John Lynch (11 January 1927 – 4 April 2018) was an English historian who served as Professor ofLatin American History at theUniversity of London.[1][2] He spent most of his academic career atUniversity College, and then from 1974 to 1987 as Director of theInstitute of Latin American Studies. The main focus of his work wasSpanish America in the period 1750–1850.
John Lynch was born on 11 January 1927 inBoldon,County Durham, in northern England. He married Wendy Kathleen Norman in 1960, both Catholic. They had 5 children.
Lynch studied at theUniversity of Edinburgh (MA, 1952), and at the University of London (Ph.D., 1955). He served in theBritish Army afterWorld War II from 1945 to 1948. He then taught at theUniversity of Liverpool (1954–61) and, from 1961 taught at the University of London. He was the director for the Institute of Latin American Studies at theUniversity of London from 1974 until his retirement in 1987.[3]
The scope of his work expanded over the years: from theRiver Plate area toLatin America as a whole; and from the 18th to the 19th centuries.
He died on 4 April 2018 at the age of 91.[4]