Theodore was a guest speaker for one of the discussions we convened but he does not work at Cumberland Lodge. We cannot share his contact details and it is not always possible for us to pass on contact enquiries to past speakers.
Dr Theodore Zeldin is the son of refugees from the Russian Revolution, a graduate and former lecturer of Christ Church Oxford, and one of the fellows who developed Oxford University’s centres for international studies at St Antony’s College, of which he was Dean and Senior Tutor for 13 years.
As a historian and philosopher, he has revealed how human emotions have changed through the centuries, and proposed new ambitions for the next generation: his books, which have been translated into 27 languages, include A History of French Passions (in five volumes, Ambition and Love, Taste and Corruption, Intellect and Pride, Politics and Anger, Anxiety and Hypocrisy), Happiness, An Intimate History of Humanity, Conversation: How Talk can Change our Lives, and The Hidden Pleasures of Life: A New Way of Remembering the Past and Imagining the Future.
Outside of academia, Theodore co-founded the Oxford Food Symposium for the serious study of gastronomy, and he established the Oxford Muse Foundation to offer innovative methods for improving personal, professional and cultural relationships. He has been an adviser to all kinds of businesses and professions, as well as to the President of France, and is Professor honoris causa of HEC Paris Business School in France. He was named as ‘one of Britain’s leading intellects’ by Management Today.
Theodore has been married to Deirdre Wilson, the co-inventor of the Theory of Relevance, for more than 40 years. They live in an Art Deco house near Oxford and Theodore's hobbies are painting, gardening and mending things.