Albert Resis

Albert was-- and still is-- one of the most important people in my life. His photo is on my desk, and not a week passes that I do not find myself going back to things that he taught me--and not just as a historian. I met him on 8 AM on my first day of college, in a course on Imperial Russia; 12 years later I completed my dissertation under his direction. I've written a memorial to AR as scholar and as a mentor for The Slavic Review (vol 80, no. 2: summer 2021), but what I want to say to...

A powerful influence of the positive. And a major influence on me.

Albert was a longtime friend of my father's, but I came to think of him as my friend too. He was always sincere when he asked how you were, what was going on in your life. I found him an inspiring person. One day I hope to read some of his work on Russian history.

I had the privilege of knowing Albert Resis. Each time I met him at extended family gatherings, it was a memorable experience. I recall at Thanksgiving that Albert used to say that he always preferred the food that was home made over the dishes that were store bought. I looked forward to seeing Albert at every event. With Albert, the conversation, ideas and stories freely flowed, and there was never a lack of interested listeners to the many, many stories about his life experiences that he...

I worked in food services at the nursing home where Albert was. I’ve only been there three months, but Albert touched my heart. I’m a bass clarinet player, so Albert and I bonded over our love of low reed instruments. In the last few weeks I would go in and turn on his classical music. He’d smile and close his eyes in order to “feel the music”. I’ll miss hearing a new fun fact about Beethoven each shift. Albert was a big fan of orange juice, so I’d bring it to him each time I worked and he’d...

I learned to think critically in Dr. Resis classes. He would get us to debate. It was always done in a cheerful way by him. What he taught has stuck with me in this difficult time in our country.

I was a care taker of Albert in the nursing home, he was my favorite resident. The last few days I would play beethoven for him to listen too and he held my hand and thanked me for always going the extra mile for him. We shared many conversations and he was a jokester indeed always brightened my day seeing him in the hallway peaking his head out as he would see me coming. He always brought a smile to my face when he told me about his favorite books or his love for beethoven. Anytime I gave...