Peter H. Reill

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Peter H. Reill (1938–2019) was an American historian who taught at the University of California, Los Angeles. He directed the UCLA Clark Library and the Center for 17th- and 18th-Century Studies. Born in Astoria, New York, to German immigrant parents, he earned a BA from New York University in 1960 and a PhD from Northwestern University in 1969. Reill joined UCLA’s History Department in 1966 and became a full professor in 1980, later chairing the department from 1988 to 1991. His research focused on Europe’s Enlightenment, especially how scientific and philosophical ideas moved between Germany, Britain, and France. His notable works include The German Enlightenment and the Rise of Historicism (1975) and Vitalizing Nature in the Enlightenment (2005). He was married to historian Jenna Gibbs and was the father of historian Dominique Kirchner Reill.