Professor Lindsey Hughes – Memories of a Great Historian and Friend

I got to know Lindsey Hughes over the course of almost ten years – from September 1990 when I started as an MA student at the School of Slavonic and East European Studies, to March 2000 when I graduated from the same institution with a Ph.D. in Russian History. I could not possibly have known how lucky I was that first September when I turned out to be the only student enrolled in her year-long course on Russia’s transition from 17^th century Muscovy to 18^th century empire. To me the situation actually seemed undesirable. The last thing I wanted was to be the sole subject of professorial scrutiny in any of my courses! I was new to Britain, new to graduate studies, very homesick, and very unsure of myself.

A little impatience on her part, a little harshness, and my graduate career would have been over. I was that fragile, that convinced that I was out of my depth. But she was not only the soul of patience – that rare professor willing to be a true mentor and friend – she was also irresistibly passionate about her subject in general, and a certain fellow called Peter Alexeevich in particular. I’m sure that no one who knew Lindsey will ever be able to think of Peter the Great without also thinking of her! She herself wasn’t at all certain that she would have enjoyed Peter’s company in the flesh – he might, after all, have wanted to pull a few of her teeth, or forced her to down an impossible quantity of vodka – but the idea of such an acquaintance made her smile, and I’d be willing to bet that he would have liked her immensely.

Lindsey’s love of Russia was apparent. Her home was filled with samovars and icons, old Russian prints, china from the Imperial Porcelain factory, even a few peasants’ washboards. She traveled frequently to Russia, but almost all her treasures had been acquired in Britain, including several ‘finds’ made by her husband, Jim, who had come to share her passion for Russian antiques. Both were particularly interested in silver, and knew all the Russian silver marks. I always loved having dinner at their house and seeing the new acquisitions, each one joyfully presented. There were museum quality pieces, but the house itself was nothing like a museum. Everything seemed to belong – to be at home – even the icons. They were not merely on display. They were part of the living ‘spirit’ of a warm and harmonious place. It is hard to imagine that little enclave of Russia within Britain without Lindsey there!

There was a living aspect to Lindsey’s scholarship too. Proper historiography was extremely important to her, and her books don’t hold much appeal to the casual reader, but that was her choice – to be a scholar’s scholar, impeccably objective, establishing a superlatively solid foundation for future generations of historians to build upon. Her idol was Isabel de Madariaga, a woman whom she loved but continued to find daunting, whose footsteps she never considered herself quite worthy to fill. But to know her was to realize that Peter, his sister Sophia Alexeevna, and even Russia itself were living entities to her, that they genuinely resided in her soul, and it was deep enough to accommodate them.

I will miss Lindsey immensely! May her memory be eternal!

Professor Lindsey Hughes – Memories of a Great Historian and Friend

Will would also like to draw readers' attention to the full obituary of Lindsey in the Independent newspaper on May 4th 2007