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- BIOGRAPHY
Son of Bertie William Edward Trevor-Roper and Kathleen Elizabeth Davison, Hugh Redward Trevor-Roper was born 15 January 1914 in Glanton, Northumberland. Educated at Charterhouse and Christ Church, Oxford, he became a research fellow of Merton College in 1937. His first book, _Archbishop Laud,_ was published three years later.
During the Second World War Trevor-Roper served in the Radio Security Service. Later he worked for the Secret Intelligence where he was involved on the project to penetrate the German Secret Service. Trevor-Roper later claimed that his boss, Kim Philby, undermined attempts by Admiral Wilhelm Canaris to negotiate with the British government.
In 1945 he was sent to Germany to find out if the claims being made by Joseph Stalin that Adolf Hitler was still alive. This involved him interviewing all the survivors of Hitler's staff. This material became the main source for his book, _The Last Days of Hitler_ (1947). He also produced _Hitler's Table Talk_ (1953).
On 4 October 1954 Hugh Trevor-Roper married Lady Alexandra Henrietta Louisa, divorced wife of Rear-Admiral Clarence Dinsmore Howard-Johnston and daughter of Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig, and the Hon. Dorothy Maud Vivian.
Trevor-Roper became professor of Modern History at Oxford University in 1957 a post he was to hold for twenty-three years. A supporter of the Conservative Party, in 1959 Hugh led the campaign to get Harold Macmillan elected as Chancellor of Oxford University.
Other books by Trevor-Roper include _Historical Essays_ (1957), _Hitler's War Directives_ (1964), _Religion, The Rise of Christian Europe_ (1965), _The Reformation and Social Change_ (1967), _The Philby Affair_ (1968) and edited _The Goebbels Diaries_ (1978).
Became Master of Peterhouse College in 1980, he was also director of Times Newspapers (1974-1988). In 1985 he claimed that the _Hitler Diaries_ serialized in the Sunday Times were authentic. Unfortunately for his reputation, it was later discovered to be a forgery.
In retirement he published _Renaissance Essays_ (1985), _Catholics, Anglicans and Puritans_ (1987), _From Counter-Reformation to Glorious Revolution_ (1992). Hugh Trevor-Roper, Baron Dacre of Glanton, died of cancer in an Oxford hospice on 26 January 2003.
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