RRI Live!

Listen to Radio Romania International Live

Historian Keith Hitchins (1931-2020)

On November 1, 2020, American historian Keith Hitchins passed away at the age of 89.

Historian Keith Hitchins (1931-2020)
Historian Keith Hitchins (1931-2020)

, 30.11.2020, 13:15

On November 1, 2020, American historian Keith Hitchins passed away at the age of 89. He was one of the people who wrote about Romania when it was in one of its darkest of times, during communism, when censorship and repression were a fact of everyday life. However, Hitchins did not shirk his responsibility as a historian, maintaining the highest of moral and academic standards.




Radio Romania spoke to historian Marius Turda, professor at the Oxford Brookes University, about the distinguished career that Keith Hitchins had:


“This is a sad loss for Romanian historiography, as well as for American and European academia. Keith Hitchins was famous in Romania, the US, and the UK. He published books about Romania at Oxford University Press, and was warm and generous with students and colleagues alike. This has to be remembered, in addition to his contribution to history sciences, to his humanity, and the generosity he showed to all people who got in touch with him. I remember writing to him in 1993, when people still wrote letters by hand, and I told him I was studying the nationalist movement in Transylvania. He was very kind, and immediately wrote back, and we started corresponding. We met a few times after that, of course.”




Romanias modern history is marked by the national idea, just like in all the other Central and Eastern European countries. Some of the harshest face-offs were those between Romanian and Hungarian historiography related to Transylvania. Marius Turda told us about how Keith Hitchins managed to strike a balance between the totalitarian cultural climate and the extreme attitudes related to writing history in both countries.


“In a nutshell, we can say that, in the extreme ideological climate in the 1960s, most Central and Eastern European countries started slanting towards nationalism, especially Romania and Hungary. This nationalist take on the past was an environment in which Hitchins managed to hold the middle ground, writing in a way that was supposed to persuade both Romanian and Hungarian historians to find common ground. At the same time, he was considered as one of the writers who leaned more towards ideas circulated by Romanian historians, rather than Hungarian. He did not do that for nationalist reasons, but out of sincere affinity with Romanian culture, since he had learned Romanian very well. He tried to explain this because he had put a lot of work into studying Andrei Saguna. Hitchins used to say that there is a good side to patriotism and nationalism, which in the Romanian case led to the union of 1918. His style was an objective one, I wold call it positivist, and he managed to sail smoothly in the murky waters of Romanian and Hungarian historiography.”




One great contribution that Hitchins made was in terms of the perspective he took on religion, according to Marius Turda:


“One other idea he circulated, and which stuck, was that we have to take very seriously the religious leaders of nationalist movements, and even use them as a starting point. This is what he did in his book about Andrei Saguna, in which he tied the birth of Romanian nationalism to the cultural and religious rise of Romanians. This was not an easy thing to do during the 1960s and 70s, when religion was considered an enemy of the people. Hitchins came to tell us that we cannot understand nationalism in Central and Eastern Europe unless we tie it to religion, to the work that the clergy did to educate the common folk. So far, he was the best at this endeavor. He started a whole tradition in terms of how to think of Eastern European nationalism.”


In October 2012, Radio Romania interviewed Kieth Hitchins on the topic of Romanias declaration of war against the United States, in December 1941. The famous historian spoke about the role that General Ion Antonescu played back then. He said that his belief was that Antonescu was much more leaning towards Britain and France, and that, in spite of his disdain for parliamentary democracy, he would have been close to the French and British, rather than the Germans. He said it was his tenet that Antonescu declared war on the US as a German ally, and that the Germans must have surely applied pressure on him to do so. Either that, or he felt that to be the natural thing to do in order to cultivate good relations with Germany, but that he went against his will when he did it, unenthusiastically.




The life work of American historian Keith Hitchins was founded in finding a way of writing the history of a country unwillingly ruled by a totalitarian regime while being outside the regime. Romanian and American historiography have lost a man with generosity of spirit, a consummate academic, and a warm personality. Luckily, the important work he did outlives him for generations to come.

