Helmut Georg Koenigsberger FBA (24 October 1918 – 8 March 2014) was a German-born British historian and academic.
[4] Knowing that military service would speed up his application for naturalisation, he joined the Royal Navy in July 1944 as a writer, during the latter stages of Second World War.
[5] His work involved deciphering and translating German naval messages while serving aboard British ships, and was often done at night and in secret.
He completed his Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in 1949: his thesis concerned the government of Sicily in the sixteenth century and its relationship with Habsburg Spain.
[7] His doctoral thesis was published as a monograph in 1951 with the title "The Government of Sicily Under Philip II of Spain: A Study in the Practice of Empire".
He returned to the United Kingdom in 1973 and served as Professor of History at King's College London until his retirement in 1984.
[9] His research covered early modern Europe,[2] and he is credited with its establishment as "a distinct and unified field of study".