Simon Schama facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Sir Simon Schama
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At the Financial Times and Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year Award presentation in 2013
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Simon Michael Schama
13 February 1945 Marylebone, London, England
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| Education | Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School |
| Alma mater | Christ's College, Cambridge |
| Awards | Wolfson History Prize Leo Gershoy Award Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature |
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Sir Simon Michael Schama (born 13 February 1945) is a famous British historian and television presenter. He is known for his work on art history, Dutch history, Jewish history, and French history. He teaches history and art history at Columbia University in the United States.
Schama became well-known after publishing his book Citizens in 1989. This book was about the French Revolution. He also wrote and hosted the 15-part BBC TV show A History of Britain (2000–2002). He made other TV series too, like The American Future: A History (2008) and The Story of the Jews (2013).
In 2018, Simon Schama was made a knight. This means he can use "Sir" before his name.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Simon Schama was born in Marylebone, London, England, on 13 February 1945. His mother's family was Lithuanian Jewish, and his father's family was Sephardi Jewish from Turkey.
In the mid-1940s, his family moved to Southend-on-Sea, then back to London. In 1956, Simon won a scholarship to Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School. He then studied history at Christ's College, Cambridge. He graduated from the University of Cambridge in 1966 with top honors.
Career as a Historian
From 1966 to 1976, Schama was a fellow and director of history studies at Christ's College, Cambridge. He then moved to Oxford University in 1976, where he focused on the French Revolution. He also worked in Paris at the School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences.
During this time, Schama wrote his first book, Patriots and Liberators. It won the Wolfson History Prize. This book was about the 1780s revolution in the Netherlands. His second book, Two Rothschilds and the Land of Israel (1978), looked at the Zionist goals of two members of the Rothschild family.
Working in the United States
In 1980, Schama became a history professor at Harvard University. His next book, The Embarrassment of Riches (1987), was also about Dutch history. This book explored how the Dutch in the 17th century balanced living richly with living a religious life. It used many illustrations to show Dutch character.
His book Citizens (1989) was a long-awaited study of the French Revolution. It won the 1990 NCR Book Award. However, some critics disagreed with his idea that the violence of the Revolution was present from the very beginning.
Schama also appeared on TV as an art historian in the 1989 PBS series Art of the Western World. He talked about paintings by famous artists like Diego Velázquez and Rembrandt.
In 1991, he published Dead Certainties (Unwarranted Speculations). This book looked at two deaths that happened a hundred years apart. Schama explored how historians try to understand past events, even when all the facts are not clear. This book mixed facts with ideas about what might have happened. Some historians didn't like this approach, but others later found it interesting.
Schama's next book, Landscape and Memory (1995), explored how nature and human memory are connected. It looked at how woods, water, and rocks are part of our shared cultural memories and myths. This book was a commercial success and won many awards.
From 1995 to 1998, Schama was an art critic for The New Yorker magazine. He also continued his teaching duties at Columbia University. In 2005, a collection of his art essays was published as Hang Ups. During this time, he also wrote Rembrandt's Eyes, which was very popular.
BBC Television Work
In 2000, Schama returned to the UK to create a TV series for the BBC called A History of Britain. He wrote and presented all 15 episodes himself. The show was very popular and received great reviews. It covered British history up to 1965. Schama also wrote three books to go along with the series.
In 2001, Schama received a CBE honor. In 2003, he signed a new deal with the BBC to create more books and TV shows. One of the first projects was Rough Crossings: Britain, the Slaves and the American Revolution. This show looked at how slaves were offered freedom during the American Revolutionary War if they helped the British.
In 2006, the BBC aired Simon Schama's Power of Art. In this series, Schama explored eight famous artworks and the artists who created them. These included works by Caravaggio, Bernini, Rembrandt, and Picasso. This series was also shown in the United States.
In October 2008, Schama presented a four-part TV series called The American Future: A History. In 2009, he hosted a BBC Radio 4 show about the history of baseball. He also presented a series of talks for BBC Radio 4 in 2010.
In 2013, his five-part series The Story of the Jews was broadcast on BBC Two. Critics praised the series as an amazing achievement. In 2018, Schama presented five episodes of Civilisations, a new version of a famous 1969 art history series.
Personal Life
Simon Schama is Jewish. He is married to Virginia Papaioannou, who is a geneticist. They have two children, Chloe and Gabriel. As of 2014, Schama lives in Briarcliff Manor, New York. He is a fan of the Tottenham Hotspur football team.
Political Views
In 2010, Schama supported Oona King's campaign to become Mayor of London. In 2014, he was one of many public figures who signed a letter hoping Scotland would stay part of the United Kingdom.
Schama has also shared his views on politics in the United States. He supported President Barack Obama and was critical of George W. Bush.
Awards and Honors
Simon Schama has received many awards and honors for his work as a historian and writer.
- 1977: Wolfson History Prize, for Patriots and Liberators
- 1977: Leo Gershoy Award, for Patriots and Liberators
- 1987: New York Times Best Books of the Year, for The Embarrassment of Riches
- 1989: New York Times Best Books of the Year, for Citizens: A Chronicle of the French Revolution
- 1990: NCR Book Award, for Citizens: A Chronicle of the French Revolution
- 1992: American Academy of Arts and Letters Award for Literature
- 1996: Lionel Trilling Book Award, for Landscape and Memory
- 1996: WH Smith Literary Award, for Landscape and Memory
- 2001: St. Louis Literary Award
- 2001: Broadcasting Press Guild Writer's Award, for A History of Britain
- 2006: National Book Critics Circle Award for Non-fiction, for Rough Crossings
- 2007: International Emmy Award, for Bernini episode of Simon Schama's Power of Art
- 2015: Feltrinelli Prize for History
- 2018: Knight Bachelor, for his services to history
Images for kids
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Michelangelo Caravaggio 018.jpg
David with the Head of Goliath by Caravaggio
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Guernica (painting)
Guernica by Picasso
See also
In Spanish: Simon Schama para niños
