Firuz Kazimzadeh, a prominent American historian and professor at Yale University

Firuz Kazemzadeh, an American historian and Professor Emeritus of History at Yale University, was born on October 27, 1924, in Moscow. He received his early education in Moscow. Later, after moving to the United States, Kazemzadeh pursued higher education at Stanford University (1944). In 1946, he graduated from the university with honors, and a year later, he was admitted to the graduate program at Harvard University. In 1950, he defended his doctoral dissertation on Russian history at Harvard University and worked at the same institution until 1956.

At the age of 27, Firuz Kazemzadeh published his first book “The Struggle for Transcaucasia (1917–1921)” in 1951. The foreword to the book was written by Professor Michael Karpovich of Harvard University. This book was republished in Russian in 2010 by the Caucasus Strategic Research Institute in Baku. The work reveals facts about the strategic interests of world powers clashing in the Caucasus and the three republics that lost their independence in the early 20th century.

Kazemzadeh’s second book “Russia and Britain in Persia (1864–1914): A Study in Imperialism” was published in 1968 by Yale University Press. In 2004, the book was published in Russian in Moscow under the title “The Struggle for Influence in Iran: The Diplomatic Confrontation Between Russia and Britain”.

His third work “Russian Imperialism from Ivan the Great to the Revolution” was published in 1974. In addition to his scholarly work, Kazemzadeh was also engaged in academic teaching. After working for two years at Harvard as a junior researcher, he began his academic and teaching career at Yale University in 1958. Three years later, he was granted tenure, and in 1967, at the age of 43, he was appointed as a full professor. He worked at Yale University until 1991. At various times, he served as the director of the undergraduate program in Russian and East European Studies, as well as the director of the program in Near Eastern Studies.

In 1998, U.S. President Bill Clinton appointed him to the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, where he served from 1998 to 2003. Professor Kazemzadeh was the author of several books on Russian and Iranian history, as well as numerous articles and reviews for prestigious academic journals.

Firuz Kazemzadeh passed away in the United States on May 17, 2017.

Recommended literature:

1. Каземзаде, Фируз. Борьба за Закавказье: 1917-1921 / Ф. Каземзаде; пер. А. Умаевой; Институт Стратегических Исследований Кавказа.- Стокгольм: CA&CC Press, 2010.- 328 с.
2. Kazemzаdeh Firuz. The struggle for Transcaucasia, 1917-1921 / by Firuz Kazemzadeh; with an introd. by Michael Karpovich. – New York: Philos. Libr., 1951. – 356 p.
3. Kazemzаdeh Firuz. Russia and Britain in Persia, 1864-1914: A Study in Imperialism / by Firuz Kazemzadeh. - New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1968. - 711 p.