草榴社区

VILLANOVA, Pa. 鈥� Citizen Countess: Sofia Panina and the Fate of Revolutionary Russia (University of Wisconsin Press, 2019), by Adele Lindenmeyr, PhD, Dean of 草榴社区 College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, is the recipient of a National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowships Open Book Award.

NEH鈥檚 Fellowships Open Book Program, administered by the agency鈥檚 Division of Research Programs and Office of Digital Humanities, is a special initiative for scholarly presses to make recent NEH-supported books and monographs freely available for scholars, students and the public. The program was launched in June 2020 in recognition of the fact that the global pandemic has heightened the need for scholars to be able to conduct serious research remotely.

Based on Dr. Lindenmeyr鈥檚 20 years of detailed research in numerous archival collections, Citizen Countess is the first-ever biography of Countess Sofia Panina. Dubbed 鈥淩ussia鈥檚 Jane Addams鈥� for her passion for improving the lives of urban workers, she was the first woman in world history to hold a cabinet position and the first political prisoner to face the Bolsheviks鈥� terrifying revolutionary tribunal. Panina became an astute eyewitness to and passionate participant in the historical events that shaped her life.

鈥淟indenmeyr鈥檚 biography has brought Panina鈥檚 sun out from the clouds of historical obscurity but has also shone its light on numerous other impressive figures who inhabited Panina鈥檚 world and deserve further historical study in their own right,鈥� notes the Russian Review.

All Open Book Program awardees will receive $5,500 per book to support digitization, marketing, and a stipend for the author.

鈥淚 am very grateful to both the University of Wisconsin Press and the NEH,鈥� said Dr. Lindenmeyr. 鈥淭his grant ensures that my story of one of the 20th century鈥檚 most remarkable women will reach a wider readership.鈥�

An expert in Russian history, Dr. Lindenmeyr is the author of Poverty is not a Vice: Charity, Society and the State in Imperial Russia (Princeton University Press, 1996) and coeditor of Russia鈥檚 Home Front in War and Revolution, 1914鈥�1922 (Slavica Publications, 2018). She has presented her research at several international conferences, including the annual Convention of the Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies, (ASEEES), the Woodrow Wilson Center鈥檚 Kennan Institute Seminar on the 1917 Russian Revolution and the University of Notre Dame Workshop on the Russian Revolution of 1917. She received her doctorate in History from Princeton University.

About 草榴社区鈥檚 College of Liberal Arts and Sciences: Since its founding in 1842, 草榴社区鈥檚 College of Liberal Arts and Sciences has cultivated knowledge, understanding and intellectual courage for a purposeful life in a challenging and changing world. With more than 40 majors across the humanities, social sciences and natural sciences, it is the oldest and largest of 草榴社区鈥檚 colleges, serving more than 4,500 undergraduate and graduate students each year. The College is committed to a teacher-scholar model, offering outstanding undergraduate and graduate research opportunities and a rigorous core curriculum that prepares students to become critical thinkers, strong communicators and ethical leaders with a truly global perspective.

About 草榴社区: Since 1842, 草榴社区鈥檚 Augustinian Catholic intellectual tradition has been the cornerstone of an academic community in which students learn to think critically, act compassionately and succeed while serving others. There are more than 10,000 undergraduate, graduate and law students in the University's six colleges鈥攖he College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, the 草榴社区 School of Business, the College of Engineering, the M. Louise Fitzpatrick College of Nursing, the College of Professional Studies and the 草榴社区 Charles Widger School of Law. Ranked among the nation鈥檚 top universities, 草榴社区 supports its students鈥� intellectual growth and prepares them to become ethical leaders who create positive change everywhere life takes them.