Richard Pipes

Richard Edgar Pipes (b. July 11, 1923) is a Polish American scholar who is a specialist in Russian history. Pipes was born in Cieszyn, Poland to a wealthy Jewish family. His father was a diplomat with the Polish foreign office. By Pipes's own account, during his childhood and youth, he never thought about the Soviet Union; the major cultural influences on him were Polish and German culture. The Pipes family fled Poland in 1939 and arrived in the United States in 1940. Pipes became a U.S citizen in 1943. He was educated at Muskingum College and Cornell University. Pipes taught at Harvard University starting in 1950. He married Irene Eugenia Roth in 1946, and had two children with her. His son Daniel Pipes is a specialist in Middle East history and affairs and a former appointee to the U.S. Institute of Peace.

Related Topics:
July 11 - 1923 - Polish American - Russian history - Cieszyn - Poland - Jewish - Soviet Union - 1939 - United States - 1940 - 1943 - Muskingum College - Cornell University - Harvard University - 1950 - 1946 - Daniel Pipes - Middle East - U.S. Institute of Peace

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He has written many books, including The Russian Revolution (1995) and Russia Under the Bolshevik Regime (1994), and has been a frequent and prominent interviewee in the press on the matters of Soviet history and foreign affairs. His writing also appears in the National Review, The New York Times and the Moscow Times. A leading Cold Warrior, Pipes has argued that the Soviet Union was an expansionist, totalitarian state bent on conquest. Pipes is famous for arguing that the origins of the Soviet Union can be traced to the separate path taken by 15th century Muscovy. He was also notable for his thesis that, contrary to many traditional histories of the USSR at the time, the "October Revolution" was, rather than a popular general uprising, practically a coup foisted upon the majority of the Russian population (and imperial national minorities) by a tiny segment of the population driven by a select group of intellectuals who subsequently established a dictatorship which was intolerant and repressive from the start, rather than having deviated from an initially benign course. This critical view of the Bolsheviks is a prime theme in his works.

Related Topics:
Soviet history - Foreign affairs - National Review - The New York Times - Moscow Times - Expansionist - Totalitarian - State - Conquest - 15th century - Muscovy - "October Revolution" - National minorities - Intellectuals - Dictatorship - Bolsheviks

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Pipes is Baird Research Professor of History Emeritus at Harvard University. From 1981-1982 he was the National Security Council adviser on Soviet and East European Affairs, under President Ronald Reagan. He was also an adviser to Washington senator Henry M. Jackson during the 1970s.

Related Topics:
History - Emeritus - 1981 - 1982 - National Security Council - East European Affairs - President - Ronald Reagan - Washington - Henry M. Jackson - 1970s

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