Paul Avrich | |
|---|---|
 Avrich, circa 1980 | |
| Born | August 4, 1931 |
| Died | February 16, 2006 (aged 74) |
| Occupation | Historian |
| Years active | 1961–1999 |
| Known for | History of anarchism |
| Notable work | The Haymarket Tragedy, Anarchist Voices |
Paul Avrich (August 4, 1931 – February 16, 2006) was an American historian specializing in the 19th and early 20th-century anarchist movement in Russia and the United States. He taught at Queens College, City University of New York, for his entire career, from 1961 to his retirement as distinguished professor of history in 1999. He wrote ten books, mostly about anarchism, including topics such as the 1886 Haymarket Riot, the 1921 Sacco and Vanzetti case, the 1921 Kronstadt naval base rebellion, and an oral history of the movement in the United States.
As an ally of the movement's major figures, he sought to challenge the portrayal of anarchists as amoral and violent, and collected papers from these figures that he donated as a 20,000-item collection to the Library of Congress.