Edward A. Allworth (December 1, 1920 – October 20, 2016) was an American

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the st ...

specializing in

Central Asia Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes the fo ...

. Allwarth was widely regarded as the West’s leading scholar on Central Asian studies. He extensively studied the various ethnic groups of the region, including

Uzbeks The Uzbeks ( uz, , , , ) are a Turkic ethnic group native to the wider Central Asian region, being among the largest Turkic ethnic group in the area. They comprise the majority population of Uzbekistan, next to Kazakh and Karakalpak mino ...

Tajiks Tajiks ( fa, تاجيک، تاجک, ''Tājīk, Tājek''; tg, Тоҷик) are a Persian-speaking Iranian ethnic group native to Central Asia, living primarily in Afghanistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. Tajiks are the largest ethnicity in Taj ...

, and

Bukharan Jews Bukharan Jews ( Bukharian: יהודיאני בוכארא/яҳудиёни Бухоро, ''Yahudiyoni Bukhoro''; he, יהודי בוכרה, ''Yehudey Bukhara''), in modern times also called Bukharian Jews ( Bukharian: יהודיאני בוכאר ...

. He wrote numerous books on the history of Central Asia. Edward was the grandson of Alfred and Fanny Wickson Allworth, of which he wrote a book, From Mansion to Cottage, the life of Alfred and Fanny.

Background

Edward A. Allworth was born on December 1, 1920, the son of Edward Allworth (1895–1966) and Ethel Walker. (His father received the Medal of Honor for service in France during World War I.) He received his bachelor's degree from

Oregon State University Oregon State University (OSU) is a public land-grant, research university in Corvallis, Oregon. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate-degree programs along with a variety of graduate and doctoral degrees. It has the 10th largest engineering ...

. He received a master's degree from the

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

. In 1959, he received a Ph.D. from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

Career

During World War II, Allworth served as a platoon leader, second lieutenant, and adjutant, in the

501st Parachute Infantry Regiment The 501st Infantry Regiment, previously the 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment and 501st Airborne Infantry Regiment, is an airborne forces regiment of the United States Army with a long history, having served in World War II and the Vietnam War ...

101st Airborne Division The 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) ("Screaming Eagles") is a light infantry division of the United States Army that specializes in air assault operations. It can plan, coordinate, and execute multiple battalion-size air assault operati ...

of the US Army, in the

Normandy Invasion Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied Western Europe during World War II. The operation was launched on 6 June 1944 (D-Day) with the Norm ...

and the division's battles thereafter through the Allied World War II victory in Northern Europe. Allworth taught a wide variety of courses on Central Asian studies at Columbia University. In 1984, he established the Department of Middle East Languages and Cultures to focus on the study of contemporary Central Asia. He published numerous books on the history of Central Asia. These include ''Uzbek Literary Politics'' (1964), ''Central Asian Publishing and the Rise of Nationalism'' (1965), ''Central Asia: A Century of Russian Rule'' (1967), ''The Nationality Question in Soviet Central Asia'' (1973), ''Nationality Group Survival in Multiethnic States'' (1977), ''The Modern Uzbeks: From the Fourteenth Century to the Present'' (1990), ''The Tatars of Crimea: Return to the Homeland'' (1998), and ''The Preoccupations of Abdalrauf Fitrat, Bukharan Nonconformist: An Analysis and List of His Writings'' (2000). Allworth was Emeritus Professor of Turko-Soviet Studies at

. He was founding director at Columbia of both the Program on Soviet Nationality Problems (1970) and the Center for the Study of Central Asia (1984). Allworth was also editor of the Central Asia book series at

Duke University Press Duke University Press is an academic publisher and university press affiliated with Duke University. It was founded in 1921 by William T. Laprade as The Trinity College Press. (Duke University was initially called Trinity College). In 1926 ...

Personal life and death

Allworth extensively studied the Chagatai language. He was fluent in Uzbek and Uighur. Allworth died on October 20, 2016, in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. In November 2016, the Central Eurasia Studies Society posthumously awarded Allworth with the CESS Lifetime Service to the Field Award.

Legacy

Doctoral student Shahrbanou Tadjbakhsh remembered:

Professor Allworth always defended cultural history during the
Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because t ...
when the tendency was to study strategy and weapons, as well as during the post-Soviet period when the focus was on democracy building and economic transition models. When the Central Asian countries gained independence in the early 1990s, while some students dropped out of the Ph.D. track to follow the appeal of rapid lucrative employment in oil companies, governments and radio stations beaming propaganda to the region, he kept a handful of us at bay and steeped us in the writings of the early 20th century reformist writer Abdalrauf Fitrat, and the study of Chagatay, the 15th century pre-Uzbek language.

Allworth donated his extensive collection of books on the languages of the region to the

New York Public Library The New York Public Library (NYPL) is a public library system in New York City. With nearly 53 million items and 92 locations, the New York Public Library is the second largest public library in the United States (behind the Library of Congress) ...

Works

* ''Uzbek Literary Politics'' (1964) * ''Central Asian Publishing and the Rise of Nationalism'' (1965) * ''Central Asia: A Century of Russian Rule'' (1967) * ''The Nationality Question in Soviet Central Asia'' (1973) * ''Nationality Group Survival in Multiethnic States'' (1977) * ''The Modern Uzbeks: From the Fourteenth Century to the Present'' (1990)

References

External Links

Edward Allworth papers, 1934-2012
Manuscripts and Archives Division, The New York Public Library. {{DEFAULTSORT:Allworth, Edward 1920 births 2016 deaths Historians of Central Asia Columbia University faculty United States Army personnel of World War II American historians Oregon State University alumni University of Chicago alumni Columbia University alumni United States Army officers