Andrew Lossky (born Andrey Nikolayevich Lossky, russian: Андрей Николаевич Лосский; 1917 – 1998) was a

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 ...

n-born

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

historian. He 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. His father was a professor of philosophy at

Saint Petersburg State University Saint Petersburg State University (SPBU; russian: Санкт-Петербургский государственный университет) is a public research university in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Founded in 1724 by a decree of Peter the G ...

. In 1922 he and his family sought refuge in

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

after being expelled by the

Bolsheviks The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...

. He was educated in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

and was taught English and French at home. From 1935 until 1938 he lived 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 ...

for his university education. With the dismemberment of Czechoslovakia in 1938, his parents decided to send Andrew abroad. He passed the doctoral exams for

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

in 1941 and joined the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

, where he served as an intelligence specialist in North Africa and Italy. He gained United States' citizenship in 1944.Geoffrey Symcox, �
Andrew Lossky
��, ''University of California: In Memoriam'' (2000), pp. 155–157. Retrieved 19 September 2020. He returned to Yale in 1946 and completed his doctoral dissertation (‘The Baltic Question, 1679–1689’). He joined

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

's history department in 1950, where he lectured on

early modern Europe Early modern Europe, also referred to as the post-medieval period, is the period of European history between the end of the Middle Ages and the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, roughly the late 15th century to the late 18th century. Histori ...

an history. He focused on the régime of

Louis XIV of France , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of Versa ...

and argued that the

absolute monarchies Absolute monarchy (or Absolutism as a doctrine) is a form of monarchy in which the monarch rules in their own right or power. In an absolute monarchy, the king or queen is by no means limited and has absolute power, though a limited constitut ...

of the ''

ancien régime ''Ancien'' may refer to * the French word for "ancient, old" ** Société des anciens textes français * the French for "former, senior" ** Virelai ancien ** Ancien Régime ** Ancien Régime in France {{disambig ...

'' were different from the

totalitarianism Totalitarianism is a form of government and a political system that prohibits all opposition parties, outlaws individual and group opposition to the state and its claims, and exercises an extremely high if not complete degree of control and reg ...

of the 20th century. Lossky stressed the cosmopolitanism of early modern European culture. He was also a founding member of the

Western Society for French History The Western Society for French History ( WSFH) is, along with the Society for French Historical Studies, one of the two primary historical societies devoted to the study of French history The first written records for the history of France ap ...

. He retired in 1986. In 1990 a ''

festschrift In academia, a ''Festschrift'' (; plural, ''Festschriften'' ) is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during their lifetime. It generally takes the form of an edited volume, containing contributions from the h ...

'' dedicated to Lossky was published, titled ''The Reign of Louis XIV''.Paul Sonnino (ed.), ''The Reign of Louis XIV: Essays in Celebration of Andrew Lossky'' (Humanities Press International, 1990).

William Beik William Humphrey Beik (1941–2017) was an American professor of French history, specialising in early modern France. Beik's father, Paul Beik, was a professor of history at Swarthmore College who carried out research on the French Revolution, so ...

said " is is no ordinary festschrift. Its well-coordinated, thematic essays constitute the first new synthesis on Louis XIV to appear for some time in English".William Beik, ‘Review: Celebrating Andrew Lossky: The Reign of Louis XIV Revisited’, ''French Historical Studies'', Vol. 17, No. 2 (Autumn, 1991), p. 526. Beik also said that the "genial figure of Andrew Lossky, radiating charm and perhaps a trace of mystery, has been a familiar sight for anyone who frequents French history conferences. His soft-spoken comments, delivered with a touch of central European elegance, have enriched many a session. His writings on the age of Louis XIV have made an important contribution, but his influence as mentor and teacher has extended farther, reaching for some the point of legend". In 2000, Geoffrey Symcox, one of Lossky's doctoral students, said Lossky "was a true cosmopolitan, a reincarnated citizen of the Republic of Letters, in the Europe of the Old Regime that he studied and loved. ... He was a profound scholar, an inspiring teacher, and a humane, wise friend".

Works

*''Louis XIV, William III, and the Baltic Crisis of 1683'' (University of California Press, 1954). *‘Introduction’, in Lynn White Jr. (ed.), ''The Transformation of the Roman World: Gibbon's Problem after Two Centuries'' (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1966, 1973), pp. 1–29. *‘The Absolutism of Louis XIV: Reality or Myth?’, ''Canadian Journal of History'', Volume 19 Issue 1 (Spring 1984), pp. 1–16. *''Louis XIV and the French Monarchy'' (Rutgers University Press, 1994).

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lossky, Andrew 1917 births 1998 deaths Yale University alumni United States Army personnel of World War II University of California, Los Angeles faculty Writers from Prague 20th-century American historians American male non-fiction writers Historians from California 20th-century American male writers Soviet emigrants to Czechoslovakia Czechoslovak expatriates in the United Kingdom Czechoslovak emigrants to the United States