Marius Jensen; Scholar of Japanese History

Marius Berthus Jensen, 78, a noted scholar of Japanese history and professor emeritus at Princeton University. Born in Vleuten, the Netherlands, Jensen grew up in Massachusetts and received his undergraduate degree at Princeton, where he majored in European history of the Renaissance and Reformation eras. His Army service as a member of the Allied Occupation Team in Japan helped refocus his interest from Europe to Japan. He earned a master’s in history at Harvard in 1948, as well as a doctorate. After graduation, he took a teaching post at the University of Washington, staying there for nine years before returning to Princeton in 1959. At Princeton, he was director of the East Asian studies program for several years and the first chairman of the department of East Asian studies. Upon his retirement in 1992, he was named professor emeritus of Japanese history. Writing in English and Japanese, Jensen was the author and editor of more than 20 books, including “The Japanese and Sun Yat Sen,” “Sakamoto Ryoma and Meiji Restoration” and “The Making of Modern Japan,” published just one week before his death. On Dec. 10 in Princeton.