Alexander Nove,

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". This soci ...

, FBA (born Aleksandr Yakovlevich Novakovsky; russian: Алекса́ндр Я́ковлевич Новако́вский; also published under Alec Nove; 24 November 1915 – 15 May 1994) was a

Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

of Economics at the

University of Glasgow , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

and a noted authority on

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

and

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

economic history Economic history is the academic learning of economies or economic events of the past. Research is conducted using a combination of historical methods, statistical methods and the application of economic theory to historical situations and ins ...

. According to Ian D. Thatcher, " e consensus is that he was one of the most significant scholars of 'Soviet' studies in its widest sense and beyond."

Biography

Alexander Nove was born in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

the son of Jacob Novakovsky. He was educated at King Alfred School in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

and received a BSc in economics from the

London School of Economics , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 millio ...

in 1936. The school later made him an Honorary Fellow in 1982. He served in the

Royal Signal Corps The Royal Corps of Signals (often simply known as the Royal Signals – abbreviated to R SIGNALS or R SIGS) is one of the combat support arms of the British Army. Signals units are among the first into action, providing the battlefield communi ...

from 1939 but was transferred to Military Intelligence until 1946, reaching the rank of Major. From 1947 to 1958, he worked in Civil Service, mainly the

Board of Trade The Board of Trade is a British government body concerned with commerce and industry, currently within the Department for International Trade. Its full title is The Lords of the Committee of the Privy Council appointed for the consideration of ...

. He was a Reader in Russian Social and Economic Studies at the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

from 1958 to 1963 and Professor of Economics at the

University of Glasgow , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

from 1963 to 1982. He was then

Emeritus Professor ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

and Honorary Senior Research Fellow at Glasgow until his death. In 1982 he was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was established i ...

. His proposers were

William Hugh Clifford Frend William Hugh Clifford Frend (11 January 1916 – 1 August 2005) was an English ecclesiastical historian, archaeologist, and Anglican priest. Academic career * Haileybury College (scholar) * Keble College, Oxford (scholar, BA first class in mo ...

, Sydney Checkland, Thomas Wilson,

George Wyllie George Ralston Wyllie MBE (31 December 1921 – 15 May 2012) was a Scottish artist. Wyllie produced a number of notable public works, such as the Straw Locomotive and the Paper Boat. Life Wyllie was born in Shettleston, in the east end of ...

, Sir Kenneth Alexander and

Leslie Alcock Leslie Alcock (24 April 1925 – 6 June 2006) was Professor of Archaeology at the University of Glasgow, and one of the leading archaeologists of Early Medieval Britain. His major excavations included Dinas Powys hill fort in Wales, Cadbury Ca ...

. Nove died in

Voss, Norway Voss () is a municipality and a traditional district in Vestland county, Norway. The administrative center of the municipality is the village of Vossevangen. Other villages include Bolstadøyri, Borstrondi, Evanger, Kvitheim, Mjølfjell, Opp ...

on 15 May 1994.

Family

In 1951 he married Irene MacPherson, his second marriage. They had three sons: Perry and David, from his first marriage. Together they had

Charles Nove Charles Alexis Nove (born 29 June 1960 in London, England) is a British radio broadcaster who currently presents the weekday breakfast show for classical music station Scala Radio. Biography Early career The son of Soviet historian Alexander No ...

(born 1960), a broadcaster.

Publications

* ''The Soviet Economy'' (1961) * (with J. A. Newth) ''The Soviet Middle East'' (1965) * ''Was Stalin Really Necessary?'' (1965) * ''Economic History of the USSR'' (1969, 3rd edn 199
online free to borrow
* (ed. with D. M. Nuti) ''Socialist Economics'' (1972) * ''Efficiency Criteria for Nationalised Industries'' (1973) * ''Stalinism and After'' (1976) * ''The Soviet Economic System'' (1977, 3rd edn 1986) * ''Political Economy and Soviet Socialism'' (1979) * ''The Economics of Feasible Socialism'' (1983) * ''Socialism, Economics and Development'' (1986) * ''Glasnost in Action'' (1989) * ''Economics of Feasible Socialism Revisited'' (1991) * ''Studies in Economics and Russia'' (1991) * ''An Economic History of the USSR 1917-1991'' (London, Penguin 1992) * (ed.) ''The Stalin Phenomenon'' (1993)

References

Sources

* ''

Who's Who (UK) ''Who's Who'' is a reference work. It is a book, and also a CD-ROM and a website, giving information on influential people from around the world. Published annually as a book since 1849, it lists people who influence British life, according to i ...

External links

* 1915 births 1994 deaths Academics of the University of Glasgow Academics of the University of London Alumni of the London School of Economics British economists Civil servants in the Board of Trade Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Fellows of the British Academy Jewish historians Jewish scientists Russian Jews Historians of Russia 20th-century British historians British Army personnel of World War II Royal Corps of Signals officers Soviet emigrants to the United Kingdom {{UK-historian-stub