Nicholas Riasanovsky

I am saddened at the death of Dr Riasanovsky. I was a student of his in Berkeley in the late 1950s-early 1960s. He was a wonderful teacher and opened my eyes to the fascinating history of his homeland. spasibo....My condolences to the family he left behind Shalom, Deena Z Sortland

I was not a brilliant student so I didn't go on to higher degrees, but I did become a high school history teacher and consider Prof. Riasanovsky the best teacher I ever had. I remember an intellectual history class taken from him and Martin Malia. Prof. Riasanovsky was looking up a specific point in response to a question. I saw he was reading from a notebook; it was his student notebook from one of his classes taken long ago from Isaiah Berlin at Oxford (or Harvard). Then once he was...

Professor Riasanovsky was a trusted mentor during completion of my individual major in Soviet Studies at Berkeley, 1983-88. Along with George Breslauer, he helped me prepare an honors thesis--very generously reading it not just once, but twice. His suggestions were invariably thoughtful, helpful and kind.

My favorite times with Professor Riasanovsky were office hours. I would usually arrive with a question regarding a fine point of Russian history. His responses were never...

I didn't know Nicholas Riasanovsky personally, but I have found his book the History of Russia one of the best written and researched books of all times. Page turners are rarely applied to history books. This would be an exception.

Offering our deepest condolences during this difficult time.