Professor Joined Harvard Professors at Round Table

Dr. Russell Martin, associate professor of history at Westminster College, recently joined several Harvard professors in round table discussions on Isabel de Madariaga's recently published book, "Ivan the Terrible: The First Tsar of Russia," at the Early Slavists Seminar.

"The book is the most recent scholarly treatment of Ivan the Terrible and has been enthusiastically received by reviewers and readers," Martin said.  "But for many specialists in the medieval history of Russia, the book presents many problems and challenges.  This seminar presented an opportunity to raise and discuss questions posed by the book and to address the general problem of making early Russian history more accessible to a broad range of readers.

"The seminar was conducted by Harvard professors Donald Ostrowski, and John LeDonne and myself, and was attended by many noted historians in early Russian history," Martin continued.  "I was asked to participate because of my own work on Ivan the Terrible, especially his seven marriages.  I was also asked becaused my own work, like that of Ostrowski's and LeDonne's, was heavily influenced by Harvard professor Edward Keenan, who comes under some fire in de Madariaga's book.  The seminar was a chance to respond to those parts of the book that challenge Keenan's interpretation of Ivan the Terrible and the nature of the political system in Muscovy."

Martin appeared on A&E Biography in a broadcast on Ivan the Terrible as an expert on the controversial ruler.  He is the co-founder of the Muscovite Biographical Database, a Russian-American computerized register based in Moscow of early modern Russian notables.  The Neville Island, Pa., native is not only fluent in Russian, but also reads Old Church Slavonic/Russian, French, German, Latin, and Polish.

Martin, who has been with Westminster College since 1996, earned his bachelor's degree from the University of Pittsburgh, and his master's and Ph.D. from Harvard University.

Contact at Martin at (724) 946-6254 or e-mail martinre@westminster.edu for more information.

Dr. Russell Martin