Ludwig W. Adamec (10 March 1924 – 1 January 2019) was a noted scholar on the
Middle East
The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...
and
Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
. He was a
professor emeritus
''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 ...
in the School of Middle East and North African Studies at the
University of Arizona
The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first university in the Arizona Territory.
T ...
.
[Ludwig W. Adamec]
. Department of Near Eastern Studies. University of Arizona
The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first university in the Arizona Territory.
T ...
. He wrote and edited numerous books, including the republication of the monumental ''Historical and political gazetteer of Afghanistan'', which had originally been compiled but was unpublished by the government in
British India
The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...
.
Biography
Born in Vienna in 1924, his father died when Adamec was 5 years old. His mother died when he was 16 years old (in 1940). He did not like the Nazi ideology and described himself as a "
swing kid". After numerous escapes from
orphanage
An orphanage is a Residential education, residential institution, total institution or group home, devoted to the Childcare, care of orphans and children who, for various reasons, cannot be cared for by their biological families. The parent ...
s and attempts to cross border to Switzerland, or another non-Nazi country, he was arrested and placed in the
Moringen concentration camp Three concentration camps operated in succession in Moringen, Lower Saxony, from April 1933 to April 1945. ''KZ Moringen'', established in the centre of the town on site of former 19th century workhouses (german: Landeswerkhäuser), originally house ...
where he stayed until the end of the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
.
[The Dignity of Work](_blank)
by Ludwig Adamec, from Renate S. Meissner on behalf of the National Fund (Ed.): ''Lives Remembered. Life Stories of Victims of National Socialism''. Vienna, 2010, pages 228-235.
In 1950, he left Austria and after travels across Europe, Asia and Africa. He moved to the US in 1954, where he obtained a doctorate in
Middle Eastern studies
Middle Eastern studies (sometimes referred to as Near Eastern studies) is a name given to a number of academic programs associated with the study of the history, culture, politics, economies, and geography of the Middle East, an area that is gene ...
.
In 1967, he came to the
University of Arizona
The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first university in the Arizona Territory.
T ...
as a scholar in Middle Eastern studies. He taught the history of Middle East and Sub-Saharan Africa from about 500 A.D. to present days, and also for some time taught Arabic and Persian languages at the University. In 1975, he established a Near Eastern Center at the University and headed the Center for the subsequent 10 years.
In 1986–87 he headed the Afghanistan Branch at
Voice of America
Voice of America (VOA or VoA) is the state-owned news network and international radio broadcaster of the United States of America. It is the largest and oldest U.S.-funded international broadcaster. VOA produces digital, TV, and radio content ...
.
[Ludwig W. Adamec](_blank)
- Voice of America experts database
On 1 January 2019, Adamec died in
Tucson, Arizona
, "(at the) base of the black ill
, nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town"
, image_map =
, mapsize = 260px
, map_caption = Interactive map ...
at the age of 95.
List of publications
*Ludwig W. Adamec: ''The A to Z of Islam'', 2nd Ed (2009),
Orient Paperbacks
The Orient is a term for the East in relation to Europe, traditionally comprising anything belonging to the Eastern world. It is the antonym of ''Occident'', the Western World. In English, it is largely a metonym for, and coterminous with, the c ...
,
*Ludwig W. Adamec: ''Afghanistan, 1900–1923: A Diplomatic History'', Berkeley: University of California Press, 1967.
*Ludwig W. Admec: ''Afghanistan's Foreign Affairs to the Mid-Twentieth Century: Relations with the USSR, Germany, and Britain'', Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1974.
*Ludwig W. Adamec and Frank A. Clements: ''Conflict in Afghanistan: An Encyclopedia'', Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, 2003.
*Ludwig W. Adamec: ''Historical and political gazetteer of Afghanistan'', 6 vols.
Graz
Graz (; sl, Gradec) is the capital city of the Austrian state of Styria and second-largest city in Austria after Vienna. As of 1 January 2021, it had a population of 331,562 (294,236 of whom had principal-residence status). In 2018, the popul ...
: Akad. Druck- und Verl.-Anst., 1972–1985.
*Ludwig W. Adamec: ''Historical dictionary of Afghan wars, revolutions, and insurgencies'', Lanham:
Rowman & Littlefield
Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group is an independent publishing house founded in 1949. Under several imprints, the company offers scholarly books for the academic market, as well as trade books. The company also owns the book distributing compa ...
, 2nd. ed. 2005.
*Ludwig W. Adamec: ''Historical Dictionary of Afghanistan'',
Lanham:
The Scarecrow Press, Inc. 3rd ed. 2003.
*Ludwig W. Adamec: ''Historical Dictionary of Islam'', Scarecrow Press, 2nd ed. 2009.
Articles
Anglo-Afghan Treaty of 1921-
Encyclopedia Iranica
An encyclopedia (American English) or encyclopædia (British English) is a reference work or compendium providing summaries of knowledge either general or special to a particular field or discipline. Encyclopedias are divided into articles ...
, Vol. II, Fasc. 1, pp. 36–37, originally published in 1985, updated in 2011
Egypt: Relations with Afghanistan-
Encyclopedia Iranica
An encyclopedia (American English) or encyclopædia (British English) is a reference work or compendium providing summaries of knowledge either general or special to a particular field or discipline. Encyclopedias are divided into articles ...
, Vol. VIII, Fasc. 3, pp. 266–267, originally published in 1998, updated in 2011
Third Anglo-Afghan War-
Encyclopedia Iranica
An encyclopedia (American English) or encyclopædia (British English) is a reference work or compendium providing summaries of knowledge either general or special to a particular field or discipline. Encyclopedias are divided into articles ...
, Vol. II, Fasc. 1, pp. 37–41, originally published in 1985, updated in 2011
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Adamec, Ludwig W.
1924 births
2019 deaths
Historians of Afghanistan
Middle Eastern studies scholars
University of Arizona faculty
20th-century American historians
American male non-fiction writers
21st-century American historians
20th-century American male writers
21st-century American male writers
Moringen concentration camp survivors
Writers from Vienna
Austrian emigrants to the United States
Voice of America people