George Athan Billias (June 26, 1919 – August 16, 2018) was an American historian.

Early life

Billias was born in

Lynn, Massachusetts Lynn is the eighth-largest municipality in Massachusetts and the largest city in Essex County. Situated on the Atlantic Ocean, north of the Boston city line at Suffolk Downs, Lynn is part of Greater Boston's urban inner core. Settled by E ...

and graduated from Lynn English High School in 1937. He received his B.A. from

Bates College Bates College () is a private liberal arts college in Lewiston, Maine. Anchored by the Historic Quad, the campus of Bates totals with a small urban campus which includes 33 Victorian Houses as some of the dormitories. It maintains of nature p ...

in 1948 and his 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 ...

in 1958. He joined the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, ...

in 1941 and became a medical administrative officer in 1942."Dr. Billias Named To Clark Staff"
''

Bangor Daily News The ''Bangor Daily News'' is an American newspaper covering a large portion of central and eastern Maine, published six days per week in Bangor, Maine. The ''Bangor Daily News'' was founded on June 18, 1889; it merged with the ''Bangor Whig an ...

'', Bangor, Maine, volume 73, number 296, May 29, 1962, page 5.George Billias obituary
/ref> 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 received the

Bronze Star The Bronze Star Medal (BSM) is a United States Armed Forces decoration awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for either heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious achievement, or meritorious service in a combat zone. W ...

for gallantry in evacuating wounded from the

Remagen bridgehead The Battle of Remagen was an 18-day battle during the Western Allied invasion of Germany, Allied invasion of Germany in World War II from 7 to 25 March 1945 when American forces unexpectedly captured the Ludendorff Bridge over the Rhine intact. ...

during the Battle for the Ludendorf Bridge across the Rhine River in March 1945.General John Glover and His Marblehead Mariners, Dustjacket He served as a civilian National Defense Historian with the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Si ...

from 1951 to 1954 and was at the

Eastern Air Defense Force The Eastern Air Defense Force (EADF) is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with Air Defense Command being stationed at Stewart Air Force Base, New York. It was inactivated on July 1, 1960. History EADF was ...

Stewart Air Force Base Stewart may refer to: People *Stewart (name), Scottish surname and given name *Clan Stewart, a Scottish clan *Clan Stewart of Appin, a Scottish clan Places Canada *Stewart, British Columbia *Stewart Township, Nipissing District, Ontario (histor ...

, Newburgh, New York.

Career

Billias held the Jacob and Frances Hiatt Chair at

Clark University Clark University is a private research university in Worcester, Massachusetts. Founded in 1887 with a large endowment from its namesake Jonas Gilman Clark, a prominent businessman, Clark was one of the first modern research universities in th ...

from 1983 until his retirement in 1989. Following his retirement, he was awarded emeritus professor status. He has written several books, including ''George Washington's Generals And Opponents'' (1994) and ''General John Glover and His Marblehead Mariners'' (1960), as well as edited several collections including ''American Constitutionalism Abroad: Selected Essays in Comparative Constitutional History'' (1990). Billias also wrote ''Eldridge Gerry: Founding Father and Republican Statesman''. One of his early works was ''The Massachusetts Landbankers of 1740'' published in 1959 by the University of Maine Press. He specialized in Colonial, Revolutionary War era, and Early National period America, with special emphasis on economic, military, legal, and constitutional subjects. Later, he focused on the influence of the American constitution on the world. His book ''American Constitutionalism Around the World, 1776–1989'' (New York University Press, 2009) won the New England Historical Association's 2010 book award. Historian

Gordon S. Wood Gordon Stewart Wood (born November 27, 1933) is an American historian and professor at Brown University. He is a recipient of the 1993 Pulitzer Prize for History for '' The Radicalism of the American Revolution'' (1992). His book ''The Creation o ...

stated at a 1989 symposium honoring Billias that also included

Milton M. Klein Milton Martin Klein (15 August 1917 – 10 June 2004) was an American historian. He was born in New York City on 15 August 1917 to Margaret and Edward Klein. Milton Klein earned bachelor's and master's degrees from the City College of New York. ...

Drew McCoy Drew. R. McCoy is an American historian and specialist in American political and intellectual history. McCoy was educated at Cornell University (A.B. 1971) and the University of Virginia (M.A. 1973, Ph.D. 1976). He has taught American history at t ...

, Isaac Kramnick,

Lance Banning Lance Banning (January 24, 1942 – January 31, 2006) was an American historian who specialized in studying the politics of the United States' Founding Fathers. He taught mostly at the University of Kentucky. Life Banning was a native of Ka ...

, and

Peter S. Onuf Peter S. Onuf is an American historian and professor known for his work on U.S. President Thomas Jefferson and Federalism. In 1989, he was named the Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation Professor of the University of Virginia, a chair he held unti ...

: :In my opinion, George Billias epitomizes the working historian; he is the craftsman who represents the heart and soul of what we as a profession are about. He demonstrates why history is a discipline. He doesn't waste time wondering abstractly about truth and objectivity and musing about the possibilities of actually representing past reality. He just does history. Day in and day out he writes the books and articles that become the essential stuff of our cumulative effort to recover our past. Without the products of hardworking scholars like Billias, there would be no historical discipline and nothing of what we think of as history.Gordon S Wood, "Afterword," ''Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society'' (April 1992, Volume 102 Issue 1, pages 205-213, quote page 205.

Death

Billias died on August 16, 2018, at his home in

Worcester, Massachusetts Worcester ( , ) is a city and county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, the city's population was 206,518 at the 2020 census, making it the second- most populous city in New England after ...

at the age of 99.

Early life

Career

Death

Sources

Further reading