Nikolaus Pevsner

Born Jan. 30, 1902, in Leipzig. English art critic of German descent.

Pevsner studied at the universities of Leipzig, Berlin, Munich, and Frankfurt am Main. From 1928 to 1933 he taught at the University of Göttingen. After the Nazis came to power, he left Germany and emigrated to England, where he has been a professor at the University of London since 1941. He was also a professor at Cambridge University from 1949 to 1955.

Pevsner is known for his broad historical and cultural generalizations and his clear characterizations. He has done a good deal of research on mannerist art, but his principal area of scholarly interest has been the history of architecture and design since the end of the 19th century. He is currently directing a systematic study of the architecture of different regions and cities in England. Since 1941, 45 volumes of Pevsner’s The Buildings of England have been published, with more volumes still to be published.