Keith Hitchins

Keith Arnold Hitchins (April 2, 1931 – November 1, 2020) was an American historian and a professor of Eastern European history at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, specializing in Romania and its history.

He was born in Schenectady, New York. After graduating from Union College, he went to Harvard University, earning a Ph.D. in history in 1964 under the direction of Robert Lee Wolff. After teaching for seven years at Wake Forest University and then for a short period at Rice University, he joined the faculty at the University of Illinois, where he spent the rest of his academic career.

Hitchins wrote or edited more than 20 books, most related to Romania. An honorary member of the Romanian Academy since 1991, he was awarded the National Order of Merit by Romanian President Klaus Iohannis.

Hitchins died on November 1, 2020, at age 89, in the Carle Foundation Hospital in Urbana, Illinois. After his death, Romanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Bogdan Aurescu wrote on Twitter: "We pay homage to professor Keith Hitchins, an American voice of immeasurable value to the academic world. Having an authentic interest and expertise in the history of Romania, he was an honorary member of the Romanian Academy. The death of professor Hitchins is a loss to everyone who knew him and knew his work."

- Bogdan Aurescu