It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our emeritus member Professor Paul Dukes. As a historian of early modern Russia, Paul was a loyal supporter of the Centre of Early Modern Studies.
Paul completed his PhD in 1964 at the School of Slavonic and East European Studies in London on The Russian Nobility and the Legislative Commission of 1767 under the supervision of Hugh Seton-Watson, followed by a long and successful career at the University of Aberdeen.
Renowned for his biography of Catherine the Great (1967), his work on early modern and Enlightenment Russia include Stuarts and Romanovs: The Rise and Fall of a Special Relationship (2009) and A History of the Urals: Russia's Crucible from the Early Empire to the Post-Soviet Era (2015).
Over many years he supervised and supported the critical edition of the Diary of General Patrick Gordon of Auchleuchries 1635-1699, edited by Dmitry Fedosov, in six volumes, published by Aberdeen University Press in 2016, an invaluable source for the study of an early modern Scottish soldier's life in Polish, Swedish and Russian service. Paul will be greatly missed.