Philip Dearmond Curtin (May 22, 1922 – June 4, 2009)[1] was a Professor Emeritus of Johns Hopkins University[2] and historian on Africa and the Atlantic slave trade.
"[7] Curtin was born in Philadelphia on May 22, 1922, and grew up in Webster Springs, West Virginia, the site of a coal and timber company owned by his family.
[8] Recognized during 1983 as a MacArthur Fellow with its accompanying "genius grant", Curtin published a total of 19 books,[1] which include Death by Migration: Europe's Encounter with the Tropical World in the Nineteenth Century, described by the American Historical Review (AHR) as "ground-breaking.
"[11] In addition to the aforementioned calculation, he has challenged the common opinion that improvements of medicine were responsible for the increased attempts at European colonization of Africa during the 19th century.
Although Curtin mentioned that this practice might discourage some caucasian academicians from specializing in African studies, his comments were also an argument for more opportunities for African-American scholars.
[12] While many visitors to Africa have been to Gorée Island in Senegal, described as a site where as many as 20 million Africans were fattened for shipment across the Atlantic Ocean from the Slave House after being shackled there in dank cells, Curtin debunked the traditional account, stating that "[t]he whole story is phony".