Silas Marcus MacVane

Silas Marcus MacVane (Macvane) (June 4, 1842 – January 19, 1914) was a Canadian-American historian and economist. He was the McLean Professor of Ancient and Modern History at Harvard University starting in 1887. He was a professor of economics at Harvard from 1873 to 1878 and a professor of history from 1887 to 1911.

MacVane was born in the town of Bothwell on Prince Edward Island. He received his undergraduate degree from Acadia College in Nova Scotia in 1865. From 1865 until 1870 he taught at a school in Nova Scotia, then studied at Harvard University in 1871-1873 under Henry Adams, who instilled in him a love for scientific history. He joined the faculty of Harvard in 1873 in the department of political economy, but transferred to the history department in 1878.

MacVane's main focus of study was modern political history of both the United States and European countries. He was a frequent contributor to The Quarterly Journal of Economics. One of his most popular books was Working Principles of Political Economy (1890; 4th ed., 1897).

Both Presidents Roosevelt have been attending History course by Professor MacVane at Harvard.

MacVane was the father of Dorothea Alastair MacVane. He died in Rome in 1914, shortly before the start of WWI.