Robert K. Massie

Robert Kinloch Massie III (January 5, 1929 – December 2, 2019) was an American journalist and historian. He devoted much of his career to studying and writing about the House of Romanov, Russia's imperial family from 1613 to 1917. Massie was awarded the 1981 Pulitzer Prize for Biography for Peter the Great: His Life and World. He also received awards for his book Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman.

His book Nicholas and Alexandra (1967) was adapted as a British film by the same name that was released in 1971. It starred Michael Jayston and Janet Suzman in the title roles.

Early life and education

Massie was born in Versailles, Kentucky, to Robert Massie Jr., an educator, and Molly, née Kimball, an activist for progressive causes. He was raised there and in Nashville, Tennessee. He earned degrees in American studies from Yale University and as a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University. While at Oxford, Massie played on the Oxford University Men's Basketball Team. He served in the early 1950s as a nuclear targeting officer in the U.S. Navy, in the period during the Korean War.

This was the basis of an NBC television network miniseries, Peter the Great (1986), which won three Emmy Awards and starred Maximilian Schell, Laurence Olivier and Vanessa Redgrave.

He also published two books on the early 20th century: Dreadnought: Britain, Germany, and the Coming of the Great War (1991) is a diplomatic history over four decades on the causes of World War I. Castles of Steel: Britain, Germany, and the Winning of the Great War at Sea (2003) on the role of the ships in the war. While president, he called on authors to boycott any store that refused to carry Salman Rushdie's The Satanic Verses, which had been threatened by Islamic religious leaders.

Personal life and death

Massie was married to Suzanne Rohrbach from 1954 to 1990. They divorced after having a son, Bob Massie (1956-) and two daughters. He later married Deborah Karl in 1992; she was his literary agent. They also had a son and two daughters together. Massie died from complications of Alzheimer's disease on December 2, 2019, at the age of 90.

Archives The Jean and Alexander Heard Library at Vanderbilt University holds Massie's archive, which includes drafts, research materials, cover proofs, and audiovisual media.

Massie also donated a smaller collection of his research materials and drafts relating to Nicholas and Alexandra to Yale University's Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library.

Awards and honors

Rhodes Scholarship 1981 Pulitzer Prize for Biography, Peter the Great: His Life and World 1983 Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement 2012 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction, Catherine the Great 2012 PEN/Jacqueline Bograd Weld Award for Biography, Catherine the Great