William Vasilyevich Pokhlebkin

Background

William Pokhlebkin was born on August 20, 1923 in Moscow, Russia. He was a son of Vassily Mikhailov, a typographer and publisher. He had a brother.

Education

From 1945 to 1949 William Pokhlebkin attended the Moscow State Institute of International Relations. Later he did postgraduate courses in the Institute of History of the Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union, where received Kandidat Nauk (Doctor of Philosophy) degree.

Career

William Pokhlebkin is a writer, historian, bibliophile, and heraldist. He founded the journal Skandinavskii sbornik (Scandinavian Review) and was its chief editor from 1955-1961. He has served on the advisory board of Scadinavica, an international journal of Scandinavian studies. He has written extensively on Slavic, Tartar, and Russian histories. Some of his titles include SSSR-Finlandia: 260 let otnoshenii 1713-1973 and Skandinavski Strany i SSSR, Daniia (1955), Shvetsiia (1956), Norvegiia (1956), Finliandiia i Sovetskii Soiuz (1961), Saltika i bor’ba za mir (1966), Gosudarstvennyi stroi Islandii (1966), etc.

One book in particular, A History of Vodka, translated by Renfrey Clarke, has captured attention. Although Pokhlebkin states in his foreward that "This text was never intended for publication." He has also written several books on culinary themes, including a history of tea in Russia, a book on spices, and cookbooks on regional cuisines from Russia and the former Soviet Republics.

He was found murdered in his apartment between March 27 and 31, 2000 in Podolsk.

Achievements

• William Pokhlebkin was an outstanding expert on the history of Russian cuisine. He is best known for his book A History of Vodka. It has been translated into a number of languages. In 1986 he received a Kekkonen Medal, Langhe Ceretto Prize in 1993 and Hugo Grotius Prize in 1999.

Works

More photos

• book

  • A History of Vodka

    (With formidable scholarship and considerable dry wit, Wil...)

    1991
  • Povarennoe Iskusstvo

    (William Pokhlebkin (d. 2000) was a famous Russian histori...)

    1997
  • Zanimatel'naia Kulinariia:

    (V. Pokhlebkin ( d. 2000), a famous Russian historian with...)

    1997
  • Kushat' Podano! 1993
  • Slovar' Mezhdunarodnoi Simvoliki i Emblematiki 1994

Membership

William Pokhlebkin was a member of the Russian Geographical Society.

Interests

• heraldry

Connections

In 1960 William Pokhlebkin married Signe Veldre, a translator. In 1970 marriage ended. In 1971 he married Yevdokiya Bur'yeva, a teacher. In 1978 marriage ended. He had a daughter, Gudrun, and a son, August.

Father:

Vassily Mikhailov

ex-spouse:

Signe Veldre

ex-spouse:

Yevdokiya Bur'yeva

Daughter:

Gudrun

Son:

August

References

• Contemporary Authors
  2010