Eric J. Hobsbawm, the best-known and most renowned historian of the 20th century and one of the greatest of all time. Son of a British father and an Austrian mother, both Jews, Eric John Ernest Hobsbawm was born in Alexandria, Egypt, in 1917, “the year of the Russian Revolution”.

Eric J. Hobsbawm received the title of Doctor Honoris Causa for being a historian committed to the present, based on a critical interpretation of events that have shaped contemporary society, as well as for his teaching around the world and at the UdG, through his extensive written work and classes taught from progressive ideological positions. The award was agreed by the Governing Council of the University of Girona, at session 7/08 on 25 September 2008, and proposed by the Faculty of Arts.