Robin Donkin
Encyclopedia
Robin Arthur Donkin FBA
(born Robert Arthur) (1928–2006) was an English
historian
and geographer
who served as a reader
in Historical Geography
in Cambridge University's Department of Geography in 1990. A fellow of the British Academy
, Donkin published works on a wide range of subjects, including Cistercian monasteries, agricultural terracing, the history of pearl
s and pearl fishing, the Muscovy duck
, the Guinea fowl, and the history of spice
s and aromatics.
, Northumberland
, where he received his education at Jarrow Grammar School, and later took geography in 1950 at King's College, Newcastle upon Tyne
. In Durham University
, Donkin completed his doctorate under M.R.G. Conzen, published later in 1957 as The Cistercian Contribution to the Geography of England and Wales in the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries.
Donkin also served in the British Armed Forces
as a Lieutenant
in the Royal Artillery
. His National Service
postings included Egypt
and Jordan
, where he saw field work. He was elected King George VI Research Fellow at the University of California, Berkeley
in 1955. It was here that he was influenced by the American cultural geographer Carl O. Sauer
, and developed interest in agricultural origins and the aboriginal
New World
. Donkin returned to Britain in 1956, where he served on the staff of the University of Edinburgh
Geography Department for the next two years.
eventually led Donkin to Cambridge University, where he earned a Fellowship at Jesus College, Cambridge
, and served as a distinguished historical geographer.
Donkin's work Beyond Price: pearls and pearl-fishing, origins to the Age of Discoveries in 1998 - a work containing a mammoth 60 page bibliography - was published as a memoir of the American Philosophical Society
. In 2003, Donkin produced Between East and West: the Moluccas and the traffic in spices up to the arrival of Europeans, a book on maritime explorations in the Atlantic Ocean
and the Indian Ocean
.
Donkin traveled to North Africa
, Middle America, South America
, South India
, South China
and to Chinese Turkestan. His final work was an incomplete analysis of the cultural geography of maize
.
The Independent
, (London
), May 10, 2006 summed up Donkin's life as follows:
British Academy
The British Academy is the United Kingdom's national body for the humanities and the social sciences. Its purpose is to inspire, recognise and support excellence in the humanities and social sciences, throughout the UK and internationally, and to champion their role and value.It receives an annual...
(born Robert Arthur) (1928–2006) was an English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
historian
Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
and geographer
Geographer
A geographer is a scholar whose area of study is geography, the study of Earth's natural environment and human society.Although geographers are historically known as people who make maps, map making is actually the field of study of cartography, a subset of geography...
who served as a reader
Reader (academic rank)
The title of Reader in the United Kingdom and some universities in the Commonwealth nations like Australia and New Zealand denotes an appointment for a senior academic with a distinguished international reputation in research or scholarship...
in Historical Geography
Historical geography
Historical geography is the study of the human, physical, fictional, theoretical, and "real" geographies of the past. Historical geography studies a wide variety of issues and topics. A common theme is the study of the geographies of the past and how a place or region changes through time...
in Cambridge University's Department of Geography in 1990. A fellow of the British Academy
British Academy
The British Academy is the United Kingdom's national body for the humanities and the social sciences. Its purpose is to inspire, recognise and support excellence in the humanities and social sciences, throughout the UK and internationally, and to champion their role and value.It receives an annual...
, Donkin published works on a wide range of subjects, including Cistercian monasteries, agricultural terracing, the history of pearl
Pearl
A pearl is a hard object produced within the soft tissue of a living shelled mollusk. Just like the shell of a mollusk, a pearl is made up of calcium carbonate in minute crystalline form, which has been deposited in concentric layers. The ideal pearl is perfectly round and smooth, but many other...
s and pearl fishing, the Muscovy duck
Muscovy Duck
The Muscovy Duck is a large duck which is native to Mexico and Central and South America. A small wild population reaches into the United States in the lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas...
, the Guinea fowl, and the history of spice
Spice
A spice is a dried seed, fruit, root, bark, or vegetative substance used in nutritionally insignificant quantities as a food additive for flavor, color, or as a preservative that kills harmful bacteria or prevents their growth. It may be used to flavour a dish or to hide other flavours...
s and aromatics.
Early life
Robert Donkin was born in 1928 in the town of MorpethMorpeth, Northumberland
Morpeth is the county town of Northumberland, England. It is situated on the River Wansbeck which flows east through the town. The town is from the A1, which bypasses it. Since 1981, it has been the administrative centre of the County of Northumberland. In the 2001 census the town had a population...
, Northumberland
Northumberland
Northumberland is the northernmost ceremonial county and a unitary district in North East England. For Eurostat purposes Northumberland is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "Northumberland and Tyne and Wear" NUTS 2 region...
, where he received his education at Jarrow Grammar School, and later took geography in 1950 at King's College, Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...
. In Durham University
Durham University
The University of Durham, commonly known as Durham University, is a university in Durham, England. It was founded by Act of Parliament in 1832 and granted a Royal Charter in 1837...
