Sheila Fitzpatrick | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 4 June 1941 |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Citizenship | Australian, American |
| Alma mater | University of Melbourne St Antony's College, Oxford London School of Slavonic and East European Studies |
| Occupation(s) | Historian, academic |
| Known for | Works on the history of modern Russia, the history of Soviet Union, and the Stalinist period |
| Writing career | |
| Genre | History |
| Subject | Soviet Union |
| Literary movement | People's history |
| Notable works | Beyond Totalitarianism Everyday Stalinism Stalin's Peasants |
| Notable awards | Mellon Foundation Award |
| Relatives | Brian Fitzpatrick |
| Website | |
| sydney | |
Sheila Mary Fitzpatrick (born June 4, 1941) is an Australian historian, whose main subjects are history of the Soviet Union and history of modern Russia, especially the Stalin era and the Great Purges, of which she proposes a "history from below", and is part of the "revisionist school" of Communist historiography. She has also critically reviewed the concept of totalitarianism and highlighted the differences between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union in debates about comparison of Nazism and Stalinism.
Fitzpatrick is professor at the Australian Catholic University (Melbourne), honorary professor at the University of Sydney, and Distinguished Service Professor Emerita at the University of Chicago. Prior to this, she taught Soviet history at the University of Texas at Austin and was the Bernadotte Everly Schmitt Distinguished Service Professor at the University of Chicago. She is considered a founder of the field of Soviet social history.