Acton, John Emerich Edward Dalberg, 1st Baron Acton

Acton, John Emerich Edward Dalberg, 1st Baron Acton (1834-1902), British historian and liberal philosopher, famous for his statement, “Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely”. A member of an English Roman Catholic émigré family, Acton was born in Naples and educated in England and Germany, where he was introduced to German historical methods by his teacher, the liberal Roman Catholic scholar Johann Joseph Ignaz von Döllinger. In 1859 Acton succeeded John Henry Newman as editor of the English Roman Catholic periodical The Rambler, but resigned in 1864, when the publication's liberal views were condemned by Church authorities. He also came into conflict with Church policy when he opposed defining the doctrine of papal infallibility at the time of the First Vatican Council in 1870.

In 1895, following many years of historical study, Acton was appointed Regius Professor of Modern History at the University of Cambridge. His scholarly legacy consists mainly of his university lectures, many of which were collected and published after his death. Acton also planned and edited the Cambridge Modern History.

Through his writings and lectures, Lord Acton considerably influenced modern ideas about liberty. Upholding the sovereignty of the individual, he believed that concentration of power was harmful both in church and state: “The nation is responsible to Heaven for the acts of the State”, he said.