Fonds F0571 - David Higgs fonds

David Higgs (1939-2014), was a historian and scholar focusing on various topics of social, political, religious and cultural history as well as queer studies, particularly in relation to France, Portugal, Brazil and Canada.

Born in Rugby, England, his family moved to British Columbia when he was young. He earned a joint B.A. in French and History from UBC in 1959, an MA in History from Northwestern University in 1960, and a PhD in History (under the supervision of Alfred Cobban) from the University of London in 1964.

He taught as a professor of history at the University of Toronto, publishing such works of scholarship as Ultraroyalism in Toulouse: From its Origins to the Revolution of 1830 (1973),Nobles in nineteenth century France: the Practice of Inegalitarianism (1987) (translated in French as Nobles, titrés, aristocrates après la Révolution, 1800-1870), A Future to Inherit: The Portuguese Communities of Canada, co-written with Grace M. Anderson (1976), Church and Society in Catholic Europe of the eighteenth century (1979 with Bill Callahan), Portuguese migration in global perspective (1990) and Queer Sites: gay urban histories since 1600(1999), which he edited.
In 1998 he started the first LGBTQ (Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Queer) undergraduate seminar given in the History department under the title "Historians and Sexual Dissidents." He also taught courses on urban studies.

Retiring in 2004, Higgs continued his work and participation in scholarly communities in Portuguese Studies and French History.
David Higgs passed away October 20, 2014, and is survived by his partner Kaoru Kamimura.

Grace Merle Anderson was a sociologist and historian and collaborator with historian David Higgs on a shared project related to the Portuguese community in Canada. Her 1964 Master's thesis in Sociology from McMaster University was titled "The Relationship Between Religious Affiliation and Secular Attitudes and Behaviour." Her 1971 doctoral thesis from the University of Toronto was titled "The channel facilitators model of migration : a model tested using Portuguese blue-collar immigrants in Metropolitan Toronto." In 1976 Anderson co-published with Higgs "A future to inherit : Portuguese communities in Canada." In 1990 she co-authored with Juanne Nancarrow Clarke the book "God calls, man chooses : a study of women in ministry."