Mikhail Mikhailovich Karpovich (; August 3, 1888 – November 7, 1959), known in English as Michael Karpovich, was a Russian and 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 species; as well as the ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

and one of the fathers of

Slavic studies Slavic (American English) or Slavonic (British English) studies, also known as Slavistics, is the academic field of area studies concerned with Slavic peoples, Slavic peoples, languages, literature, history, and culture. Originally, a Slavist or ...

in the United States.

Biography

Early years

Mikhail Mikhailovich Karpovich was born August 3, 1888, in

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი, ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), ( ka, ტფილისი, tr ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia ( ...

, in the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

(today the capital of

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

). He was of mixed

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...

, and Georgian ancestry. He became active in the

Socialist Revolutionary Party The Socialist Revolutionary Party (SR; ,, ) was a major socialist political party in the late Russian Empire, during both phases of the Russian Revolution, and in early Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Soviet Russia. The party memb ...

(PSR) from 1904 to 1907; he was arrested and held briefly in December 1905, then arrested again and held for a month before being released without having been brought to trial. As a condition of his release he was forbidden from living further in Georgia. In later years Karpovich's politics moved to the center, approximating those of the

Constitutional Democratic Party The Constitutional Democratic Party (, K-D), also called Constitutional Democrats and formally the Party of People's Freedom (), was a political party in the Russian Empire that promoted Western constitutional monarchy—among other policies� ...

("Cadets"). Throughout his life Karpovich remained a Christian and a member of the

Russian Orthodox Church The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC; ;), also officially known as the Moscow Patriarchate (), is an autocephaly, autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox Christian church. It has 194 dioceses inside Russia. The Primate (bishop), p ...

. Following the failure of the

1905 Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution of 1905, also known as the First Russian Revolution, was a revolution in the Russian Empire which began on 22 January 1905 and led to the establishment of a constitutional monarchy under the Russian Constitution of 1906, th ...

, Karpovich emigrated to

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, enrolling at the Sorbonne where he studied the history of Europe and of the Eastern Roman Empire. In 1908 he returned to Russia and enrolled at

Moscow University Moscow State University (MSU), officially M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University,. is a public research university in Moscow, Russia. The university includes 15 research institutes, 43 faculties, more than 300 departments, and six branches. Al ...

for a second time, to study history. There he attended the lectures of the legendary historian Vasilii Kliuchevsky. In 1914 he presented an essay on "

Alexander I Alexander I may refer to: * Alexander I of Macedon, king of Macedon from 495 to 454 BC * Alexander I of Epirus (370–331 BC), king of Epirus * Alexander I Theopator Euergetes, surnamed Balas, ruler of the Seleucid Empire 150-145 BC * Pope Alex ...

and the

Holy Alliance The Holy Alliance (; ), also called the Grand Alliance, was a coalition linking the absolute monarchist great powers of Austria, Prussia, and Russia, which was created after the final defeat of Napoleon at the behest of Emperor Alexander I of Rus ...

", for which he received a diploma as a Candidate of History with first class honors. During the first two years of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, Karpovich worked as an assistant at the Historical Museum of Moscow, but he was drawn into the war effort in 1916. He was assigned to the Ministry of War with the task of coordinating industrial production for the needs of the front. Following the

February Revolution The February Revolution (), known in Soviet historiography as the February Bourgeois Democratic Revolution and sometimes as the March Revolution or February Coup was the first of Russian Revolution, two revolutions which took place in Russia ...

of 1917 Karpovich went to work for the new

Provisional Government A provisional government, also called an interim government, an emergency government, a transitional government or provisional leadership, is a temporary government formed to manage a period of transition, often following state collapse, revoluti ...

. He met Boris A. Bakhmetev, future American Ambassador of Alexander Kerensky's government by chance on the

Nevsky Prospect Nevsky Prospect ( rus, Не́вский проспе́кт, r=Nevsky Prospekt, p=ˈnʲɛfskʲɪj prɐˈspʲɛkt) is a main street ( high street) located in the federal city of St. Petersburg in Russia. Its name comes from the Alexander Nevs ...

Petrograd Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...

