New Delhi: Renowned historian Hari Vasudevan, a leading expert on Russia and emeritus professor at Calcutta University, passed away on Saturday night. He had tested positive for COVID-19 and had been put on a ventilator a day before his death. He was 68.
Vasudevan, who had a PhD from Cambridge University, wrote and taught on Russian and European history and politics, and Indo-Russian relations for most of his career. Though he taught at Calcutta University, he had been affiliated with several leading institutions across the world during the course of his lifetime – Jamia Millia Islamia in New Delhi, King’s College in London, Cornell University in the US and Kiev University in the Ukraine.
The historian had also been a part of several government committees on history and education, including serving as chairman of the textbook development committee for the social sciences of NCERT from 2005. Until 2013, he served as director of the Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Institute of Asian Studies, an autonomous body under the Ministry of Culture devoted to the study of Asia and India’s relations with the region.
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As chair of the textbooks committee, he later criticised the then Manmohan Singh government for deleting satirical cartoons from one of the books. He also remained concerned about the unwarranted tinkering with content that has taken place during the tenure of the Modi government.
Vasudevan was also Visiting Distinguished Fellow, Observer Research Foundation and President, Institute of Development Studies, Kolkata.
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A widely published author of academic books and articles, as well as a regular columnist for a number of newspapers, Vasudevan’s latest book was Footsteps of Afanasii Nikitin: Travels through Eurasia and India in the early 21st century (2015). It developed on research presented in his previous book, Shadows of Substance: Indo-Russian Trade and Military Technical Cooperation (2010), on India’s relations with Eurasia.
On Sunday, West Bengal, governor Jagdeep Dhankhar issued a statement expressing his condolences. “A multifaceted person, he made his mark while being involved in a formal consultative capacity with projects/institutions of the Ministry of Culture, MHRD, the Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of External Affairs of the Government of India and was Chairman of the Textbook Development Committee for the Social Sciences of the NCERT from 2005. His contributions to society will be ever recalled. May his soul rest in peace,” Dhankhar said.
He is survived by his wife, the historian Tapati Guha-Thakurta and daughter, Mrinalini. His brother is the cinema studies scholar, Ravi Vasudevan.