H. Gordon Skilling

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Harold Gordon Skilling (February 28, 1912 – March 2, 2001) was a Canadian political scientist, known for his expertise on the history of Czechoslovakia and support for the Charter 77 dissident movement.[1]

Born in Toronto in 1912, Skilling received degrees from the University of Toronto, University of London, and University of Oxford.[1] He was part of the faculty at the University of Toronto until his retirement in 1982.[1]

In Czechoslovakia

Skilling's first visit to Czechoslovakia was in 1937,

Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia began.[2] During this period he also worked on news broadcasts for NBC and CBS.[2] Skilling left Prague in April 1939, to finish his doctoral research in Nazi-ruled Vienna.[2]

Post-war

After

Hrádeček,[2] and the wider Charter 77 movement, smuggling newspapers, journals, and books into the country to encourage dissident activists,[1][2] including his own book, Charter 77 and Human Rights in Czechoslovakia, which was strongly supportive of the movement.[1] As an academic historian, Skilling produced a number of works about Czechoslovak history and culture,[2] and collected many Czechoslovak samizdat publications, now housed in the University of Toronto library.[2]

Skilling was awarded the

social sciences. In 1992, Skilling received the Order of the White Lion, Czechoslovakia's highest honour, from President Vaclav Havel.[2]

Personal life

Gordon Skilling's wife Sara died in 1990. They had two sons.[1]

Legacy

According to Radio Prague, "few would question [Skilling's] status as the most important North American historian of Czechoslovak 20th century history.[2] In 2012, the centenary of Skilling's birth was marked by an international conference and exhibition about his life and work at the Museum Kampa in Prague.[2]

Selected works

  • 1976 Czechoslovakia's Interrupted Revolution - on the subject of the Prague Spring[1][2]
  • 1981 Charter 77 and Human Rights in Czechoslovakia - a sympathetic overview of the Charter 77 movement[1]
  • 2000 The Education of a Canadian: My Life as a Scholar and Activist - autobiography[2]

References

  1. ^
    New York Times
    . March 18, 2001.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Vaughan, David (4 August 2012). "Gordon Skilling: A Canadian witness of Czechoslovak history". Radio Praha. Retrieved 13 June 2018.
  3. ISBN 978-80-87173-47-3
    , pages 12 - 70, 101-102, 124–125, 128, 129, 132, 140–148, 184–190.
  4. ^ "Innis-Gérin Medal". Past award winners. Royal Society of Canada. Archived from the original on 22 February 2015. Retrieved 21 February 2015.

External links

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