Stephen Christopher Rowell (born 9 May 1964 in Leicester) is a British historian, translator and author of many publications and books about the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.^[3][4][5] His book Lithuania Ascending: A Pagan Empire within East-Central Europe, 1295–1345 was published by Cambridge University Press in 1994.^[6]

Stephen Rowell studied history, Latin, French, and Russian languages at Magdalene College, Cambridge, graduating in 1985, before working at the college as a researcher in 1988–89.^[3][4] From 1990 to 1993, Rowell lectured at Clare College, Cambridge about the History of Europe and Ruthenia in the Middle Ages.^[3]

Rowell visited Lithuania for the first time in 1985.^[3] He subsequently wrote a dissertation on The Role of Christianity in the Last Pagan State in Europe: Lithuania, 1315-1342, for which he obtained the degree of Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Cambridge in 1990.^[4][3][7]

In 1992–94, Rowell lectured in history at Vilnius University, Vytautas Magnus University, and Klaipėda University.^[3][4] From 1993 to 1999, he was a professor at the Klaipėda University.^[3][4] Since 2001, he has been the editor-in-chief of the periodical Lithuanian Historical Studies.^[8]

Rowell has published more than 50 articles on medieval Europe and the early history of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, in both Lithuanian and foreign publications.^[3][4][5]