SUMMARY:

In his deeply personal and reflective memorial, Vsevolod Bashkuev honors the immense influence of Alfred J. Rieber on his life and career as a historian. Rieber transcended the role of conventional mentor, providing the foundational impetus for Bashkuev’s scholarly pursuits, notably steering him toward borderland studies. The essay highlights Rieber’s extraordinarily gifted teaching style at Central European University, where he and Bashuev first met in 1997. Rieber’s sage guidance sustained Bashkuev through professional challenges and institutional resistance in Russia. Ultimately, Bashkuev commits to preserving Rieber’s legacy of intellectual autonomy and scholarly rigor in his own mentorship of young historians.