Barbara Jelavich
{{short description|American historian (1923 – 1995)}}
{{Infobox academic
| name = Barbara Jelavich
| birth_name = Barbara Brightfield
| image =
| image_size =
| caption =
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1923|04|12|}}
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1995|01|14|1923|04|12}}
| birth_place = Belleville, Illinois, US
| occupation = historian and author
| known_for =
| spouse = Charles Jelavich
| relatives = Peter Jelavich (son)
| children = 2
| workplaces = Indiana University
University of California
| alma_mater = University of California
A.B., M.A., Ph.D.
| awards =
}}
Barbara Jelavich (April 12, 1923 – January 14, 1995) was an American historian and writer. A prominent scholar in the field of Eastern European history, she specifically focused on the diplomatic histories of the Russian and Habsburg monarchies, the diplomacy of the Ottoman Empire, and the history of the Balkans.
She began her academic career as a junior research historian at UC Berkeley Institute of Slavic Studies after obtaining three history degrees from the University of California at Berkeley. In 1961, she joined the faculty at Indiana University as a lecturer before becoming a full professor in the history department in 1967. Her tenure at Indiana University continued until her retirement in 1993, she received the title of Distinguished Professor Emeritus of History in recognition of her exceptional scholarly achievement.{{cite web | title=Barbara Jelavich; Scholar and Expert On Balkans Was 71 | website=The New York Times | date=1995-01-20 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/01/20/obituaries/barbara-jelavich-scholar-and-expert-on-balkans-was-71.html | access-date=2023-08-16}}
She made substantial contributions to scholarly literature, co-authoring or authoring 17 books that delved into the histories of Russia, the Balkans, and the Ottoman and Habsburg empires. Collaborating with her husband, Charles, who was also a history professor emeritus at Indiana, several of her works were co-authored. Her areas of expertise encompassed Albania, Bulgaria, Turkey, and Yugoslavia.
Biography
Barbara Brightfield was born in Belleville, Illinois, April 12, 1923. She earned three degrees in history from the University of California at Berkeley:{{harvnb|Michelson|1995|p=258}}.{{cite web|last=Saxon|first=Wolfgang|title=Barbara Jelavich; Scholar and Expert On Balkans Was 71|newspaper=The New York Times|date=January 20, 1995|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/01/20/obituaries/barbara-jelavich-scholar-and-expert-on-balkans-was-71.html|access-date=December 23, 2015}} an A.B. honors degree in 1943, an M.A. in 1944, and a Ph.D. in 1948. In 1944, she married Croatian-AmericanJelavich, Charles. Hrvatska enciklopedija, mrežno izdanje. Leksikografski zavod Miroslav Krleža, 2013. – 2024. Pristupljeno 30.6.2024.
After briefly teaching at Berkeley College and Mills College, Jelavich dedicated her time towards raising her two sons (Mark and Peter) while conducting further research in Balkan history and diplomatic history. In 1961, she and her husband went to the Department of History at Indiana University. In 1967, she was promoted to professor in the Department of History and in 1984 was named Distinguished Professor of History. She served as chairman of the Conference on Slavic and East European History in 1979 and also served as president of the Society for Romanian Studies from 1988 to 1990. When she and her husband retired in 1992, she was elected as an honorary member of the Romanian Academy.{{cite web|title=American Historical Association - In Memoriam: Barbara Brightfield Jelavich|publisher=Richard Frucht Northwest Missouri State University|year=1995|access-date=12 July 2013|url=http://www.historians.org/perspectives/issues/1995/9504/9504INM.cfm}} During that same year, she was given the first Lifetime Achievement Award by the Association for Women in Slavic Studies.
Jelavich's works were concentrated on the diplomatic histories of the Russian and Habsburg monarchies, the diplomacy of the Ottoman Empire, and the history of the Balkans (including nations such as Romania and Greece). Her most impressive accomplishment was the publication of the History of the Balkans in 1983. She intended to update this particular work in order to accommodate the major events that occurred in the Balkans in 1989. Her book Modern Austria appeared in 1994 in a Japanese edition, and she collaborated on the third edition of the American Historical Association's Guide to Historical Literature (published in 1995). She also wrote a piece on the international position of Romania in 1848 that reflected the standpoints of the Habsburgs, Ottomans, Russians, and southeastern Europeans.{{harvnb|Michelson|1995|p=259}}. Romanian historian Cornelia Bodea acknowledged Jelavich as an internationally "respected ruler in her territorial waters".
