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Sir Reginald Coupland

SIR REGINALD COUPLAND KCMG FBA (2 August 1884 - 6 November 1952) was a prominent historian of the British Empire. Born in London, he was educated at Winchester and New College, Oxford. From 1907-1...view moreSIR REGINALD COUPLAND KCMG FBA (2 August 1884 - 6 November 1952) was a prominent historian of the British Empire. Born in London, he was educated at Winchester and New College, Oxford. From 1907-1914 he was Fellow and Lecturer in Ancient History at Trinity College, Oxford. His interest turned from ancient history to the study of the British Empire, and in 1913 he became Beit Lecturer in Colonial History at Oxford. He held the Beit Professorship of Colonial History at the University of Oxford from 1920-1948. His Chair carried with it a professorial fellowship at All Souls College which he valued highly. During World War II, Coupland devoted much time to the study of India, visiting the country twice. In 1942 he was appointed a member of Sir Stafford Cripps’ Mission to India, and his contribution to the study of Indian politics—his Report on the Constitutional Problem in India—was published in 3 parts during 1942-1943. He was a member of the Royal Commission on Palestine of 1936-1937, set up under the chairmanship of Lord Peel. Coupland was one of the original founders of the Honour School of philosophy, politics and economics at the University of Oxford in the years after World War I, and was one of the early professorial fellows of Nuffield College from 1939 to 1950. His distinction as an historian was recognised by an honorary D.Litt. from Durham in 1938 and by election to a fellowship of the British Academy in 1948. He died suddenly in 1952 as he embarked at Southampton on a voyage to South Africa.view less