Sir Lewis Bernstein Namier (June 27, 1888 – August 19, 1960) was an English historian. He was born Ludwik Niemirowski in Wola Okrzejska in what was then part of the Russian Empire and is part of modern day Poland.
Namier's family were secular-minded Jewish gentry. His father, with whom young Lewis often quarreled, idolized Austria-Hungary. By contrast, Namier throughout his life detested the Dual Monarchy. He was educated at universities of Lembe...
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Sir Lewis Bernstein Namier (June 27, 1888 – August 19, 1960) was an English historian. He was born Ludwik Niemirowski in Wola Okrzejska in what was then part of the Russian Empire and is part of modern day Poland.
Namier's family were secular-minded Jewish gentry. His father, with whom young Lewis often quarreled, idolized Austria-Hungary. By contrast, Namier throughout his life detested the Dual Monarchy. He was educated at universities of Lemberg in Austrian Galicia (modern Lviv, Ukraine), Lausanne, and the London School of Economics. At Lausanne, Namier heard Vilfredo Pareto lecture, and Pareto's ideas about elites would have much influence on him.
Namier migrated to the United Kingdom in 1906 and became a British subject in 1913. During World War I, he fought as a private with the 20th Royal Fusiliers in 1914–15 but was discharged owing to poor eyesight. He then held positions with the Propaganda Department (1915–17), the Department of Information (1917–18) and finally with the...
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