(1795–1886), German historian and educator, who founded the modern school of history writing, which relies primarily on documents by eyewitnesses of historical events and their contemporaries.

The son of an attorney, Ranke was born in Wiehe, Dec. 12, 1795. After study at the University of Leipzig, he worked as a schoolmaster. His first book, History of the Latin and Teutonic Nations, 1494–1514 (1824), included a criticism of contemporary historiography that condemned its reliance on tradition and proposed, instead, his own more objective method. He was rewarded with a professorship at the University of Berlin (1825–71). His studies took him to Vienna and Italy, where his research in state archives provided the material for some of the most respected historical writing of the age. His works cover the histories of the major European countries and include the History of the Popes During the 16th and 17th Centuries (1834–36), History of the Reformation in Germany (1839–47), Civil Wars and Monarchy in France in the 16th and 17th Centuries (1852), and an incomplete world history in nine volumes (1881–88). He died on May 23, 1886.

As a historian, Ranke attempted to put aside prevailing theories and prejudices and by the scrupulous use of primary sources to present an unvarnished picture of the facts. Nevertheless, he tended to emphasize political history, dwelling upon the deeds of kings and leaders and ignoring economic and social forces. A famous educator, he introduced the seminar as a method of teaching history and trained a generation of influential scholars.