David Maelgwyn Joslin, who had held the Chair of Economic History in the University of Cambridge since 1965 and had been, for the last two years, a co-editor of the Journal of Latin American Studies, died suddenly in Cambridge, England, on October 15, 1970 at the age of 45.
David Joslin was born on April 29, 1925. He was educated at Barry County School, Glamorgan, and at St. John’s College, Cambridge. His undergraduate studies were interrupted from 1943-46 by service with the Royal Navy, first as an ordinary seaman and then as a Sub-Lieutenant. Returning to Cambridge in 1946 he did brilliantly in both parts of the Historical Tripos in 1947 and 1948, held the Strathcona Studentship at St. John’s College from 1949-51 and was then elected a Fellow of Pembroke College. He remained a Fellow of Pembroke till his death, serving the College from 1952-65 first as Director of Studies in History and then also as Senior Tutor, but relinquishing both offices on his election to the University Chair of Economic History. He had previously been an Assistant Lecturer and a Lecturer in the University, and, in the Chair, succeeded his former master, Professor Michael Postan.
Joslin’s interest in Latin American history, as a young economic historian, was first aroused by an invitation from the Bank of London and South America to undertake the writing of its centenary history. This resulted in an extensive tour of South America in the latter half of 1957, when he visited the branches of the Bank and examined their archives. The history itself was published in 1963 as A Century of Banking in Latin America to Commemorate the Centenary in 1962 of The Bank of London and South America Limited. It was to have been followed by further studies in the economic history of Latin America. An outline of a book, to be published by Weidenfeld and Nicolson, had been sketched out and much preliminary work had been done, when death cut short his plans.
Joslin possessed unusual powers of rapid assimilation of information and ideas and the ability to see quickly and completely the implications of an argument. In committee he was skillful in reconciling different views and in gauging efficiently and correctly the sense of a meeting. A notable raconteur, he was always able to impart a sense of drama and urgency into the matters with which he was dealing. And he had the great art of handling the young, winning the confidence of undergraduates and research students alike, and devoting much time and thought to their problems, whether academic or practical. Above all, he enjoyed all his work, and, an excellent teacher, had the gift of infecting others with his own enthusiasm.
Joslin had the makings of a distinguished administrator as well as of an outstanding scholar. A tower of strength to the History Faculty at Cambridge (and a repository of much curious Faculty lore and wisdom), he had helped to edit in turn the Economic History Review and the modern volumes of the Cambridge Economic History, before he agreed to be one of the joint editors of the new Journal of Latin American Studies, sponsored by the five centers of Latin American Studies in Britain, in 1969. He was a co-editor also of the excellent Latin American series published by the Cambridge University Press. He had served as Chairman of the Latin American Centre at Cambridge and as a member of the Latin American Publications Fund in London, and he had recently accepted an invitation to join the Committee of Management of the London Institute of Latin American Studies. He had been happily married in 1969. His early death is a tragedy, and for Latin American studies both in Cambridge and England a severe and perhaps irreparable loss.
