Sidney S. Harcave (September 12, 1916 – October 24, 2008) was an American historian who specialised in

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...

.Mark Kulikowski, 'Sidney S. Harcave, 1916-2008', ''Slavic Review'', Vol. 68, No. 3 (Fall, 2009), p. 742. He was born in Washington, D.C. and was educated at the

City College of New York The City College of the City University of New York (also known as the City College of New York, or simply City College or CCNY) is a public university within the City University of New York (CUNY) system in New York City. Founded in 1847, Cit ...

, where he graduated with a BA. Under the supervision of

Samuel N. Harper Samuel Northrup Harper (April 9, 1882 – January 18, 1943) was an American historian and Slavicist. Son of William Rainey Harper, Samuel N. Harper was an important figure for the establishment and continuation of Russian studies at The University o ...

at the

University of CHicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chic ...

, Harcave earned his PhD in 1943. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, he became a foreign area specialist for the Foreign Broadcast Intelligence Service and an analyst for the

Office of Strategic Services The Office of Strategic Services (OSS) was the intelligence agency of the United States during World War II. The OSS was formed as an agency of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) to coordinate espionage activities behind enemy lines for all bran ...

and the

United States Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government responsible for the country's fore ...

. After the war, Harcave taught at the University of Wyoming and

Champlain College Champlain College is a private college in Burlington, Vermont. Founded in 1878, Champlain offers on-campus undergraduate and online undergraduate courses through Champlain College Online, along with online certificate and degree programs and ma ...

. During 1950–1951, he was a member of the Harvard Refugee Interview Project, which gave him an insight into the Soviet regime. He used this information for his 1954 work, ''Structure and Functioning of the Lower Party Organizations in the Soviet Union''. His college textbook, ''Russia: A History'', was first published in 1952 and went through six editions. From 1953 until 1982, he worked for the

State University of New York, Binghamton The State University of New York at Binghamton (Binghamton University or SUNY Binghamton) is a public research university with campuses in Binghamton, Vestal, and Johnson City, New York. It is one of the four university centers in the State ...

. Harcave edited a collection of Russian primary sources, ''Readings in Russian History'', which was published in two volumes in 1962. He wrote a history of the

1905 Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution of 1905,. also known as the First Russian Revolution,. occurred on 22 January 1905, and was a wave of mass political and social unrest that spread through vast areas of the Russian Empire. The mass unrest was directed again ...

, which was published in 1964, and he composed a history of the Russian Tsars from 1814 until 1917, which appeared in 1968. He edited and translated the memoirs of the Russian politician

Sergei Witte Count Sergei Yulyevich Witte (; ), also known as Sergius Witte, was a Russian statesman who served as the first prime minister of the Russian Empire, replacing the tsar as head of the government. Neither a liberal nor a conservative, he attract ...

, which was published in 1990, and he also wrote a biography of Witte.

Works

*''Russia: A History'' (Lippincott, 1952). *''Structure and Functioning of the Lower Party Organizations in the Soviet Union'' (Maxwell Air Force Base, 1954). *(editor), ''Readings in Russian History'', two volumes (Crowell, 1962). *''First Blood: The Russian Revolution of 1905'' (Collier-Macmillan, 1964). *''Years of the Golden Cockerel: The Last Romanov Tsars, 1814–1917'' (Robert Hale, 1968). *(editor), ''Memoirs of Count Witte'' (M. E. Sharpe, 1990). *''Count Sergei Witte and the Twilight of Imperial Russia'' (M. E. Sharpe, 2004).

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harcave, Sidney 1916 births 2008 deaths People from Washington, D.C. City College of New York alumni University of Chicago alumni University of Wyoming faculty Champlain College people American historians Historians of Russia Binghamton University faculty