Alexander Rabinowitch

Alexander Rabinowitch, 91, of Bloomington, Indiana, and Jamaica, Vermont, passed away peacefully on June 16, 2026, in Carmel, Indiana, with his family at his side. He was born in London, England, on August 30, 1934, and immigrated to the United States in 1938 with his parents, Eugene and Anna Rabinowitch, and his twin brother, Victor. The Rabinowitch family initially settled in Watertown, Massachusetts, before moving to Champaign, Illinois, where Alex and Vic graduated from the University of Illinois Laboratory High School in Urbana in 1952. He went on to graduate from Knox College in 1956.

Alex earned an MA in International Relations from the University of Chicago in 1961 and a PhD in Russian history from Indiana University (IU) in 1965. He began his career at the University of Southern California before joining the History Department at IU in 1968, where he taught both undergraduate and graduate students. From 1971 to 1973 and again from 1997 to 1999, he served as Director of Graduate Studies in History; from 1975 to 1984, he was Director of IU's nationally prominent Russian and East European Institute; and from 1986 to 1993, he served as IU's Dean for International Programs. In that role, he oversaw the university's international training and research institutes, overseas study and exchange programs, and international student services. In 1993, he became Emeritus Professor of History. He was also an Associate Research Scholar at the St. Petersburg Institute of History of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Throughout his career as a Russian historian, professor, author, and administrator, he was regarded by colleagues as a respected and trusted expert, mentor, and friend with a keen sense of humor. More than twenty of his doctoral students now teach at colleges and universities throughout the United States.

Alex's historical research and writing focused on the Russian Revolution and Civil War. He was one of the first Western scholars permitted to conduct research on Communist Party history in Soviet archives, including the former KGB archive. He was the author of Prelude to Revolution: The Petrograd Bolsheviks and the July 1917 Uprising (Indiana University Press, 1968), The Bolsheviks Come to Power: The 1917 Revolution in Petrograd (Norton, 1976), and The Bolsheviks in Power: The First Year of Soviet Rule in Petrograd (IU Press, 2007). Notably, his final book The Bolsheviks Survive: Petrograd 1919 (University of Pittsburgh Press) was published in April 2026. He also contributed introductions to, and coedited, several volumes of records from meetings of the Bolshevik Petersburg Committee in 1917, 1918, and 1919, published in St. Petersburg in 2003, 2013, and 2022, respectively.

A Russian translation of The Bolsheviks Come to Power was the first major Western work on the Russian Revolution to be published in the Soviet Union under Gorbachev. Alex's books also appeared in Serbo-Croatian, Italian, British, German, French, Korean, Turkish, Slovenian, and Greek editions. In 2017, centennial editions of The Bolsheviks Come to Power were published in France, Italy, and the United States. His essays and reviews appeared in scholarly journals, magazines, and newspapers in the United States and abroad.

Alex held fellowships from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, the American Council of Learned Societies, the International Research and Exchanges Board, Fulbright-Hays, and the National Endowment for the Humanities. He was a member of the Institute for Advanced Study's School of Historical Studies in Princeton and of the Council on Foreign Relations in New York; a Senior Fellow at the Harriman Institute for Advanced Russian Studies at Columbia University and at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University; and a consultant for the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation's Initiative in the Former Soviet Union. He received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from Knox College, the Thomas Hart Benton Medallion for distinguished service to Indiana University, and the 2015 ASEEES Award for Distinguished Contributions to Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies.

Alex and Janet (Bernstein) Rabinowitch were married in February 1962, beginning a devoted partnership that remained at the center of his life for more than 64 years. Together they shared a love of Russia, Russian history, and southern Vermont, where Alex's family have maintained a home since 1943.

Alex was a beloved husband, father, and grandfather, deeply proud of his children and grandchildren and happiest when surrounded by family. His daughter, Ellen Rabinowitch Saul, is married to Vincent Saul. His son, Michael (Misha) Rabinowitch is married to Lindsey Nell Rabinowitch. He is also survived by his grandchildren, Anna Rose Saul, James Alexander Saul, Katherine Elizabeth Rabinowitch, and Eli John Rabinowitch; sister-in-law Mary Martha (Marti) Rabinowitch; nephews Nikolai (Mary Beth), Peter (Olivia), and Alexander (Kimberly) Rabinowitch; step-nephews Andrew and Steven Treichel; great nephew Kolya (Nastya); and great nieces Katia, Lexa, Natasha, and Tori Rabinowitch.

A celebration of life will be held at the Rabinowitch family home in Vermont (122 Rabinowitch Road, Jamaica, VT) on July 5, 2026, at 11 a.m. Donations in Alex’s memory may be made to Grace Cottage Hospital (Grace Cottage Hospital donor form).