Moses I. Finley

Sir Moses I. Finley CBE (originally Moses Israel Finkelstein, born May 20, 1912 in New York City; † June 23, 1986 in Cambridge ) was an American and British historian.

Life

Finley was born in 1912 in New York City, the son of Nathan Finkelstein and Anna Katzenellenbogen. In 1927 he earned a bachelor's degree from Syracuse University in 1929 and a master's degree at Columbia University. Although he received his Master degree in law, but most of his publications dealt with the ancient history, especially with the social and economic components of antiquity. Became famous among other things, his influential work, The World of Odysseus, in which he defended the thesis that Homer's works would provide a picture of the social structures of the 9 / 8 Century BC and were hardly to be used as a source for a " Trojan War " of the Bronze Age.

Finley taught at Columbia College, Columbia University and the City College of New York, where he met with representatives emigrated to the Frankfurt School. 1952, during the McCarthy era in the U.S., Finley was released by Rutgers University, since he refused to testify against colleagues. In 1954 he was summoned by Pat McCarrans Security Subcommittee of the Senate ( SISS ) and asked about membership in the Communist Party of the United States. He refused to answer, citing the 5th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.

Since he did not get any more work in the U.S., Finley moved to England. Here he taught for many years at the University of Cambridge, where he worked until 1970 as a lecturer in Classical Social and Economic History at Jesus College, and from 1970 to 1979 worked for Ancient History from 1964 as a professor. From 1976 to 1982 he was also a master of the newly founded Darwin College. In England, he also wrote his second magnum opus, The Ancient Economy, whose theses are intensively discussed today. Many of his books and essays have been translated into German.

In 1962 he became a British citizen in 1971 and Fellow of the British Academy. In 1979 he was defeated by the Queen knighted.

Quotes

  • " Erases all debts and distributes the country new" ( and the only recurring revolutionary program of antiquity )

Writings

  • The World of Odysseus. In 1954. Dt. The world of Odysseus, last Campus -Verlag, Frankfurt / Main 2005, ISBN 3-593-37860-4.
  • The Ancient Greeks. In 1963. Dt. The Greeks. 2, durchges. Ed Beck, Munich 1983, ISBN 3-406-06288-1.
  • Aspects of Antiquity. In 1968.
  • Early Greece: The Bronze and Archaic Ages. 1970th Dt. The early Greek world. Beck, Munich 1982, ISBN 3-406-08644-6.
  • The Ancient Economy. In 1973. Dt. The ancient economy 3, durchges. and ext. Ed dtv, Munich 1993, ISBN 3-423-04277- X. view full size
  • Democracy ancient and modern. In 1973. Dt. Ancient and modern democracy. Reclam, Stuttgart last, 1988, ISBN 3-15-009966-8.
  • Ancient Slavery and Modern Ideology. 1980th Dt. Slavery in antiquity. Beck, Munich 1981, ISBN 3-406-08132-0; Fischer -Taschenbuch -Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1985, ISBN 3-596-24352-1.
  • Politics in the Ancient World. In 1983. Dt. Political life in the ancient world. Beck, Munich, 1986, ISBN 3-406-31056-7; dtv, Munich 1991, ISBN 3-423-04563-9.
  • Ancient History: Evidence and Models. 1985th Dt. Sources and models in ancient history. Fischer -Taschenbuch -Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1987, ISBN 3-596-27373-0.
Jesus College (Cambridge) Historische Zeitschrift Name Authority File
583377
de