Postan, Michael M (born 1899)

Moldovan-born British economic historian. Postan's main interest was English economic history and his influence as a teacher and author between 1930 and 1970 was such as to make his views on the development of the medieval English economy the established orthodoxy and point of departure for all students of the period. His publications include Historical Method in Social Science (1939), The Medieval Economy and Society (1973), and Medieval Trade and Finance (1973).

Postan was born in Tighina, Bessarabia (now in modern-day Moldova). He was lecturer in history at University College, London (1927–31), at the London School of Economics (1931–35), and at Cambridge University (1935–38). He was professor of economic history at Cambridge 1938–65. Among his other publications are Studies in English Trade in the Fifteenth century (1933), British War Production (1952), An Economic History of Western Europe, 1945–64 (1967), Fact and Relevance (1971), and Essays on Medieval Agriculture and the Medieval Economy (1973). Postan was married to the British economic historian Eileen Power.