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The Fate of Soviet Historian: V. S. Alekseev-Popov

Gordon Alexander

   The paper analyzes academic development of a Soviet scholar V. S. Alekseev-Popov, a historian of the French Revolution. It delineates achievements, describes the complexities of research process under scrutiny of ideological control. The article considers a series of academic conflicts and handicaps: the relationship between different generations of academics and research directions («schools»), the position of a scholar in a «provincial institution», unavailability of the necessary French archives, etc. The paper concentrates on the conflict between academic potential and aspirations of the scholar, and limited opportunities for their realization. 

Keywords: soviet historiography, French Revolution studies, V. S. Alekseev-Popov, Ya. M. Zakher.
Link: Gordon A. The Fate of Soviet Historian: V. S. Alekseev-Popov // Annuaire d'études françaises 2014, tome 1: La vie de la cour en France de Charlemagne jusqu'à Louis XIV / Annual of French Studies 2014, volume 1 : The Court Life in France from Charlemagne till Louis XIV.М. P. 314-339.