H.J. Fleure

From Geography

Like Kropotkin Peter, H.J. Fleure (June 6, 1877 – July 1, 1969) is another 'early' geographer and he was the key figure in the Welsh 'school' of geography. Fleure was born in Guernsey on 6 June 1877, the son of Jean Fleure and Marie Le Rougetel. In 1897, he attended the University of Wales, Aberystwyth, where he founded the Student Representative Council. He graduated with first-class honours in 1901 and went on to study at the Zoological Institute in Zurich, Switzerland.

Returning to Wales, he became Head of the Department of Zoology at Aberystwyth in 1908. In 1917, he became Professor of Anthropology and Geography at the university, holding the post until 1930, when he became Professor of Geography at Victoria University, Manchester. He was made a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1936[1]. Following his retirement in 1944, he was President of the Royal Anthropological Institute from 1945 to 1947.

Fleure deserves mention here for his hope that geography would 'become more widely useful as an instrument of humanist education and - at the same time - a valuable influence in the enrichment of citizenship' (Fleure, 1918, in Bowen, 1976, p.6).

References:

Cloke, P., Philo, C., Sadler, D. (1999). Approaching Human Geography. Paul Chapman: London, 57-92.

Created by Niek van Enckevort, 18-10-2012