Alexander Nove FRSE

Royal Society of Edinburgh

The Royal Society of Edinburgh is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity, operating on a wholly independent and non-party-political basis and providing public benefit throughout Scotland...

, FBA (24 November 1915 – 15 May 1994) was a Professor

Professor

A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...

 of Economics at the University of Glasgow

University of Glasgow

The University of Glasgow is the fourth-oldest university in the English-speaking world and one of Scotland's four ancient universities. Located in Glasgow, the university was founded in 1451 and is presently one of seventeen British higher education institutions ranked amongst the top 100 of the...

 and a noted authority on Russian and Soviet

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

 economic history

Economic history

Economic history is the study of economies or economic phenomena in the past. Analysis in economic history is undertaken using a combination of historical methods, statistical methods and by applying economic theory to historical situations and institutions...

. According to Ian D. Thatcher, "[T]he consensus is that he was one of the most significant scholars of 'Soviet' studies in its widest sense and beyond."

Biography

Alexander Nove was born in Saint Petersburg

Saint Petersburg

Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...

, Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

. He attended King Alfred School

King Alfred School

The King Alfred School was founded in London, England, in 1898.The school was radical for its time in that it provided a secular education and that boys and girls were educated together.-Aim:...

 in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 and received a BSc in Economics from the London School of Economics

London School of Economics

The London School of Economics and Political Science is a public research university specialised in the social sciences located in London, United Kingdom, and a constituent college of the federal University of London...

 in 1936. The school later made him an Honorary Fellow in 1982.

He served in the Army between 1939 and 1946. From 1947 to 1958, he worked in Civil Service, mainly the Board of Trade

Board of Trade

The Board of Trade is a committee of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom, originating as a committee of inquiry in the 17th century and evolving gradually into a government department with a diverse range of functions...

. He was a Reader in Russian Social and Economic Studies at the University of London

University of London

-20th century:Shortly after 6 Burlington Gardens was vacated, the University went through a period of rapid expansion. Bedford College, Royal Holloway and the London School of Economics all joined in 1900, Regent's Park College, which had affiliated in 1841 became an official divinity school of the...

 from 1958 to 1963 and Professor of Economics at the University of Glasgow

University of Glasgow

The University of Glasgow is the fourth-oldest university in the English-speaking world and one of Scotland's four ancient universities. Located in Glasgow, the university was founded in 1451 and is presently one of seventeen British higher education institutions ranked amongst the top 100 of the...

 from 1963 to 1982. He was then Emeritus Professor and Honorary Senior Research Fellow at Glasgow until his death in 1994.

In 1951 he married Irene MacPherson, in their second marriage.

Nove died in Voss, Norway and was survived by three sons: Charles Nove

Charles Nove

Charles Alexis Nove born in London, is a long standing news and continuity voiceover announcer for BBC radio and television. In recent years he has provided holiday relief for BBC Radio 2 and what used to be Saga Radio in Scotland, and following John Marsh's retirement in February 2007 he became...

, a voice artist and presenter and his only child from the second marriage, and his older sons Perry and David.

Publications

• The Soviet Economy, 1961
• (with J. A. Newth) The Soviet Middle East, 1965
• Was Stalin Really Necessary?, 1965
• Economic History of the USSR, 1969, 3rd edn 1993
• (ed with D. M. Nuti) Socialist Economics, 1972
• Efficiency Criteria for Nationalised Industries, 1973
• Stalinism and After, 1976
• The Soviet Economic System, 1977, 3rd edn 1986
• Political Economy and Soviet Socialism, 1979
• The Economics of Feasible Socialism, 1983
• Socialism, Economics and Development, 1986
• Glasnost in Action, 1989
• Economics of Feasible Socialism Revisited, 1991
• Studies in Economics and Russia, 1991
• An Economic History of the USSR, 1917-1991 (London, Penguin 1992)
• (ed) The Stalin Phenomenon, 1993.

External links