Kirchner, Walther 1905-2004
KIRCHNER, Walther 1905-2004
OBITUARY NOTICE—
See index for CA sketch: Born May 18, 1905, in Berlin, Germany; died of cancer June 30, 2004, in Baltimore, MD. Historian, educator, and author. Kirchner was a professor emeritus at the University of Delaware who was particularly well regarded for his knowledge of Russian history and trade. He had moved to the United States from Germany before World War II, studying at the University of California at Los Angeles, where he earned a Ph.D. in 1944. The next year, he joined the University of Delaware faculty as an assistant professor, becoming a full professor ten years later and H. Rodney Sharpe Professor in 1965; he also headed the history department for a time. Highly respected for his prodigious knowledge of European history, Kirchner was the author of numerous scholarly books, including the two-volume History of Western Civilization (1958, 1960), and several books on Russia and Russian-Western trade, such as Economic Relations between Russia and the West (1966) and Studies in Russian-American Commerce, 1820-1860 (1975). He retired from the university in 1970, moving to Baltimore so that he could conduct research at the Pratt Library and Johns Hopkins University.
OBITUARIES AND OTHER SOURCES:
PERIODICALS
Chronicle of Higher Education, July 16, 2004, p. A36.
ONLINE
Factiva.com,http://global.factiva.com/ (July 3, 2004). U Daily,http://www.udel.edu/PR/UDaily/ (July 9, 2004).