, Donkin completed his doctorate under M.R.G. Conzen, published later in 1957 as The Cistercian Contribution to the Geography of England and Wales in the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries.
Donkin also served in the British Armed Forces
British Armed Forces
The British Armed Forces are the armed forces of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.Also known as Her Majesty's Armed Forces and sometimes legally the Armed Forces of the Crown, the British Armed Forces encompasses three professional uniformed services, the Royal Navy, the...
as a Lieutenant
Lieutenant
A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...
in the Royal Artillery
Royal Artillery
The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery , is the artillery arm of the British Army. Despite its name, it comprises a number of regiments.-History:...
. His National Service
National service
National service is a common name for mandatory government service programmes . The term became common British usage during and for some years following the Second World War. Many young people spent one or more years in such programmes...
postings included Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
and Jordan
Jordan
Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...
, where he saw field work. He was elected King George VI Research Fellow at the University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
in 1955. It was here that he was influenced by the American cultural geographer Carl O. Sauer
Carl O. Sauer
Carl Ortwin Sauer was an American geographer. Sauer was a professor of geography at the University of California at Berkeley from 1923 until becoming professor emeritus in 1957 and was instrumental in the early development of the geography graduate school at Berkeley. One of his best known works...
, and developed interest in agricultural origins and the aboriginal
Indigenous peoples
Indigenous peoples are ethnic groups that are defined as indigenous according to one of the various definitions of the term, there is no universally accepted definition but most of which carry connotations of being the "original inhabitants" of a territory....
New World
New World
The New World is one of the names used for the Western Hemisphere, specifically America and sometimes Oceania . The term originated in the late 15th century, when America had been recently discovered by European explorers, expanding the geographical horizon of the people of the European middle...
. Donkin returned to Britain in 1956, where he served on the staff of the University of Edinburgh
University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1583, is a public research university located in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The university is deeply embedded in the fabric of the city, with many of the buildings in the historic Old Town belonging to the university...
Geography Department for the next two years.
Later contributions
Donkin published a number of papers on Cistercian farming activity, introducing a new geographical dimension to monastic studies. Among his notable contributions to the field of historical geography is a 60-page synthesis on "Changes in the Early Middle Ages", which was contributed by him to the A New Historical Geography of England, published in 1973. Academic interest in Middle AmericaMiddle America (Americas)
Middle America is a region in the mid-latitudes of the Americas. In southern North America, it usually comprises Mexico, the nations of Central America, and the West Indies. The scope of the term may vary...
eventually led Donkin to Cambridge University, where he earned a Fellowship at Jesus College, Cambridge
Jesus College, Cambridge
Jesus College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England.The College was founded in 1496 on the site of a Benedictine nunnery by John Alcock, then Bishop of Ely...
, and served as a distinguished historical geographer.
Donkin's work Beyond Price: pearls and pearl-fishing, origins to the Age of Discoveries in 1998 - a work containing a mammoth 60 page bibliography - was published as a memoir of the American Philosophical Society
American Philosophical Society
The American Philosophical Society, founded in 1743, and located in Philadelphia, Pa., is an eminent scholarly organization of international reputation, that promotes useful knowledge in the sciences and humanities through excellence in scholarly research, professional meetings, publications,...
. In 2003, Donkin produced Between East and West: the Moluccas and the traffic in spices up to the arrival of Europeans, a book on maritime explorations in the Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
and the Indian Ocean
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...
.
Donkin traveled to North Africa
North Africa
North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa. Geopolitically, the United Nations definition of Northern Africa includes eight countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, South Sudan, Sudan, Tunisia, and...
, Middle America, South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
, South India
South India
South India is the area encompassing India's states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu as well as the union territories of Lakshadweep and Pondicherry, occupying 19.31% of India's area...
, South China
Northern and southern China
Northern China and southern China are two approximate regions within China. The exact boundary between these two regions has never been precisely defined...
and to Chinese Turkestan. His final work was an incomplete analysis of the cultural geography of maize
Maize
Maize known in many English-speaking countries as corn or mielie/mealie, is a grain domesticated by indigenous peoples in Mesoamerica in prehistoric times. The leafy stalk produces ears which contain seeds called kernels. Though technically a grain, maize kernels are used in cooking as a vegetable...
.
The Independent
The Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
, (London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
), May 10, 2006 summed up Donkin's life as follows:
Robert Arthur Donkin, geographer: born Morpeth, Northumberland 28 October 1928' King George VI Memorial Fellow, University of California, Berkeley 1955-56' Assistant Lecturer, Department of Geography, Edinburgh University 1956-58' Lecturer, Department of Geography, Birmingham University 1958-70' Lecturer in the Geography of Latin America, Cambridge University 1971-90, Reader in Historical Geography 1990-96 (Emeritus)' Fellow, Jesus College, Cambridge 1972- 96 (Emeritus), Tutor 1975-96' FBA1985' married 1970 Jennifer Kennedy (one daughter)' died Cambridge 1 February 2006.