Ragnhild Marie Hatton (born 10 January 1913 in Bergen, Norway – died 16 May 1995 in London) was professor of International History at the London School of Economics. As the author of her obituary declared, she was "for a generation Britain's leading historian of 17th- and 18th century Europe...." Early life and education The daughter of Gustav Ingolf Hanssen and Marie Rikheim Hanssen, Ragnhild Hanssen was educated in a private school for girls in Bergen, Norway and then in the Bergen Cathedral School. She entered the University of Oslo, where she received her candidata magisterii (Cand. Mag.) degree in 1936. On 24 June 1936, she married Harry Hatton (died 1989), an English businessman, who had served in the Royal Navy as well as in merchant ships and later became a mathematics teacher. The couple had two sons. Moving to London on her marriage, she matriculated as a part-time student at University College, London, where she continued to work on the doctoral thesis that she had begun in Norway. Working with G. J. Renier and Mark A. Thomson, she completed her PhD degree in 1947 with her thesis on "Diplomatic relations between Great Britain and the Dutch Republic, 1714–1721." Academic career While still a graduate student, she became a part-time teacher. She was appointed Assistant Lecturer at the London School of Economics in 1949 and rose to become Lecturer in 1950, and Reader in 1958. In 1968, she was named Professor of International History. She was appointed Professor Emeritus in 1981. She served as Dean of the Faculty of Economics and Political Science, 1974–1978, and Chairman of the History Department, London School of Economics, 1978–1981. She served on the London Honours Board of Examiners in History, 1964–68, and was an external examiner in history for the University of Nottingham, 1965–69, the University of Edinburgh, 1965–70, Queens University, Belfast, 1972–73, and the University of Warwick, 1975–77. She served as a member of Council of the Royal Historical Society, 1979–1983. Honours Fellow, Royal Swedish Academy of Letters, History and Antiquities, 1954 Honorary Foreign Member American Historical Association, 1979 Honorary Corresponding Member, La Academia Panamanena de la Historia Ridder (Knight), First Class, Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav, 1983 Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters, Ohio State University, 1985 Commander of the Order of the Polar Star, 1986 French Palmes Académiques, 1988 Senior Fellow, British Academy, 1993 Published works Books Diplomatic relations between Great Britain