Eric Hobsbawm
Eric Hobsbawm entered the world on the 9th of June 1917 in Alexandria, Egypt. His father Leopold Percy Hobsbaum was a Jewish merchant from London's East End with Polish roots. His mother Nelly Grün came from a middle-class Austrian Jewish family. Neither parent practiced their faith actively. The young boy spent his early years moving between Vienna and Berlin. A clerical mistake at birth changed his surname from Hobsbaum to Hobsbawm. He grew up speaking English as his first language despite living in German-speaking countries.
The year 1929 brought tragedy when Hobsbawm turned twelve and lost his father. He began working as an au pair and English tutor to support his family. His mother died two years later in 1931 leaving him and his sister Nancy orphaned. They were adopted by their aunt Gretl and uncle Sidney who had a son named Peter. The Nazi Party seized power in Germany during 1933 while Hobsbawm attended Prinz Heinrich-Gymnasium Berlin. That same year his adoptive family moved to London where he enrolled in St Marylebone Grammar School. He did not view himself as a refugee since British nationality came through his father.
Hobsbawm entered King's College Cambridge in 1936 joining the university's Socialist Club which functioned as the Communist Party of Great Britain. He earned a double-starred first in history before becoming elected to the Cambridge Apostles. MI5 opened a personal file on him in 1942 monitoring his activities for many years. During World War II he served in the Royal Engineers and Army Educational Corps. Security services prevented overseas deployment after he edited a wall newspaper arguing for a Second Front. This demand aligned with Communist Party positions at the time. He applied to return to Cambridge as a research student and was released from military service in 1946.
MI5 vetoed an appointment to the BBC in 1945 despite calling him a suitable candidate for educational broadcasts. They believed he would disseminate propaganda and recruit members for the Communist party. Hobsbawm became a lecturer in history at Birkbeck College University of London in 1947. The institution lacked anti-communist sentiment among staff or students unlike other universities. He rose to reader status by 1959 and professor between 1970 and 1982. A weaker version of McCarthyism affected Marxist academics according to Hobsbawm who noted they did not get promotion for ten years but were never expelled. Noel Annan claimed political enemies denied him a lectureship at Cambridge and blocked a professorship at Birkbeck temporarily.
Hobsbawm coined the term long nineteenth century beginning with the French Revolution in 1789 and ending with World War I in 1914. His tetralogy included The Age of Revolution Europe 1789, 1848 published in 1962 followed by The Age of Capital 1848, 1875 in 1975. The third volume The Age of Empire covered 1875, 1914 appearing in 1987. These works analyzed the dual revolution of France and Britain as driving forces behind liberal capitalism. Another recurring theme was social banditry which he placed within historical context rather than viewing it as spontaneous rebellion. Critics like Niall Ferguson called his quartet the best starting point for studying modern history.
He joined the Communist Party of Great Britain in 1936 after joining an offshoot of the Young Communist League in Berlin during 1931. Thousands left the British Communist Party following the Soviet invasion of Hungary in 1956 but Hobsbawm remained unique among colleagues. He ceased political work by the end of the 1950s while maintaining mistrust from party leadership. He signed a historians' letter protesting the Hungarian intervention yet supported the Prague Spring. Hobsbawm became a leading figure in the Eurocommunist faction gathering strength after 1968 when the CPGB criticized Soviet actions against Czechoslovakia. His article The Forward March of Labour Halted? appeared in Marxism Today magazine in September 1978 arguing that working-class centrality was fading.
In a 1994 BBC interview with Michael Ignatieff Hobsbawm stated deaths of millions under Stalin would have been worth it if a communist society resulted. He argued mass suffering could justify new world birth despite universal murder and pain. The Soviet Union failed to become the beginning of World Revolution according to his assessment. On Desert Island Discs he replied that sacrifices were comparable to fighting World War II. Tony Judt described this as clinging to a pernicious illusion promising benevolent outcomes for human cost. Robert Conquest concluded Hobsbawm suffered massive reality denial regarding the USSR. Neil Ascherson noted Hobsbawm felt bad about waste but refused to acknowledge regretting anything.
Hobsbawm died from complications of pneumonia and leukaemia at Royal Free Hospital London on the 1st of October 2012 aged ninety-five. His daughter Julia said he fought leukaemia quietly without fuss while keeping up current affairs. A stack of newspapers remained by his bed until the end. His ashes were interred in Highgate Cemetery very close to Karl Marx after cremation at Golders Green Crematorium. His writings reached particular prominence in India and Brazil during the 1960s and 1970s amid political debates. Emile Chabal wrote Hobsbawm played a starring role in transnational discussions over capitalism's future. He received the Balzan Prize for European History since 1900 in 2003 recognizing brilliant analysis of troubled twentieth-century Europe.
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Common questions
When and where was Eric Hobsbawm born?
Eric Hobsbawm entered the world on the 9th of June 1917 in Alexandria, Egypt. His father Leopold Percy Hobsbaum was a Jewish merchant from London's East End with Polish roots.
How did Eric Hobsbawm lose his parents during childhood?
The year 1929 brought tragedy when Hobsbawm turned twelve and lost his father. He began working as an au pair and English tutor to support his family before his mother died two years later in 1931 leaving him and his sister Nancy orphaned.
What academic positions did Eric Hobsbawm hold at Birkbeck College University of London?
Hobsbawm became a lecturer in history at Birkbeck College University of London in 1947. He rose to reader status by 1959 and professor between 1970 and 1982.
Which historical period did Eric Hobsbawm define as the long nineteenth century?
Eric Hobsbawm coined the term long nineteenth century beginning with the French Revolution in 1789 and ending with World War I in 1914. His tetralogy included The Age of Revolution Europe 1789, 1848 published in 1962 followed by The Age of Capital 1848, 1875 in 1975.
Why did MI5 monitor Eric Hobsbawm during World War II?
MI5 opened a personal file on him in 1942 monitoring his activities for many years because security services prevented overseas deployment after he edited a wall newspaper arguing for a Second Front. This demand aligned with Communist Party positions at the time.
When and how did Eric Hobsbawm die?
Eric Hobsbawm died from complications of pneumonia and leukaemia at Royal Free Hospital London on the 1st of October 2012 aged ninety-five. His ashes were interred in Highgate Cemetery very close to Karl Marx after cremation at Golders Green Crematorium.