E. A. Thompson

E. A. Thompson FBA
Born	Edward Arthur Thompson (1914-05-22)22 May 1914 Waterford, Ireland
Died	1 January 1994(1994-01-01) (aged 79) Nottingham, England
Nationality	British
Spouses	Thelma Phelps ​ ​ (m. 1945; div. 1958)​ Hazel Casken ​ (m. 1964)​
Academic background
Education	Trinity College, Dublin
Academic advisors	H. W. Parker
Academic work
Discipline	Classics history medieval studies
Institutions	Trinity College, Dublin University of Swansea King's College, London University of Nottingham
Main interests	Late antiquity early Germanic peoples
Influenced	Neil Christie Peter Heather Malcolm Todd

Edward Arthur Thompson FBA (22 May 1914 – 1 January 1994) was an Irish-born British Marxist historian of classics and medieval studies. He was professor and director of the classics department at the University of Nottingham from 1948 to 1979, and a fellow of the British Academy. Thompson was a pioneer in the study of late antiquity, and was for decades the most prominent British scholar in this field. He was particularly interested in the relations between Ancient Rome and "barbarian" peoples such as the Huns and Visigoths, and has been credited with revitalizing English-language scholarship on the history of early Germanic peoples. Thompson's works on these subjects have been highly influential.