Barthold Georg Niebuhr

Born in Copenhagen in 1776, he was the son of the explorer Carsten Niebuhr and grew up with an unusual gift for languages and classical learning. He studied at Kiel, worked in public service and finance, and later moved into academic life, building a reputation that reached far beyond his own time.

He is best known for his work on Roman history, especially his influential History of Rome. Rather than simply repeating traditional accounts, he compared sources critically and asked what could really be trusted. That method helped open a new chapter in historical scholarship and shaped later generations of historians.

Niebuhr also served as a statesman and diplomat, so his career moved between government and scholarship. He died in Bonn in 1831, but he is still remembered as a key figure in the rise of modern historical method.