Background
Arthur was born on April 20, 1939, in Naters, Valais, Switzerland.
(Publication of Lost Worlds introduces to English-speaking...)
Publication of Lost Worlds introduces to English-speaking readers one of the most original and engaging historians in Germany today.
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1996
Arthur was born on April 20, 1939, in Naters, Valais, Switzerland.
Imhof studied history in Zurich, Brussels, Paris and Rome. He completed his doctorate in Zurich in 1965.
From 1973 Arthur worked at Justus Liebig University Giessen.
His 1975 book, Sozialgeschichte und Medizin: Probleme der quantifizierenden Quellenbearbeitung in der Sozial - und Medizingeschichte, co-authored with Oivind Larsen, is a guide to demographic methods and sources for historians. The two authors delved into the records of the Scandinavian countries in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries for their examples. This resulted in what Paul Slack termed in the English Historical Review “a precise historical focus” that offered “stimulating suggestions” for further research, as well as being “a useful manual and work of reference for social and medical historians.”
Imhof’s next book, 1976’s Aspekte der Bevölkerungsentwicklung in den nordischen Landern, 1720-1750, continued his investigation of Scandinavia, this time on his own. Imhof not only probed into the statistical records of all five Scandinavian countries (which were more complete, on the whole, than those for the rest of Europe), but also learned all the Scandinavian languages, including Finnish and Icelandic, in three years. (A fourth year was spent writing the book.) In the English Historical Review, M. W. Flinn called this a “monumental venture” and an “amazingly comprehensive survey,” which researchers of Scandinavian origin would “have to work hard and fast to emulate.”
In 1977, Imhof wrote a much shorter book with a much different focus. Einführung in die historische Demographie is a 150-page opus designed to introduce German students to the methods of historical demographics, and in particular of family reconstitution based on parish records. It was “a modest book with modest aims,” observed Michael R. Haines in the Journal of Economic History, and Imhof, Haines declared, was “well qualified to write it.”
In 1981 he wrote the volume, Die gewonnenen Jahre: Von der Zunahme unserer Lehenspanne seit dreihundert Jahren oder von der Notwendigkeit einer neuen Einstellung zu Leben und Sterben: Ein Historicher Essay. A reviewer for the Journal of Modern History, Charles Tilly: “Imhof delivers great bundles of historical material in attractive wrappings, and calls his readers ... to unpack this material thoughtfully, deliberately, and often with pleasure.” Gerald J. Gruman wrote in the American Historical Review, “It is reassuring to read quantitative history ‘from below’ that really becomes vivid, moving, and even eloquent. Moreover, Imhof’s style often is appealing in its modesty, directness, and, at times, humor.”
In 1990, Imhof, along with several junior researchers, produced the massive results of a large-scale quantitative analysis of German mortality statistics from the seventeenth to the nineteenth centuries. The focus was on records of 135,000 individuals living between 1740 and 1860 in seven small regions of western Germany; investigations were also made for inhabitants of a previous generation when statistics were not as carefully kept. Steve Hochstadt called the creation of this database “a remarkable achievement, which, if taken full advantage of, will influence historical demographic research for years to come.”
During his distinguished career, Imhof has also been the editor of some volumes of collected essays. The 1980 Mensch und Gesundheit in der Geschichte is a collection of seventeen articles written for an international, interdisciplinary conference held in Berlin in 1978. The conference dealt with medical care and the experience of the individual patient in Europe between the sixteenth and early twentieth centuries. Mary Jo Maynes, reviewing the collection for the Journal of Interdisciplinary History, called it “impressive and significant” as a step on the path to “a human-centered, interdisciplinary approach to health in the past.”
From 1980 to 1995 he had several teaching posts at Brazilian universities. He was until his retirement in 2004 Professor of Modern History and Social History at the Friedrich Meinecke Institute of the FU Berlin.
(Publication of Lost Worlds introduces to English-speaking...)
1996Imhof says it was necessary to re-examine the Western world’s way of life, particularly in old age, to adjust to the new luxury of a longer life span. He recommends primarily that people should reserve the final stages of their lives for study, travel, reading, and reflection.
Imhof is a member of the Royal Norwegian Academy of Sciences.
For John Knodel, “Imhof’s enthusiastic style” is another factor that would arouse the interest of German-reading students and professionals.