Books
1909 - 1997
Sir Isaiah Berlin, OM, was a political philosopher and historian of ideas, regarded as one of the leading liberal thinkers of the 20th century. Born in Riga, then part of the Russian Empire, he was the first Jew to be elected to a prize fellowship at All Souls College, Oxford.
From 1957 to 1967, he was Chichele Professor of Social and Political Theory at the University of Oxford. In 1967, he helped to found Wolfson College, Oxford, and became its first president. He was knighted in 1957, and was awarded the Order of Merit in 1971. He was president of the British Academy from 1974 to 1978. He also received the 1979 Jerusalem Prize for writings on the theme of individual freedom in society.
Berlin's work on liberal theory has had a lasting influence. His 1958 inaugural lecture, Two Concepts of Liberty, in which he famously distinguished between positive and negative liberty, has informed much of the debate since then on the relationship between liberty and equality.
Visit the Isaiah Berlin Literary Trust website for more information.