Eileen Edna Le Poer Power (9 January 1889 – 8 August 1940) was a British economic historian and medievalist.

[1][2] Eileen Power was the eldest daughter of a stockbroker and was born at Altrincham, Cheshire (now part of Greater Manchester) in 1889.

[7] When she was appointed, three specific reasons were mentioned: "(1) Her contributions by research to the advancement of social and economic history; (2) her known powers as a teacher; and (3) her high standing as a social and economic historian"[8] Power was the first woman to be awarded the Albert Kahn travelling scholarship in 1920,[9] despite the panel's concern that ladies 'might commit matrimony' defeating the 'objects of the trust'.

The Albert Kahn travelling scholarship was founded to "enable persons of proved intellectual attainments to enjoy a year's travel round the world, free from all professional pursuits, with a view to an unprejudiced survey of various civilizations, a comparison of other human values with those already known, and the acquisition of a more generous and philosophic outlook on human life.

[citation needed] From 1926 onward, she and Edward Denison Ross edited The Broadway Travellers, a book series of 26 works which was published by George Routledge & Sons.

[13] In 1937, Power married her pupil and colleague, the historian Michael Postan, Professor of Economic History at the University of Cambridge, having previously been engaged to Reginald Johnston, tutor to the last Emperor of China, Puyi.

In the 1940s, her sister endowed a "Power Feast" in Eileen's memory for some of the world's eminent historians to gather in honour of her immense contribution to historical scholarship.