An archival historian of Stalin's political power
Oleg Khlevniuk is a Russian historian and documentary editor whose work focuses on Soviet political history, the Gulag, and Stalin's rule. Drawing on state-archive materials and party and government records, he explains the Great Terror as a centrally directed system rather than a spontaneous eruption from below. His research stresses Stalin's directives and personal control over the terror's decisions and implementation, while distinguishing carefully between what the documents establish and what they leave uncertain. Through monographs and published source collections, he has also challenged the myths surrounding Stalin in Russian public discourse.
Career Timeline
- 1980Graduated in history from Vinnytsia State Pedagogical Institute
- 1985–1987Postgraduate study at the Institute of History of the USSR; Candidate of Sciences in history
- 1990년대–현재Research and documentary editing at the State Archive of the Russian Federation
- 1997Earned a Doctor of Historical Sciences degree for research on Politburo power mechanisms
- 2011–2017Professor of Russian history, twentieth and twenty-first centuries, at Moscow State University
- 2014–현재Professor and researcher in history at the Higher School of Economics
- 2015Published Stalin: New Biography of a Dictator
- 2023Received the Enlightener Prize for Corporation of Impostors