In 1994, Jelavich was received into the Roman Catholic Church. On January 14, 1995, she died in Bloomington Hospital (Bloomington, Indiana) after a long struggle with cancer. She was buried in the Mission Cemetery in Santa Clara, California. In 1995 the Barbara Jelavich Prize was established under the auspices of the AAASS,{{cite web | website=Iris Home | url=https://iris.ucl.ac.uk/iris/browse/profile/achievements/paged?upi=JBENE96&isFirstReq=true&isLastPage=false&pageNum=1&itemsPerPage=10&orderBy=1%20D | access-date=2023-08-16}} in recognition of scholarship in 19th and 20th century southeastern European and Habsburg studies, as well as in Russian and Ottoman diplomatic history.
Published works
Selection as author:{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/search?query=%22Jelavich%2C+Barbara%22|title=Barbara Jelavich|website=archive.org|accessdate=2019-09-08}}{{cite web|url=https://ojs.lib.uom.gr/index.php/BalkanStudies/search/search|title=Barbara Jelavich|website=ojs.lib.uom.gr|publisher=Balkan Studies|accessdate=2019-09-08}}
- {{cite journal |author=Jelavich, Barbara |chapter-url= |format= |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/international-journal-of-middle-east-studies/article/barbara-jelavich-russia-and-the-formation-of-the-romanian-national-state-1821-1878-the-joint-committee-on-eastern-europe-publications-series-no-13-cambridge-england-cambridge-university-press-1984-pp-368/BFC7B0638D0ADD285C349167B7880309 |title=Russia and the Rumanian National Cause, 1821—1878 |journal= International Journal of Middle East Studies|orig-year= |agency= |edition= |date=1959 |publisher=Indiana University Press |volume= 18|pages= 104–106|series= |issue= 1|doi= 10.1017/S0020743800030385|s2cid= 162338522|url-access= subscription}}
- {{cite book| author = Jelavich, Barbara | chapter = | chapter-url = | format = | url = https://ojs.lib.uom.gr/index.php/BalkanStudies/article/view/44/43 | title = Russia, Bavaria and the Greek Revolution of 1862—1863 | orig-year = | agency = | edition = |location= Thessaloniki |date = 1961 |publisher= Institute of Balkan Studies |at= |volume= | pages = | page = | series = | isbn = }}
- {{cite journal| author = Jelavich, Barbara | chapter-url = | format = | url = https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/slavic-review/article/barbara-jelavich-russia-and-greece-during-the-regency-of-king-othon-18321835-russian-documents-on-the-first-years-of-greek-independence-thessaloniki-greece-institute-for-balkan-studies-1962-155-pp-4-pp-photographs/AE1EDB686A6B018B16658B53814836EB | title = Russia and Greece during the Regency of King Othon, 1832—1835. Russian Documents on the First Years of Greek Independence | journal = Slavic Review| orig-year = | agency = | edition = |location= Thessaloniki |date = 1962 |publisher= Institute of Balkan Studies |volume= 22| pages = 557–558| series = | issue = 3| doi = 10.2307/2492508| jstor = 2492508| s2cid = 163727157| url-access = subscription}}
- {{cite book| author = Jelavich, Barbara | chapter = | chapter-url = | format = | url = https://archive.org/details/centuryofrussian00jela | title = A Century of Russian Foreign Policy: 1814—1914 | orig-year = | agency = | edition = |location= New York |date = 1964 |publisher= J. B. Lippincott & Co. |at= |volume= | pages = | page = | series = | isbn = }}
- {{cite book| author = Jelavich, Barbara | chapter = | chapter-url = | format = | url = https://ojs.lib.uom.gr/index.php/BalkanStudies/article/view/687/694 | title = The Philorthodox conspiracy of 1839: a report to Metternich | orig-year = | agency = | edition = |location= Thessaloniki |date = 1966 |publisher= Institute of Balkan Studies |at= |volume= | pages = | page = | series = | isbn = }}
- {{cite book| author = Jelavich, Barbara | chapter = | chapter-url = | format = | url = https://archive.org/details/habsburgempirein0000jela | title = The Habsburg Empire in European affairs, 1814—1918 | orig-year = | agency = | edition = |location= Chicago |date = 1969 |publisher= Rand McNally |at= |volume= | pages = | page = | series = | isbn = }}
- {{cite book| author = Jelavich, Barbara | chapter = | chapter-url = | format = | url = | title = Russia, Britain and the Bulgarian question 1885—1888 | orig-year = | agency = | edition = |location= |date = 1973 |publisher= Sudost-Forschungen |at= |volume= | pages = | page = | series = | isbn = }}
- {{cite book| author = Jelavich, Barbara | chapter = | chapter-url = | format = | url = https://archive.org/details/ottomanempiregre0000jela | title = The Ottoman Empire, the great powers, and the straits question, 1870—1887 | orig-year = | agency = | edition = |location= |date = 1973 |publisher= Indiana University Press |at= |volume= | pages = | page = | series = | isbn = 9780253342768}}
