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Hispanic American Historical Review 84.1 (2004) 117-120



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Simon Collier (1938-2003)


Simon Collier died in Nashville, Tennessee, on February 20, 2003, after a brief battle with cancer. Until late December 2002, he was busy finishing a number of projects and looking forward to starting a new book on twentieth-century Chile. There was little indication of anything wrong with his health until very late, and thus he will be remembered by his colleagues and friends as the energetic and highly productive scholar he had always been. A memorial gathering at Vanderbilt University on April 6 paid tribute to the variety of ways in which he touched the lives of many, whether as a university colleague, inspiring scholar and mentor, helpful critic and editor, lover of music and poetry, or sailing and cricket fan. Those who spoke recalled a man who may have seemed formal and reserved, but who soon showed the qualities that most endeared him to everyone who knew him: warm and affectionate, mild-mannered yet solid and dependable, well read and informed, and a great conversationalist.

Collier was born in Harpenden, Hertfordshire, on June 6, 1938, the eldest of seven children. He attended Bedford school and after National Service as an officer in the Royal Air Force studied at Trinity Hall, Cambridge University, where he received his B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. (1965). Although he initially intended to read medieval history, at Cambridge he developed his life-long interest in Latin America. He visited the region for the first time in 1963 when he went to Chile to research his doctoral thesis. He was affiliated with the Centro de Investigaciones de Historia Americana at the University of Chile and during this time met many scholars who would remain life-long friends. By all accounts, he was captivated by the country and its people, and he never wavered from his initial commitment to the field.

He completed his degree requirements at Cambridge and joined the faculty at the University of Essex in 1965. In 1967 he published his now classic Ideas and Politics of Chilean Independence, 1808-1833 (Cambridge University Press). The book mined the neglected holdings of the Chilean Archivo Nacional and the Biblioteca Nacional to recuperate the rich intellectual and political traditions of early republican Chile. A scholar thoroughly versed in the history of European political thought, especially the Enlightenment and liberal traditions, [End Page 117] he was refreshingly open to Chilean—and Latin American—contributions to the history of ideas. At a time when the historical profession, much like the rest of Chilean society in the 1960s, became increasingly polarized and ideological, Collier's work stood as a model of careful analysis, rich contextualization, and judicious assessment. This work inspired a new generation of historians, who explored his themes and followed his methods during the years of military repression and then led the boom in nineteenth-century studies after Chile's return to democracy. Collier contributed to Nueva Historia, a journal published by Chilean historians in exile in England, in order to support their work and encourage dialogue between Chilean and British scholars. He served on the editorial board of several Chilean journals and taught as a visiting professor at the Catholic University at Valparaíso (1994) and Santiago (2002). In 1990 he became a corresponding member of the Academia Chilena de la Historia, and in 2000 the Chilean government made him a knight commander (comendador) of Chile's Order of Bernardo O'Higgins. He gave frequent interviews in the Chilean press and often expressed his optimism in Chile's prospects for the consolidation of democracy.

He served a variety of roles at Essex, including chairman of the department of history and director of the Latin American Centre. He worked closely on a variety of projects with Harold Blakemore of the Institute of Latin American Studies in London, including coauthoring (along with Thomas Skidmore) the Cambridge Encyclopedia of Latin America and the Caribbean (1985). In this and other works, Collier showed his commitment to providing accessible information about the region for a general readership. He lectured...

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