C. P. Fitzgerald


Charles Patrick Fitzgerald was a British historian and writer whose academic career occurred mostly in Australia. He was a professor of East Asian studies with particular focus on China.

Early life and education

Fitzgerald was born in London, England. His parents were Hans Sauer, a migrant from Cape Colony. and his Irish-born wife Cecile Josephine, née Fitzpatrick.
Unable to attend university as his family could not afford the fees, he obtained a job in a bank. After becoming interested in East Asia and the political developments there, he studied for a diploma in Chinese at the University of London's School of Oriental Studies.

Career

He first visited China at age 21, and subsequently lived and worked there for over 20 years. Between 1946 and 1950 he worked there for the British Council. After leaving China, Fitzgerald was invited to Australia by Douglas Copland, who had been Australian Minister to China. Fitzgerald served as a Reader in Far Eastern History at the Research School of Pacific Studies at the Australian National University, located in Canberra, Australia, from 1951 to 1953. He later became the first Professor of Far Eastern History, from 1953 to 1967.
He was a foundation fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities in 1969.

Personal life

Fitzgerald married Pamela Sara Knollys on 15 February 1941 at Bradford on Avon, Wiltshire, England. They had three daughters.
He died in Sydney, New South Wales, in 1992.

Writings

Fitzgerald's best-known book, China: A Short Cultural History, has been reprinted and revised several times. He authored many other books and articles, including:
  • Son of Heaven: A Biography of Li Shih-Min, Founder of the T'ang Dynasty
  • The Tower of Five Glories
  • Introducing China
  • Revolution in China ; revised edition: The Birth of Communist China
  • Flood Tide in China
  • Finding Out About Imperial China
  • Empress Wu
  • The Chinese View of Their Place in the World
  • Barbarian Beds: The Origin of the Chair in China
  • The Third China: The Chinese Communities in South-East Asia
  • Buddhism in Political Action in South East Asia
  • China in the Twenty-first Century
  • China's Revolution 20 Years After
  • The Irrationality of the Fear of China
  • Communism Takes China: How the Revolution Went Red
  • Changing Directions of Chinese Foreign Policy
  • The Southern Expansion of the Chinese People: "Southern Fields and Southern Ocean"
  • Mao Tse-Tung and China
  • China and South East Asia since 1945
  • Why China?: Recollections of China, 1923–1950
  • "The Historical Background of Chinese Military Tradition" in the ''Journal of the Oriental Society of Australia''