- {{cite book| author = Jelavich, Barbara | chapter = | chapter-url = | format = | url = https://archive.org/details/stpetersburgmosc00barb | title = St. Petersburg and Moscow: Tsarist and Soviet Foreign Policy, 1814—1974 | orig-year = | agency = | edition = |location= |date = 1974 |publisher= Indiana University Press |at= |volume= | pages = | page = | series = | isbn = 9780253350503}}
- {{cite book| author = Jelavich, Barbara | chapter = | chapter-url = | format = | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=qR4EeOrTm-0C | title = History of the Balkans: Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries | orig-year = | agency = | edition = |location= |date = 1983 |publisher= Cambridge University Press |at= |volume= 1 | pages = | page = | series = | isbn = 9780521252492}}
- {{cite book |author=Jelavich, Barbara |chapter= |chapter-url= |format= |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Hd-or3qtqrsC |title=History of the Balkans: Twentieth Century |orig-year= |agency= |edition= |location= |date=1983 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |at= |volume=2 |pages= |page= |series= |isbn= 9780521274593}}
- {{cite journal| author = Jelavich, Barbara | chapter-url = | format = | url = https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/international-journal-of-middle-east-studies/article/barbara-jelavich-russia-and-the-formation-of-the-romanian-national-state-1821-1878-the-joint-committee-on-eastern-europe-publications-series-no-13-cambridge-england-cambridge-university-press-1984-pp-368/BFC7B0638D0ADD285C349167B7880309 | title = Russia and the Formation of the Romanian State | journal = International Journal of Middle East Studies| orig-year = | agency = | edition = |date = 1984 |publisher= Cambridge University Press |volume= 18| pages = 104–106| series = | issue = 1| doi = 10.1017/S0020743800030385| s2cid = 162338522| url-access = subscription}}
- {{cite book| author = Jelavich, Barbara | chapter = | chapter-url = | format = | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=V6DURCH53f4C | title = Modern Austria: Empire and Republic, 1815—1986 | orig-year = | agency = | edition = |location= |date = 1987 |publisher= Cambridge University Press |at= |volume= | pages = | page = | series = | isbn = 9780521316255}}
- {{cite book| author = Jelavich, Barbara | chapter = | chapter-url = | format = | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=K9kmX-OBDOEC | title = Russia's Balkan Entanglements, 1806—1914 | orig-year = | agency = | edition = |location= |date = 1991 |publisher= Cambridge University Press |at= |volume= | pages = | page = | series = | isbn = 9780521522502}}
- {{cite book| author = Jelavich, Charles and Barbara | chapter = | chapter-url = | format = | url = https://archive.org/details/balkansintransit0000unse| title = The Balkans in transition: essays on the development of Balkan life and politics since the eighteenth century | orig-year = | agency = | edition = |location= |date = 1963 |publisher=Berkeley: University of California Press |at= |volume= | pages = | page = | series = | isbn = }}
- {{cite book| author = Jelavich, Charles and Barbara | chapter = | chapter-url = | format = | url = https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780130553430/page/n167/mode/1up | title = The Balkans | orig-year = | agency = | edition = |location= N.J., Prentice-Hall |date = 1965 |publisher= Englewood Cliffs |at= |volume= | pages = | page = | series = | isbn = }}
- {{cite book| author = Jelavich, Charles and Barbara | chapter = | chapter-url = | format = | url = https://archive.org/details/establishmentof00char | title = The Establishment of the Balkan National States, 1804-1920 | orig-year = | agency = | edition = |location= |date = 1977 |publisher= University of Washington Press |at= |volume= | pages = | page = | series = | isbn = 9780295954448}}
References
{{reflist|30em}}
Sources
- {{cite journal|last=Michelson|first=Paul E.|title=Barbara Jelavich: 1923-1995|journal=Slavic Review|volume=54|number=1|year=1995|pages=258–259|doi=10.1017/S0037677900070765|doi-access=free}}
- {{cite journal|last1=Kenney|first1=Palaic|last2=Miller|first2=Ilana|title=In Memoriam: Charles Jelavich|journal=REEIfication: News from Indiana University's Russian and East European Institute|volume=37|number=2|pages=1–16|url=http://www.indiana.edu/~reeiweb/newsEvents/newsletters/2013/spring_2013_reeification.pdf|year=2013}}
External links
- {{Internet Archive author |sname=Barbara Jelavich}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jelavich, Barbara}}
Category:Deaths from cancer in Indiana
Category:Historians of the Balkans
Category:Indiana University faculty
Category:American Roman Catholics
Category:Converts to Roman Catholicism
Category:American women historians
Category:20th-century American historians
Category:20th-century American women writers