Ernst Nolte was born on January 11, 1923, and died on August 18, 2016.
He was a German historian and philosopher.
His major interest is the comparative studies of fascism and communism (cf. Comparison of Nazism and Stalinism).
Initially trained in philosophy, he was Professor Emeritus of Modern History at the Free University of Berlin, where he taught from 1973 until his 1991 retirement.
Previously to that he was a Professor at the University of Marburg from 1965 to 1973.
Nolte is best known for his seminal work Fascism In Its Epoch, which received widespread acclaim when it was published in 1963.
Ernst Nolte has been a prominent conservative academic since the early 1960s, and involved in many controversies related to the interpretation of the history of fascism and communism, including the Historikerstreit in the late 1980s.
During recent years, Nolte has focused on Islamism and “Islamic fascism”.
Ernst Nolte was the father of legal scholar Georg Nolte.
He was awarded several prizes, including the Hanns Martin Schleyer Prize and the Konrad Adenauer Prize.
He died in Berlin, Germany.
Ernst Nolte passed away at 93 years old.