.Alexander Kerensky, "M.M. Karpovich," ''Novyi Zhurnal,'' no. 58 (1959), pg. 6. Bakhmetev persuaded Karpovich to join him on a "special mission" to America as his personal secretary. In May 1917 the pair left Russia for

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, where they established the Provisional Government's Embassy to the United States. Karpovich joined Bakhmetev with the understanding that his stay in the United States would be temporary and that he would be able to return home in time for Christmas of 1917. Historical events intervened.

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 New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

to assist Bakhmetev there. He also lectured on Russian history at a number of universities and made translations during this interval. In 1927 Karpovich began his long career in the history department of

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is a suburb in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, located directly across the Charles River from Boston. The city's population as of the 2020 United States census, ...

. From 1946 until his death Karpovich edited the quarterly ''Novyi Zhurnal'' (New Magazine), an old school

thick journal In the history of journalism in Russia, thick journal or thick magazine (, ') was a type of literary magazine, regarded to be an important tradition originated in Russian Empire, continued through the times of the Soviet Union and into the modern R ...

of serious Russian journalism and fiction. He was also a contributor to ''

The Russian Review ''The Russian Review'' is an independent peer-reviewed multi-disciplinary academic journal devoted to the history, literature, culture, fine arts, cinema, society, and politics of the Russian Federation, former Soviet Union and former Russian Empi ...

'' from its establishment in 1941, working via three-cornered correspondence with his co-editors,

William Henry Chamberlin William Henry Chamberlin (February 17, 1897 – September 12, 1969) was an American historian and journalist. He was the author of several books about the Cold War, communism, and foreign policy, including ''The Russian Revolution 1917-1921'' (1 ...

and Dimitri von Mohrenschildt. Karpovich planned to join historian

George Vernadsky George Vernadsky (; August 20, 1887 – June 12, 1973) was a Russian-born American historian and an author of numerous books on Russian history. European years Born in Saint Petersburg on August 20, 1887, Vernadsky stemmed from a respectable ...

in writing a 10-volume history of Russia, with Vernadsky handling the initial six volumes and Karpovich the final four. 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. 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.

Death and legacy

Michael Karpovich died on November 7, 1959, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He is buried in Novo-Diveevo Cemetery in

Nanuet, New York Nanuet is a hamlet and census-designated place in the town of Clarkstown, New York, United States. The third largest hamlet in Clarkstown, it is located north of Pearl River, south of New City, east of Spring Valley, and west of West Nyack. ...

. Karpovich was honored by former students with the ''

Festschrift In academia, a ''Festschrift'' (; plural, ''Festschriften'' ) is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during their lifetime. It generally takes the form of an edited volume, containing contributions from the h ...

'', ''Russian Thought and Politics'' (1957) He was remembered by historian of Russia

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."William Henry Chamberlin, 'Michael Karpovich, 1888-1959', in ''The Russian Review''; 19:1 (1960 January), pg. 71. Chamberlin continued:

"Karpovich embodied in his own personality the finest traits of the pre-war Russian
intelligentsia The intelligentsia is a status class composed of the university-educated people of a society who engage in the complex mental labours by which they critique, shape, and lead in the politics, policies, and culture of their society; as such, the i ...
; he was a liberal in the truest and broadest sense of that much abused word. His own ancestry reflected Russian political vicissitudes and the multinational character of the old Russian Empire. One of his forefathers was a banished Polish revolutionary; his birthplace was
Tiflis Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი, ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), ( ka, ტფილისი, tr ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia ( ...
, the picturesque historic capital of
Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...
. So he was predisposed both against Russian
chauvinism Chauvinism ( ) is the unreasonable belief in the superiority or dominance of one's own group or people, who are seen as strong and virtuous, while others are considered weak, unworthy, or inferior. The ''Encyclopaedia Britannica'' describes it ...
and against the anti-Russianism of some embittered members of the non-Russian nationalities."Chamberlin, 'Michael Karpovich, 1888-1959', pg. 73.

References

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) {{DEFAULTSORT:Karpovich, Michael 1888 births 1959 deaths Harvard University faculty 20th-century Russian historians Historians of Russia White Russian emigrants to the United States