Peter Brian Reddaway British-American political scientist and historian Date of Birth: 18.09.1939 Country: USA

1. Early Life and Education
2. Academic Interests and Research
3. Professional Career
4. The Alexander Herzen Foundation
5. Support for Dissidents and Human Rights
6. Activism and Advocacy
7. Legacy and Impact

Peter Reddaway: A Renowned Scholar of Soviet Dissent and Russian Studies

Early Life and Education

Peter Reddaway, a British-American political scientist and historian, was born in England. He pursued his undergraduate and master's degrees at Cambridge University. During his doctoral studies, he attended Harvard University and Moscow State University, potentially as a British citizen. Subsequently, he continued his education at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), where he also taught.

Academic Interests and Research

Reddaway's scholarly interests centered on the history of Soviet dissidents and human rights activists. His fascination with dissidents emerged during his time as a Russian studies student at Cambridge. He traveled to Moscow State University three times for internships. However, he was expelled from the USSR in 1960, possibly due to his assistance to the wife of a Soviet defector he had met in Cambridge.

Professional Career

Reddaway served as the director of the Institute for Advanced Russian Studies in Washington, D.C., before becoming a professor at George Washington University. His research encompassed Soviet history, post-Soviet political developments, Russian studies, and the history of Eastern Europe. He retired from academia in 2004.

The Alexander Herzen Foundation

In 1969, Reddaway co-founded the Alexander Herzen Foundation, alongside Slavists Karel van het Reve and Willem Jan Bezemer. This organization sought to publish materials from the Soviet dissident movement. The Herzen Foundation initially facilitated the publication of works by Soviet dissidents Andrei Amalrik, Yuli Daniel, Larisa Bogoraz, Andrei Sinyavsky, and Pavel Litvinov in the Western world.

Support for Dissidents and Human Rights

Later in 1969, Reddaway played a key role in the establishment of the Keston Institute, a center for the study of religion and communism. He is regarded as a "godfather" of this organization. In the late 1970s, Reddaway joined the editorial board of the journal "Chronicle of Human Rights," founded by Valery Chalidze in the US. He also contributed as an expert at the 1st International Congress in Memory of Andrei Sakharov: "Peace, Progress, Human Rights," held in Moscow in 1991.

Activism and Advocacy

In 2007, Reddaway signed a letter in support of Larisa Arap, a Russian woman who was forcibly committed to a psychiatric hospital. He joined voices with Vladimir Bukovsky, Garry Kasparov, and Sir Geoffrey Bindman to denounce her treatment.

Legacy and Impact

Peter Reddaway passed away in the United States on July 29, 2024, at the age of 84. His contributions to the understanding of Soviet dissent, human rights, and Russian studies have left a lasting legacy in the field.