Frederic C. Lane

Frederic Chapin Lane was a historian who specialized in Medieval history with a particular emphasis on the Italian city and region of Venice. Frederic C. Lane received his B.A. from Cornell University in 1921, his M.A. from Tufts College in 1922, where he wrote a master's thesis on "The economic history of Europe during the first half of the sixteenth century," and his Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1930 with a doctoral thesis on "Venetian Ships and Shipbuilders of the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries." 

He began his graduate studies at the University of Bordeaux in 1923-24, then studied at the University of Vienna in 1924 before attending Harvard University in 1925-26. While a Harvard graduate student, he was John Thornton Kirkland Fellow. Frederic Chapin Lane was a historian who specialized in Medieval history with a particular emphasis on the Italian city and region of Venice. Frederic C. Lane received his B.A. from Cornell University in 1921.

Lane's research interests focused on the Italian city-state of Venice. His research on the city as a maritime trading center, particularly with his research in economic history, helped establish a standard for examining the development and growth of other Italian city-states. He applied his skills and interests in economic and maritime history to write the history of American wartime shipping during World War II. 

From 1951 to 1954, he was assistant director of the Social Science division at the Rockefeller Foundation and advised on European policy. He served as historian of the U.S. Maritime Commission, 1946-47. A member of the American Historical Association, he served as a council member from 1959 to 1962 and was elected President of the American Historical Association from 1964-1965.

Active in several other professional organizations, he was editor of the Journal of Economic History, president of the Society for Italian Historical Studies in 1961-63, president of the American Historical Association in 1965, president of the Economic History Association 1956-58, and president of the International Economic History Association, 1966-1968. He was a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Medieval Academy of America.