Anthony Stephen Wohl

Background

Anthony Stephen Wohl was born on March 28, 1937, in London, United Kingdom. He is the son of Peter and Deborah (Zack) Wohl.

Education

Anthony Wohl was a graduate of Jesus College, Cambridge, where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree with first-class honors in 1958. Then he obtained a Doctor of Philosophy degree at Brown University in 1966.

Career

Anthony Wohl devoted most of his life to teaching. He joined Vassar College as an instructor in history in 1963. After obtaining his doctor's degree in 1966, he became an assistant professor and held this position till 1971. From 1971 till 1977, he worked as an associate professor, then becoming a professor of history.

While holding this position at Vassar College, Wohl was also a visiting educator at Leicester University Victorian Studies Centre, the University of British Columbia, the University of London, Bedford College, Yale University, the Australian National University, and others. From 1991 till 1994, he served as a program chairman, treasurer, and executive board member of the National Conference on British Studies. He retired from Vassar College in 2001 and became professor emeritus. In addition to teaching, Wohl is known as a project director of the web site Monuments and Dust: The Culture of Victorian London.

Besides teaching, Wohl has been actively engaged in writing on the history of England. In 1970, he was an editor and author of notes of the book The Bitter Cry of Outcast London. He published his first book, The Eternal Slum: Housing and Social Policy in Victorian London, in 1977. Profusely illustrated with contemporary photographs and drawings, this book is the definitive study of the housing reform movement in Victorian and Edwardian London and suggests what it was really like to live under such appalling conditions.

His most known book is Endangered Lives: Public Health in Victorian Britain, published in 1983. It uses statistics, medical reports, and other factual evidence to conclude the living conditions that resulted in higher rates of infant mortality, increased deaths due to diseases and epidemics, and lower life expectancies for a member of England's lower economic classes.

Wohl also actively edited different works and contributed to books, including The Victorian Family: Structure and Stresses, Ragged London in 1861, The History of Working-Class Housing, The Victorian City, and New Dictionary of National Biography. The periodicals he has contributed to are the International Review of History, Journal of British Studies, Nineteenth-Century Studies, Journal of Interdisciplinary History, Albion, and Jewish History.

Achievements

• Anthony Wohl is a renowned historian and an outstanding educator, particularly known for his work as a professor of history at Vassar College. For success in his career, he was recognized with honors, including Brown University Beneficial Foundation Fellowship. Wohl is also well-known for his writing. After the publication of his book, Endangered Lives: Public Health in Victorian Britain, Wohl was praised for bringing "the perspectives and the skills of the social historian to the task of describing the health of the people, of explaining the collective actions Victorians took to protect public health, and of analyzing the motives for and the consequences of those actions."

Works

More photos

• book

  • Endangered Lives: Public Health in Victorian Britain

    (Endangered Lives gives a rich cross-section of public hea...)

    1983
  • The Eternal Slum: Housing and Social Policy in Victorian London

    (The problem of how, where, and on what terms to house the...)

    1977

Membership

Wohl is a fellow of the Royal Historical Society and a member of Phi Beta Kappa.

Interests

• gardening, photography, walking

• Music & Bands

  сlassical music

Connections

Anthony Wohl married Judith Mayer on May 31, 1964. The marriage produced two children, Victoria and Gillian.

Father:

Peter Wohl

Mother:

Deborah (Zack) Wohl

Wife:

Judith Mayer