Helmut Koenigsberger


Helmut Georg Koenigsberger FBA was a German-born British historian and academic. He was Professor of History at King's College London from 1973 to 1984 and head of its history department.

Early life

Koenigsberger was born in Berlin, the son of Georg Koenigsberger, chief architect of the borough of Treptow, and Käthe, a sister of the physicist Max Born. He was educated at Adams' Grammar School, Newport and Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge. His elder brother was the architect and planner Otto Königsberger.
After spending a short period as a schoolmaster, he served in the Royal Navy during the latter stages of World War II. Following demobilization, he returned to Cambridge to complete his postgraduate research.

Academic career

Koenigsberger taught Economic History at Queen's University, Belfast and the University of Manchester. He was Professor of Modern History at the University of Nottingham from 1960 to 1966, before moving to the United States of America where he was Professor of Early Modern History at Cornell University from 1966 to 1973. He returned to the United Kingdom in 1973 and served as Professor of History at King's College London until his retirement in 1984.
His publications include The Government of Sicily under Philip II of Spain: A study in the practice of empire, Medieval Europe 400-1500, and Monarchies, states generals and parliaments: the Netherlands in the 15th and 16th centuries.