Thomas Elliott Skidmore (22 July 1932, in

Troy, Ohio Troy is a city in and the county seat of Miami County, Ohio, United States, located north of Dayton. The population was 26,305 at the 2020 census, making it the largest city in Miami County and the 55th largest city in Ohio; it is part of the Da ...

– 11 June 2016) was an American

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the st ...

and scholar who specialized in

Brazilian history The history of Brazil begins with indigenous people in Brazil. Europeans arrived in Brazil at the ending of the 15th century. The first European to claim sovereignty over Indigenous lands part of what is now the territory of the Federative Repub ...

.Thomas Skidmore (1932-2016): A Tribute
Latin America Centre. University of Oxford.

Biography

Skidmore graduated in political science and philosophy in 1954 from

Denison University Denison University is a private liberal arts college in Granville, Ohio. One of the earliest colleges established in the former Northwest Territory, Denison University was founded in 1831. The college was first called the Granville Literary and ...

. He received a

Fulbright Fellowship The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people of ...

to study philosophy at Magdalen College, Oxford where he met his wife Felicity. He received a second

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

in Philosophy, Politics and Economics in 1956 and a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

in 1959. He obtained his

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

in 1960 with a thesis on the German Chancellor

Leo von Caprivi Georg Leo Graf von Caprivi de Caprara de Montecuccoli (English: ''Count George Leo of Caprivi, Caprara, and Montecuccoli''; born Georg Leo von Caprivi; 24 February 1831 – 6 February 1899) was a German general and statesman who served as the cha ...

. His attention shifted to

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sout ...

after the

Cuban Revolution The Cuban Revolution ( es, Revolución Cubana) was carried out after the 1952 Cuban coup d'état which placed Fulgencio Batista as head of state and the failed mass strike in opposition that followed. After failing to contest Batista in co ...

. His Harvard post-doctorate focused on Brazil. In 1967 he published ''Politics in Brazil: 1930-64, An Experiment in Democracy''. He began his teaching career at Harvard as an instructor (1960-61), research fellow in Latin American studies (1961-64), and then assistant professor (1964-66)."Skidmore, Thomas Elliott," in ''Historians of Latin America in the United States, 1965: Biobibliographies of 680 Specialists''. Ed. Howard F. Cline. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1966, 83. In 1966, Skidmore joined the faculty of the

University of Wisconsin, Madison A university () is an educational institution, institution of higher education, higher (or Tertiary education, tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. Universities ty ...

. He became a

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

in 1968. In 1986, Skidmore moved to Brown University.

Selected bibliography

* ''Politics in Brazil 1930–1964: An Experiment in Democracy'' (Oxford University Press, 1967) * ''Black Into White: Race and Nationality in Brazilian Thought'' (Oxford University Press, 1974) * ''Modern Latin America'', with Peter H. Smith and James N. Green (Oxford University Press, multiple editions, 1984–2005) * ''The Politics of Military Rule in Brazil: 1964–1985'' (1988) * ''Television, Politics, and the Transition to Democracy in Latin America'' (Johns Hopkins University Press, 1993, ed.) * “Bi-Racial U.S.A. vs Multi-Racial Brazil: Is the Contrast Still Valid?,” ''Journal of Latin American Studies'' 25, no. 2 (1993): 373-385 * ''Brazil: Five Centuries of Change'' (Oxford University Press, 1999)

References

1932 births 2016 deaths Brazilianists Harvard University alumni Denison University alumni Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford Brown University faculty University of Wisconsin–Madison faculty People from Troy, Ohio Historians from Ohio Fulbright alumni {{US-historian-stub