Christina Larner

Christina Larner (22 November 1933  –27 April 1983) was a British historian with pioneering studies about European witchcraft and a Professor of Sociology at the University of Glasgow. She was an expert on the history of witchcraft in Scotland.

Larner was born in London, the daughter of Nella Wallace and John Ross, senior civil servant, who both went to university. After attending South Hampstead High School for Girls (London), she matriculated and graduated with first class honours in Modern History in 1957. She was awarded PhD at the University of Edinburgh for her thesis 'Continental Influences on Scottish Demonology, 1560–1700’ in 1962.

As a graduate of the University of Edinburgh, Larner moved to the University of Glasgow as a part-time assistant in the Department of Politics and Sociology in 1966. In 1972, she was appointed Lecturer in Sociology and was subsequently Senior Lecturer. She was awarded a titular professorship at the University of Glasgow in the same year as she died.

In 1960, she married John Larner, a historian of Renaissance Italy. They had two sons, Patrick and Gaven.

• A Source-book of Scottish witchcraft (1977, 2005)
• Enemies of God (1981)
• Witchcraft and Religion (1984)