Simon Schama

British University Professor of Art History and History · United Kingdom · On the map · Academics · Born 1945 · age 81

Sir Simon Michael Schama is an English historian and television presenter. He specialises in art history, Dutch history, Jewish history, and French history. As of January 2026 he is a professor of history and art history at Columbia University.

Simon Schama is read about 448 times a day, in 24 languages.

A typical day, 30 days to 6 November 2026

The middle day of the days counted, so one week of news cannot move it. The line under it is the last 104 days, one point a day.

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A life in dates

2023“Inheriting the acronym from the father figure of radio populism, Rush Limbaugh, Trump habitually dismisses his Republican adversaries as Rinos (Republicans In Name Only).”In their words2 September 2023Financial TimesRead the whole statement

2018Knight BachelorAward2016Fellow of the Royal Society of LiteratureAward2006National Book Critics Circle Award in NonfictionAward2002Medlicott MedalAward2001St. Louis Literary AwardAward2000“If there's one four-letter word that runs through my television history, oddly it is "Rome".”In their words26 September 2000'Visions of Albion: Looking at British history', The IndependentRead the whole statement

1995“Landscape is the work of the mind. Its scenery is built up as much from the strata of memory as layers of rocks...”In their words8 April 1995Interview with Ben MacIntyre, quoted in Ben MacIntyte, 'Landscapes of the mind', The Times Magazine (8 April 1995), p. 11Read the whole statement

1990NCR Book AwardAward1989“I remember we thought that, whatever else happened in the remainder of the century, two traditional issues were going to go away.”In their words13 May 1989Interview with Bryan Appleyard, quoted in Bryan Appleyard, 'The revolutionary historian', The Times (13 May 1989), p. 31Read the whole statement

“When I started writing [Citizens], I thought the revolution of 1789 then goes on the skids and turns into the Terror of 1793.”In their words13 May 1989Interview with Bryan Appleyard, quoted in Bryan Appleyard, 'The revolutionary historian', The Times (13 May 1989), p. 31Read the whole statement

1977Leo Gershoy AwardAwardWolfson History PrizeAward1945Born13 February 1945

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John H. Plumb Taught Simon

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Schama at New York City's Strand Bookstore in 2006.

In their own words 2

Simon Schama

2 statements, newest first

Part of me wants to say with Wordsworth: 'Bliss was it in that dawn to be alive.' But if you ask me was it worth it, I don't think it was.
Remarks on the French Revolution in an interview with Bryan Appleyard, quoted in Bryan Appleyard, 'The revolutionary historian', The Times, Own words
To be fully MAGA is still to live, 24/7, within a parallel universe, hermetically closed off from the inconvenient intrusion of fact, blissfully captive to a fantastic theology.
, Own words