Also known as J.R. Hale.

Sir John Rigby Hale FBA (17 September 1923 – 12 August 1999) was a British historian and translator, best known for his Renaissance studies.

Hale was born in Ashford, Kent. He was educated at Jesus College, Oxford (B.A., 1948, M.A., 1953). He also attended Johns Hopkins University and Harvard University (1948–49).

He was a Fellow of the British Academy and Emeritus Professor of Italian History at University College, London, where he was head of the Italian Department from 1970 until his retirement in 1988. His first position was as Fellow and Tutor in Modern History at Jesus College, Oxford, from 1949 to 1964. After this he became the first Professor of History at Warwick University where he remained till 1970. He taught at a number of other universities including Cornell and the University of California.

He was a Trustee of the National Gallery, London, from 1973 to 1980, becoming Chairman from 1974. He was made a Knight Bachelor on 20 August 1984.

In 1992, he suffered a severe stroke that caused aphasia. He died seven years later in Twickenham, after which his wife, the journalist Sheila Hale, wrote a book about his final years titled The Man Who Lost His Language.