Andrew Q Blane

1929 - 2019
Andrew Quarles Blane, of New York, NY, died on Friday September 6, 2019 at his home in Greenwich Village, where he had lived since 1965. He was 90.

Andrew was born on March 16, 1929 in El Salvador. He spent his first decade in Guatemala, after which his family returned to their home state of Kentucky. He graduated from Centre College in 1950, and enrolled in Southern Baptist Seminary in Louisville. After seminary, Andrew traveled the South, where he was billed as a "dynamic lay evangelist" speaking to gatherings of students. His interest in religion led him to earn his Master's degree in Divinity at Cambridge University in 1957.

While studying at Cambridge, he traveled to the Soviet Union to attend The World Festival of Youth and Students. The trip changed his life's path. He returned to America to attend Duke University for a PhD, but switched his field of study from Religion to Russia. He became a professor of Russian history at the City University of New York in 1965. He published five books during his academic career, including the definitive biography of the Russian ecumenical priest Georges Florovsky – whom he met during a period of study at Harvard.

His job in New York City prompted a move into a backhouse on Morton Street in the Village. He lived there for over half a century.

During the 1960's, he was active in the civil rights and anti-war movements, and in 1969 he joined Amnesty International. In 1974, he became the first person from the Western Hemisphere to serve on AI's International Executive Committee, and he served as vice-chairman of that committee from 1979-1981. In 1977, he was one of nine delegates from Amnesty to travel to Oslo to receive the Nobel Peace Prize.

In 1980 he met his wife, Jaana, through their mutual Amnesty activism. He briefly moved to her home city of Helsinki, Finland, and together they returned to New York to the house on Morton Street. They married in 1983 and had two children.

The home on Morton Street was a hub for human rights activism. Amnesty's United Nations office was born in its basement. Activists from around the world spent nights on the pull-out couch. The Nobel winning poet, Joseph Brodsky, became a longtime tenant. Dissidents and asylum seekers found refuge on Morton Street, where they were welcomed with generosity and Southern charm.

He is survived by his wife of 36 years, Dr. Jaana Rehnstrom, and their two children, Saga Blane and her husband Jake Jeppson of Brooklyn and Eliot Blane, of Manhattan; and a grandson, Finn Blane Jeppson. A memorial service will be held on October 6 at 3 pm. at Grace Church in Manhattan. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the newly-formed Andrew Blane Memorial Fund for Human Rights Defenders: www.andrewblane.com.