Mary Jean Alexandra Fulbrook, FRHistS, FBA (née Wilson; born 28 November 1951) is a British academic and historian. Since 1995, she has been Professor of German History at University College London.^[1] She is a noted researcher in a wide range of fields, including religion and society in early modern Europe, the German dictatorships of the twentieth century, Europe after the Holocaust, and historiography and social theory.^[2]

Early life

Fulbrook was born Mary Jean Alexandra Wilson on 28 November 1951 to Arthur Wilson and Harriett C. Wilson (née Friedeberg). She was educated at Sidcot School, a private day and boarding school in Somerset, and at King Edward VI High School, an all-girls independent school in Birmingham. She went on to study at Newnham College, Cambridge. In 1973, she graduated with a double first class Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree; this was converted to Master of Arts (MA Cantab) in 1977. She then moved to the United States where she undertook post-graduate study at Harvard University. She completed her Master of Arts (AM) degree in 1975 and her Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree in 1979.^[1]

Academic career

Fulbrook began her academic career as a temporary lecturer at the London School of Economics for the 1977/1978 academic year and at Brunel University for 1978/1979.^[3] She was then held the Lady Margaret Research Fellowship at New Hall, Cambridge from 1979 to 1982, and was a research associate at King's College London from 1982 to 1983.^[3][4]

On 1 October 1983, Fulbrook joined University College London (UCL) as a lecturer.^[5] She was promoted to Reader in German History in 1991, and made Professor of German History in 1995.^[3] She was head of UCL's Department of German from 1995 to 2006,^[4] and was Executive Dean of its Faculty of Social and History Sciences from 2013 to 2018.^[5]

Fulbrook was the first female Chair of the German History Society; and, together with Richard J. Evans, was a founding Editor of its journal, German History.^[6][7]

Personal life

In 1973, the then Mary Wilson married Julian Fulbrook. Together they have one daughter and two sons.^[3]

Honours

In 2007, Fulbrook was elected Fellow of the British Academy (FBA).^[2] She is also an elected Fellow of the Royal Historical Society (FRHistS).^[8] For her monograph, Reckonings, Fulbrook won the 2019 Wolfson History Prize^[9] and one of the two "Recognition of Excellence" Cundill Prizes awarded in 2019.^[10]

Publications

• German National Identity after the Holocaust. Cambridge: Polity Press, 1999
• Historical Theory Routledge, 2003
• The People's State: East German Society from Hitler to Honecker. New Haven, Conn.; London : Yale University Press, 2008. ISBN 9780300144246, OCLC 227926611
• Power and Society in the GDR, 1961-1979: The 'Normalisation of Rule'?. New York: Berghahn Books, 2008. ISBN 9781782381013, OCLC 822668120
• German History Since 1800. London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2010. ISBN 9780340692004, OCLC 798041686
• Dissonant Lives: Generations and Violence Through the German Dictatorships. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011. ISBN 9780198799535, OCLC 1013509462
• A Small Town Near Auschwitz: Ordinary Nazis and the Holocaust. Oxford University Press. 2012. ISBN 9780199679256, OCLC 809529765^[11]
• Reckonings: Legacies of Nazi Persecution and the Quest for Justice. Oxford University Press. 2018. ISBN 9780198811237, OCLC 1073833810^[12]