Michael Karpovich
Mikhail Karpovich | |
|---|---|
| Михаил Михайлович Карпович | |
| Born | August 3, 1888 |
Mikhail Mikhailovich Karpovich (Russian: Михаил Михайлович Карпович; August 3, 1888 – November 7, 1959), known in English as Michael Karpovich, was a Russian and American historian of Russia and one of the fathers of Slavic studies in the United States.
Biography
Early years
Mikhail Mikhailovich Karpovich was born August 3, 1888, in
During the first two years of World War I, Karpovich worked as an assistant at the Historical Museum of Moscow, but he was drawn into the war effort in 1916.[3] He was assigned to the Ministry of War with the task of coordinating industrial production for the needs of the front.[3]
Following the
Career in America
Karpovich remained in this position of trust at the Russian embassy until the middle of 1922, when he moved to New York City to assist Bakhmetev there.[3] He also lectured on Russian history at a number of universities and made translations during this interval.[3]
In 1927 Karpovich began his long career in the history department of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
From 1946 until his death Karpovich edited the quarterly Novyi Zhurnal (New Magazine), an old school thick journal of serious Russian journalism and fiction.[3] He was also a contributor to The Russian Review from its establishment in 1941, working via three-cornered correspondence with his co-editors, William Henry Chamberlin and Dimitri von Mohrenschildt.[5]
Karpovich planned to join historian George Vernadsky in writing a 10-volume history of Russia, with Vernadsky handling the initial six volumes and Karpovich the final four.[6] The project was begun in 1943, but only Vernadsky's work was completed.
In 1949 Karpovich was named Chairman of the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures at Harvard.[3] He remained in this position until 1954, when he became Curt Hugo Reisinger Professor of Slavic Languages and Literatures, retaining this title along with that of Professor of History until his retirement in 1957.[3]
Death and legacy
Michael Karpovich died on November 7, 1959, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He is buried in Novo-Diveevo Cemetery in Nanuet, New York.[7]
Karpovich was honored by former students with the Festschrift, Russian Thought and Politics (1957)[8] He was remembered by historian of Russia William Henry Chamberlin as "a great Russian scholar, equally at home in history and literature" who was "a vital influence on the development of Russian studies in the United States."[9] Chamberlin continued:
"Karpovich embodied in his own personality the finest traits of the pre-war Russian
anti-Russianism of some embittered members of the non-Russian nationalities."[10]
References
- ^ a b c Mosely, Philip E. (1957). "Professor Michael Karpovich". In Fischer, George; Malia, Martin E.; McLean, Hugh (eds.). Russian Thought and Politics. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. p. 2.
- ^ JSTOR 126193.
- ^ JSTOR 126193.
- ^ a b Alexander Kerensky, "M.M. Karpovich," Novyi Zhurnal, no. 58 (1959), pg. 6.
- ^ Dimitri von Mohrenschildt, "Michael Karpovich, 1888-1959," The Russian Review, vol. 19, no. 1 (January 1960), pg. 74.
- ^ George Vernadsky and Michael Karpovich, "Preface," A History of Russia: Volume 1. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1943.
- ^ Michael Michaelovich Karpovich at findagrave.com
- ^ Hugh McLean, Martin E. Malia, and George Fischer (eds.), Russian Thought and Politics. The Hague: Mouton and Co., 1957; distributed in the United States by Harvard University Press.
- ^ William Henry Chamberlin, 'Michael Karpovich, 1888-1959', in The Russian Review; 19:1 (1960 January), pg. 71.
- ^ Chamberlin, 'Michael Karpovich, 1888-1959', pg. 73.
Works
Books
- Imperial Russia. (1932)
Contributions
- Economic History of Europe. Contributor. (1937)
- An Encyclopedia of World History. Contributor. (1941)
- Waldemar Gurian (ed.), The Soviet Union: A Symposium. (1951)
Books edited
P.N. Miliukov, Outlines of Russian Culture. In Three Volumes. (1943)
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