An Interview with Edward L. Keenan (From Editors) (Interview‪)‬

Think of the words "apocrypha" and "forgery," and most historians of Russia are likely to conjure up the bespectacled and bearded image of emeritus Harvard professor Edward L. Keenan. Indeed, few others have poured so much effort and erudition into the task of questioning the authenticity of key sources in East Slavic history. Yet Keenan's influence extends far beyond this important work in source criticism and stands at the foundation of the study of Muscovite and Ruthenian history in North America and beyond. It is this prominent and intriguing member of our profession that Kritika interviews in its present issue. Born in 1935, Edward Keenan grew up in western New York and eventually made his way to Harvard for both his undergraduate and graduate degrees. Initially drawn to the study of Baku in the revolution of 1905, Keenan turned to Muscovite history after two years in the USSR. (1) In 1965, he completed his Ph.D. thesis on relations between Muscovy and Kazan' in the century leading up to the khanate's conquest in 1552. (2) He received tenure at Harvard in 1968 and went on to serve at various points as director of both the Russian Research Center and the Center for Middle Eastern Studies. He was also dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (1978-84), director of Dumbarton Oaks (1998-2007), and president of the American Association for the Advancement of Slavic studies (AAASS, 1994). He retired in 2008.