Peter John Frank (6 May 1934 - 14 November 2013)Robert Servic
Obituary: Peter Frank
''The Guardian'', 10 December 2013 was a professor of

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 ...

n politics in the Department of Government at the

University of Essex The University of Essex is a public university, public research university in Essex, England. Established by royal charter in 1965, it is one of the original plate glass university, plate glass universities. The university comprises three camp ...

and a media commentator on Russian affairs. He was born in

Whitby Whitby is a seaside town, port and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. It is on the Yorkshire Coast at the mouth of the River Esk, North Yorkshire, River Esk and has a maritime, mineral and tourist economy. From the Middle Ages, Whitby ...

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

and after leaving school in 1950 did

national service National service is a system of compulsory or voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act ...

in the Army where he learnt the Russian language. He then trained as a teacher and did post-graduate work at the

University of Leeds The University of Leeds is a public research university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was established in 1874 as the Yorkshire College of Science. In 1884, it merged with the Leeds School of Medicine (established 1831) and was renamed Y ...

, before becoming a lecturer at the University of Essex in 1968.Peter Frank 1934-2013: A memoir at the University of Essex
. Retrieved 20 November 2013 He was known for his television appearances on ''

Channel 4 News ''Channel 4 News'' is the main news programme on British television broadcaster Channel 4. It is produced by ITN, and has been in operation since Channel 4's launch in November 1982. Current productions ''Channel 4 News'' ''Channel 4 News'' ...

'' as an expert on the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

and

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural and socio-economic connotations. Its eastern boundary is marked by the Ural Mountain ...

. He also contributed to ''

BBC News 24 The BBC News channel is a British free-to-air Public broadcasting, public broadcast television news channel owned and operated by the BBC. The channel is based at and broadcasts from Broadcasting House in the West End of London, West End of ...

BBC World Service The BBC World Service is a British Public broadcasting, public service broadcaster owned and operated by the BBC. It is the world's largest external broadcaster in terms of reception area, language selection and audience reach. It broadcas ...

BBC Radio Five Live BBC Radio 5 Live is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It broadcasts mainly news, sport, discussion, interviews and phone-ins, and is on air 24 hours a day. It is the principal BBC radio station covering sport in ...

'' and independent radio stations. After his retirement as a professor he was a Professorial Research Fellow at the University of Essex and wrote a biography of Joseph Richard Bagshawe, the founding secretary of the

Staithes Staithes () is a village in North Yorkshire, England, situated by the border between the unitary authorities of North Yorkshire and Redcar and Cleveland. The area located on the Redcar and Cleveland side is known as Cowbar. Formerly a hub for f ...

group of painters.

Work

* ''The Soviet Communist Party'' Ronald J. Hill, Peter Frank. Boston : Allen & Unwin, 1986. * ''Yorkshire Fisherfolk: A Social history of the Yorkshire inshore fishing community'' by Peter Frank, Phillimore & Co. Ltd., 2002, *
Sea Painter: The Life and Work of J.R. Bagshawe, Marine Artist
' by Peter Frank, Phillimore & Co. Ltd., 2010,

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Frank, Peter 1934 births 2013 deaths Academics of the University of Essex British political scientists People from Whitby Military personnel from North Yorkshire British Army soldiers 20th-century British Army personnel Alumni of the University of Leeds