Millennium is regarded as one of the influential books of the 20th century and his scholarship influenced historians, philosophers and novelists.
Academic Societies
- The British Academy
Archives
- Papers and related material likely held in The British Academy and university archives
Quotes
-
"He dedicated his entire life to the important parts of history other historians do not reach: the collective myths that underpin the assumptions, prejudices and beliefs which shake and shape human societies."
Source: Comment by Anthony Storr (obituary/critique) (2007)
Trivia
- Born to a German-Jewish father and a Catholic mother but was not baptized.
- Served in the British Army during WWII and was posted in Vienna after the war where he encountered refugees and interrogated former Nazis.
- His son is the journalist Nik Cohn.
- 'The Pursuit of the Millennium' was listed among 100 influential books of the 20th century in a TLS survey.