István Deák Papers, 1960-1995
Collection context
- Creator:
- Deák, István
- Abstract:
- The István Deák papers document the scholarly activities of István Deák, a professor of History at Columbia University from 1964-1997 and director of the Harriman Institute on East Central Europe from 1968 to 1979.
- Extent:
- 9.89 linear feet (14 document boxes 3 record cartons 1 microfilm box)
- Language:
- Material is primarily in English and Hungarian with some German.
- Scope and content:
-
The István Deák Papers document his professional life, with a particular focus on his work during the 1980s and 1990s. The majority of the papers are comprised of articles, essays, conference programs and lectures. There are also two large groups of research notes, one set of research contributing to his PhD dissertation on intellectuals in the Weimar Republic, the other a large collection of data sheets related to Hungarian soldiers in the Habsburg Army. The collection is intellectually arranged by series, including scholarly writing, teaching and administrative activities, conferences and lectures, and research notes in two sections. However, the collection retains its original physical order reflecting Deák's arrangement of the files. Many of the original folders with Deák's extensive notes have also been retained and kept with the files they originally held.
- Biographical / historical:
-
István Deák, the Seth Low Professor Emeritus of History, was born in Hungary in 1926, and in 1948 emigrated to France and studied history at the Sorbonne. From 1948 to 1956, he worked in France and Germany as a journalist and librarian and moved to New York in 1956, to pursue his Ph.D. at Columbia University. He received it in 1964, with a dissertation entitled "Weimar Germany's 'Homeless Left': The World of Carl Von Ossietzky." Deák taught at Columbia from 1964 until his retirement in 1997, with some brief appointments at other universities. He was also the director of the Institute on East Central Europe from 1968 to 1979. After his retirement, Deák continued to teach at Columbia as a lecturer and worked at Stanford in 2002.
Professor Deák's research concentrates on 20th century central and east central Europe. He has published a number of works, including Weimar Germany's Left-wing Intellectuals: A Political History of the "Weltbuhne" and Its Circle (The University of California Press, 1968); The Lawful Revolution: Louis Kossuth and the Hungarians, 1848-1849 (Columbia University Press, 1979), Beyond Nationalism: A Social and Political History of the Habsburg Officer Corps, 1848-1918 (Oxford University Press, 1990), Essays on Hitler's Europe (University of Nebraska Press, 2001), and edited The Politics of Retribution in Europe: World War II and Its Aftermath (Princeton University Press, 2000). Deak has received a number of prizes for his work including the Lionel Trilling Book Award, the Way S. Vucinich Book Prize of the American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies, the John S. Guggenheim Fellowship, and he was a fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton, the Woodrow Wilson Center and the Institute for Human Sciences in Vienna Austria.
Access and use
- Restrictions:
-
This collection is located off-site. You will need to request this material at least three business days in advance to use the collection in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library reading room.
Series II, Box 13, Folders 10 and 11 and Box 17 folder 9 contain student papers and are restricted until 2035.
- Terms of access:
-
Single photocopies may be made for research purposes. The RBML maintains ownership of the physical material only. Copyright remains with the creator and his/her heirs. The responsibility to secure copyright permission rests with the patron.
- Preferred citation:
-
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); István Deák Papers; Box and Folder (if known); Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University Library.
- Location of this collection:
- Before you visit:
- Researchers interested in viewing materials in the RBML reading room must must book an appointment at least 7 days in advance. To make the most of your visit, be sure to request your desired materials before booking your appointment, as researchers are limited to 5 items per day.
- Contact:
- rbml@library.columbia.edu