George Henry Bolsover

George Henry Bolsover (18 November 1910 – 15 April 1990) was the director of the School of Slavonic and East European Studies at the University of London from 1947 to 1976. The school, now known as UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies, is part of University College, London.

Life Bolsover was born at 12 Powys Street, Hindsford, Atherton, Lancashire, England, the son of a cotton worker and his wife. On 25 March 1939, at St Anne's Church, in Hindsford he married Stephanie Kállail who was four years his junior. They had a daughter, Anne, born 1953. He wrote his PhD thesis at the School of Slavonic Studies on Great Britain, Russia and the Eastern question, 1832–1841 in 1933.

At the time he joined SSEES, the department was regarded as a bed of pro-Soviet sentiment influenced by Andrew Rothstein, a founding member of the British Communist Party. Rothstein had spent several years in Moscow and returned to England in 1931 suspected of being involved with agent development. In 1949 Bolsover terminated his contract on the basis that he was not qualified for a post.

His biography describes him as a shadowy figure to his students and regarded by his staff as intrusively unsupportive and heavy-handed. He is referred to as a tough and manipulative personality and "a useful bastard", but when entertaining at home, a genial and hospitable host.