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Professor Colin Holmes, leading historian of British antisemitism, dies aged 88
The University of Sheffield academic spent decades researching anti-Jewish prejudice, British fascism and the experiences of immigrant communities
Professor Colin Holmes, one of Britain’s leading historians of antisemitism and fascism, has died aged 88.
The University of Sheffield emeritus professor died on Sunday, 8 November, after a career spent uncovering the history of anti-Jewish prejudice, far-right extremism and immigration in Britain.
His friend and former colleague, Professor Geoffrey Alderman, who worked with him on research into the controversial 19th-century figure Sir Richard Burton, spoke of his sadness, describing Holmes as “the foremost expert on the history of British antisemitism.”
Holmes was best known for his influential 1979 book Anti-Semitism in British Society 1876-1939, which examined hostility towards Jews in Britain in the decades leading up to the Second World War.
The book established British antisemitism as a major subject of historical research and inspired further academic work on fascism and anti-Jewish prejudice.
He also investigated the British circulation of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, the notorious antisemitic forgery used to spread conspiracy theories about Jewish influence and power.
Born in August 1938, Holmes studied at the University of Nottingham before joining the University of Sheffield in 1963, where he would spend his academic career.
He became a professor in 1989 and retired in 1998, although he continued researching and publishing for many years.
His interests extended beyond antisemitism to the experiences of immigrant communities in Britain. His 1988 book John Bull’s Island: Immigration & British Society, 1871-1971 examined how newcomers shaped British society and the prejudice they encountered.
Holmes also studied prominent British fascists, including Oswald Mosley and William Joyce, the Nazi propagandist known as Lord Haw-Haw, whose life he explored in a 2016 biography.
In 1981, he helped establish the academic journal Immigrants & Minorities, serving as joint editor until 2011.
Over more than five decades, his books, research and teaching helped shape the study of antisemitism, fascism and immigration, leaving a lasting legacy for historians examining Britain’s treatment of Jewish and other minority communities.
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