Eminent Indian historian succumbs to Covid-19
KOLKATA: Eminent historian Hari Sankar Vasudevan, one of modern India’s leading experts on Russian and central Asian history who authored several academic tomes, died of the coronavirus disease at a private hospital in Kolkata on Sunday morning. He was 68.
Vasudevan had tested positive for the infection on May 6 after being admitted with high fever and breathing difficulty symptoms on May 4 but had other chronic ailments as well, his family said. He was on ventilator and died around 12.40am on Sunday after suffering two heart attacks, an official from the hospital said. He is survived by his wife, historian Tapati Guha Thakurta, and a daughter, Mrinalini.
Widely considered an authority on European and Russian history and the IndoRussian relationship, Vasudevan started teaching history at Calcutta University in 1978. He graduated from Cambridge University where he also completed his post-graduation and Ph.D.
“He was one of the most competent historians in modern India. He joined Calcutta University at a young age and made an extremely important contribution,” said Amal Kumar Mukhopadhyay, former principal of Presidency College. “He left a vacuum that cannot be easily fulfilled,” Mukhopadhyay added.
Vasudevan was the director of China Centre of the Calcutta University and also served as the director of the Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Institute of Asian Studies, Kolkata, under the Ministry of Culture.
“Hari will always be remembered by countless friends, admirers, students, academics - in India and abroad,” former Prasar Bharati chief and culture secretary Jawhar Sircar wrote on social media.
A former professor of Jadavpur University and alumnus of Oxford University, Sajni Mukherji said, “Vasudevan and his wife are family to me. He and my late husband used to teach at the Centre for Studies in Social Sciences. He was an extremely gentle and jolly person. His writings on the Silk Route and Indo-Russian relations count among his important works.”
“This (Covid-19) is such a dreadful disease. We cannot even assembly and console each other at this hour,” said Mukherji.
Between 2003 and 2005, Vasudevan was a professor at Central Asian Studies and acting director at Academy of Third World Studies, Jamia Millia Islamia, Delhi. Between 2011 and 2014, he was member Indian Council of Historical Research. He was chairman of the Syllabus Committees and Textbook Development Committees for Social Sciences of the National Council of Educational Research and Training from 2005 to 2015.
Bengal governor Jagdeep Dhankar and the Calcutta University Teachers’ Association condoled Vasudevan’s death.
“Professor Hari Vasudevan was prominent specialist in Russian and European history and Indo-Russian Relations. He was also visiting distinguished fellow, Observer Research Foundation and president, Institute of Development Studies, Kolkata and these positions he made commendable contributions. He was involved in projects on Indo-Russian relations and the Radiating Globalities project initiated by Gayatri Spivak of Columbia University (New York). At ORF, he was evaluating the overlap between ‘Look East’ and ‘Look Far East’ policies of India and the relationship between Greater Eurasia ideas of the Russian establishment and Chinese establishment,” the statement said.