Barbara Jelavich (April 12, 1923 – January 14, 1995) was an American professor of history at
Indiana University
Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana.
Campuses
Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI.
*Indiana Universi ...
and an expert on the diplomatic histories of the Russian and
Habsburg monarchies, the diplomacy of the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
, and the history of the
Balkans
The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...
.
Biography
Barbara Brightfield was born in
Belleville, Illinois, April 12, 1923. She earned multiple degrees in history from the
University of California
The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Franci ...
at
Berkeley.
[.] There she received an A.B. honors degree in 1943, her M.A. in 1944, and her PhD in 1948. In 1944, she married Charles Jelavich (1922–2013); both engaged in multiple academic collaborations.
[.] They were jointly honored in 1992 with the AAASS Award for Distinguished Contributions to Slavic Studies.
After briefly teaching at
Berkeley College
Berkeley College is a private for-profit college with campuses in New York, New Jersey, and online. It was founded in 1931 and offers undergraduate and graduate degrees and certificate programs. Berkeley College is accredited by the Middle ...
and
Mills College
Mills College at Northeastern University is a private college in Oakland, California and part of Northeastern University's global university system. Mills College was founded as the Young Ladies Seminary in 1852 in Benicia, California; it was ...
, Jelavich dedicated her time towards raising her two sons (Mark and
Peter
Peter may refer to:
People
* List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name
* Peter (given name)
** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church
* Peter (surname), a sur ...
) 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
Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana.
Campuses
Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI.
*Indiana Universi ...
. 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 1988–90. When she and her husband retired in 1992, she was elected as an honorary member of the
Romanian Academy
The Romanian Academy ( ro, Academia Română ) is a cultural forum founded in Bucharest, Romania, in 1866. It covers the scientific, artistic and literary domains. The academy has 181 active members who are elected for life.
According to its byl ...
.
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
The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...
(including nations such as
Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...
and
Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...
). 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
Japanese may refer to:
* Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia
* Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan
* Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture
** Japanese diaspor ...
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.
[.] 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
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
. On January 14, 1995, she died in Bloomington Hospital (
Bloomington, Indiana
Bloomington is a city in and the county seat of Monroe County in the central region of the U.S. state of Indiana. It is the seventh-largest city in Indiana and the fourth-largest outside the Indianapolis metropolitan area. According to the Mo ...
) after a long struggle with
cancer
Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...
. She was buried in the Mission Cemetery in
Santa Clara,
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
. The Barbara Jelavich Prize was established under the auspices of the AAASS in recognition of scholarship in 19th and 20th century southeastern European and Habsburg studies, as well as in Russian and Ottoman diplomatic history.
Notable students
* Lawrence D. Orton
Published works
*1964 – ''A Century of Russian Foreign Policy: 1814–1914'' (J.B. Lippincott Company, New York)
*1969 - ''The Hapsburg Empire in European Affairs, 1814-1918'' (Rand McNally & Company, Chicago)
*1974 – ''Russia and the Rumanian National Cause'' (Cambridge University Press)
* 1974 - St. Petersburg and Moscow: Tsarist and Soviet Foreign Policy, 1814-1974 (Indiana University Press)
*
*
*1984 – ''Russia and the Formation of the Romanian Empire'' (Cambridge University Press)
*
*
*
References
Sources
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External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jelavich, Barbara
1923 births
1995 deaths
Deaths from cancer in Indiana
Historians of the Balkans
Historians of Europe
Indiana University faculty
American Roman Catholics
Converts to Roman Catholicism
American women historians
20th-century American historians
20th-century American women writers
Historians from Indiana