Harold Shukman
Harold Shukman (born March 23, 1931 in London , † July 11, 2012 ) was a British historian .
Life
Harold Shukman was born in London in 1931 to Jewish immigrants. His parents had left the Russian Empire before the First World War to escape the poverty and discrimination there. In London, his father was a successful tailor in the East End and later moved his business to the West End .
Harold Shukman had a patchy schooling and left Hendon Technical College in 1947 to take on various positions. After his national service he was given the opportunity to complete Russian courses at the Joint Services School for Linguists in Cambridge and Bodmin , Cornwall . He later studied Russian and Serbo-Croatian at Nottingham University , where he graduated. In 1954 he was the first Russian-speaking British student in the Soviet Union . He returned to the UK two years later. In 1956 he married. He later moved to Oxford with his wife to write his doctoral thesis on the General Jewish Workers' Union in pre-revolutionary Russia. After receiving his doctorate , he became a lecturer at the University of Oxford , where he later served as director of the Russian Center at St Antony's College . In 1998 he retired.
From the mid-1980s on, he mainly dealt with the translation of Russian-language books into English. This included, among other things, The Children of Arbat by Anatoli Rybakow , as well as various works by Dmitri Antonowitsch Wolkogonow , with whom a friendship developed over time.
Shukman was married for the first time in 1956. This marriage resulted in three children, two sons and a daughter. After the divorce, he remarried in 1973. His second wife brought three children, two daughters and one son, into the marriage. He died of prostate cancer in July 2012 .
Publications (selection)
- with William Deakin, Harry Willetts: A History of World Communism (1975)
- (Ed.): The Blackwell Encyclopedia of the Russian Revolution (1988)
- (Ed.): Stalin's Generals (1993)
- (Ed.): Agents for Change: Intelligence Services in the 21st Century (2000)
- (Ed.): Redefining Stalinism (2003)
- War Or Revolution (2006)
- with Geoffrey Elliott: Secret Classrooms (2006)
- with Felix Patrikeeff: Railways and the Russo-Japanese War: Transporting War (2007)
Web links
- Harold Shukman obituary , Aug 20, 2012, The Guardian
- Harold Shukman , Sep 25, 2012, The Daily Telegraph
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Shukman, Harold |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | British historian |
| DATE OF BIRTH | March 23, 1931 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | London |
| DATE OF DEATH | July 11, 2012 |