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Gordon Griffiths was born in 1914 in Berkeley, California. He received a B.A. in Greek from UC Berkeley in 1936, B.A. and M.A. degrees in modern history from Balliol College at Oxford, and a Ph.D. in history from UC Berkeley in 1942. He taught history at Farragut College in 1947, UC Berkeley 1947-1955, Lawrence College 1955-1959, and at the University of Washington from 1959 unitl his nominal retirement in 1980.

At the University of Washington, he taught Renaissance, Reformation, and Dutch history, and his own research focused on the Italian Renaissance, especially the career of Leonardo Bruni. Griffiths had a long history of political activism. He joined the Communist Party in the 1930's and was an ardent opponent of fascism and Nazism. In the early 1950's, he was involved in a fight against the loyalty oath imposed by the regents of the University of California, and in the 1960's was involved in opposition to the Washington Loyalty Oath. He was also a strong opponent of the conflict in Vietnam. Griffiths died on January 13, 2001.