Nikitin, Sergei

Born June 12 (25), 1901, in Moscow. Soviet historian, specializing in the history of foreign Slavic peoples and of 19th-century Russia; doctor of historical sciences (1947), professor (1947), Honored Scientist of the RSFSR (1972).

Nikitin graduated from the department of social sciences at Moscow University in 1922. From 1947 to 1970 he was with the Institute of Slavic Studies of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR as director of the section dealing with the history of foreign Slavic peoples during the feudal and capitalist periods; from 1947 to 1961 he also served as director of the subdepartment of South and West Slavic history within the history department of Moscow University. In 1965 he became vice-chairman and in 1970 chairman of the International Commission for Slavonic Studies of the International Committee for Historical Sciences.

Nikitin’s chief works deal with socioeconomic relations in the Slavic countries of the Balkan Peninsula during the era of feudalism and in the formative period of capitalism. Other major works deal with the national liberation movement among the peoples of these Slavic countries from the late 18th through the 19th centuries and with these people’s ties with Russia. In 1963, Nikitin was awarded the Bulgarian Order of Cyril and Methodius First Class.