The Demolition of Bucharest’s Religious Heritage
The History Show Monday, 24 February 2025

The Demolition of Bucharest’s Religious Heritage

The history of the religious heritage of Bucharest in the 20th century, especially in its second half, was one of mortal blows inflicted by the...

The Demolition of Bucharest’s Religious Heritage
Patriarch Daniel (Photo: Agerpres)
The History Show Monday, 17 February 2025

Centennial of the Romanian Orthodox Patriarchate

In 2025, the Romanian Orthodox Church marks 140 years since the recognition of its Autocephaly (April 25th, 1885) and 100 years since its elevation...

Centennial of the Romanian Orthodox Patriarchate
Romanian-Japanese Diplomatic Relations
The History Show Monday, 10 February 2025

Romanian-Japanese Diplomatic Relations

Regardless of physical distances, people, communities and societies come closer because they feel and desire closeness. Until the 20th century, when...

Romanian-Japanese Diplomatic Relations
50 Years Since the Helsinki Accords
The History Show Monday, 03 February 2025

50 Years Since the Helsinki Accords

After 1945, Europe was brutally divided, and the hopes of Europeans that at the end of the Second World War, once freed from fascism, they would...

50 Years Since the Helsinki Accords
The History Show Monday, 27 January 2025

The unfinished Bucharest

In the Romanian area, modern cities began to develop after the European model around the 1830s. At that time, some provisions of the Organic Laws...

The unfinished Bucharest
The History Show Monday, 20 January 2025

The Centennial of the Romanian Chess Federation

Considered a “sport of the mind” due to its high degree of complexity, anticipation of the opponent’s strategy, speed in...

The Centennial of the Romanian Chess Federation
The History Show Monday, 13 January 2025

Romania – FRG diplomatic relations

  The fact that, after 1945, there were two German states on Europe s map, was the effect of deep divergences between the US, Great Britain and...

Romania – FRG diplomatic relations
The History Show Monday, 06 January 2025

The Romanian Revolution – 35

  We often talk about big resets when a type of leader wins the elections in a country with a major global influence, as was Donald...

The Romanian Revolution – 35

Partners

Muzeul Național al Țăranului Român Muzeul Național al Țăranului Român
Liga Studentilor Romani din Strainatate - LSRS Liga Studentilor Romani din Strainatate - LSRS
Modernism | The Leading Romanian Art Magazine Online Modernism | The Leading Romanian Art Magazine Online
Institului European din România Institului European din România
Institutul Francez din România – Bucureşti Institutul Francez din România – Bucureşti
Muzeul Național de Artă al României Muzeul Național de Artă al României
Le petit Journal Le petit Journal
Radio Prague International Radio Prague International
Muzeul Național de Istorie a României Muzeul Național de Istorie a României
ARCUB ARCUB
Radio Canada International Radio Canada International
Muzeul Național al Satului „Dimitrie Gusti” Muzeul Național al Satului „Dimitrie Gusti”
SWI swissinfo.ch SWI swissinfo.ch
UBB Radio ONLINE UBB Radio ONLINE
Strona główna - English Section - polskieradio.pl Strona główna - English Section - polskieradio.pl
creart - Centrul de Creație Artă și Tradiție al Municipiului Bucuresti creart - Centrul de Creație Artă și Tradiție al Municipiului Bucuresti
italradio italradio
Institutul Confucius Institutul Confucius
BUCPRESS - știri din Cernăuți BUCPRESS - știri din Cernăuți

Affiliates

Euranet Plus Euranet Plus
AIB | the trade association for international broadcasters AIB | the trade association for international broadcasters
Digital Radio Mondiale Digital Radio Mondiale
News and current affairs from Germany and around the world News and current affairs from Germany and around the world
Comunità radiotelevisiva italofona Comunità radiotelevisiva italofona

Providers

RADIOCOM RADIOCOM
Zeno Media - The Everything Audio Company Zeno Media - The Everything Audio Company