1861-1947
Geopolitician

Career. Halford Mackinder was born in Gainsborough, in Lincolnshire, England, the eldest son of a doctor. He studied natural science at Oxford University and graduated in 1883; four years later he gained a chair in geography at that university which he held until 1905. In 1899 he created a geography department, contributing to the institutional professionalization of geographical study. This development also illustrates what was occurring throughout the social sciences at the time, the formation of distinct "disciplines." From 1903 to 1908 he served as Director of the London School of Economics. Shortly thereafter he entered politics and was elected to Parliament as a Conservative, where he served from 1910 to 1922.

Scholarship. His first significant publication was the article "The Scope and Methods of Geography." Here he formulated methods of geographical inquiry and helped to lay the foundation of the new discipline. In this article he stated that to properly...