Harold L. Kahn

Nov 15, 1930 - Dec 11, 2018

Harold L. Kahn, Professor Emeritus of History at Stanford University died at home of natural causes on December 11, 2018. A specialist in Late Imperial China, Kahn taught at Stanford for over 40 years. Previously he was a Lecturer in history at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. His book, Monarchy in the Emperor’s Eyes (Harvard University Press,1971), won the Commonwealth Club First Book prize. A recipient of the Dean’s Award for Distinguished Teaching at Stanford, Kahn was famous among students for his humorous and illuminating lectures. As a graduate advisor, he mentored a generation of Chinese historians and at his retirement the History Department created the Kahn-Van Slyke Award for Graduate Mentorship and the Harold Kahn Reading Room. Born in 1930 in Poughkeepsie, New York, Kahn earned a B.A. from Williams College, M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from Harvard University. He spent a Fulbright year in Stockholm, drove a taxi in New York City, perfected the art of gourmet backpacking, and in the 1970’s joined an automechanic collective and the communal publishing outlet, The People’s Press. He never lost a sense of wonderment and curiosity, as impressed with Karl Marx as he was with the Marx Brothers. A loving son, father, brother, grandfather and partner, Kahn is survived by his daughters Annika and Stanya Kahn, grandsons Kourosh Kahn-Adle and Lenny Dodge-Kahn, sister Muriel Lampell and family, and his dearest life partner Maureen McClain.Kahn.