Sheila Fitzpatrick

Professor Sheila Fitzpatrick is a leading historian of modern Russia and the Soviet Union, currently based at the Institute for Humanities and Social Sciences at Australian Catholic University (ACU) in Melbourne. She previously held distinguished academic positions in the United States, including Bernadotte E. Schmitt Distinguished Service Professor at the University of Chicago, before returning to Australia in 2012. She holds full HDR supervision accreditation and is actively engaged in research on Soviet and transnational history, migration, and life writing.

Research Interests: Her work spans transnational history, social history of the Soviet Union, migration and displacement, life writing and autobiography, and Russian music. She emphasizes the lived experiences of individuals under Stalinism and explores the movement of people across political and cultural borders during and after WWII.

The most recent publications and projects reflect a strong focus on Soviet displaced persons, repatriation, anti-communism in Australian immigration policy, and Cold War transnational histories. Her articles over the past decade reveal consistent engagement with themes of identity, memory, migration, and state surveillance.

Scientific Awards and Honors:

• Prime Minister’s Literary Award for Non-Fiction (2016) for On Stalin’s Team
• American Historical Association Award for Scholarly Distinction (2012)
• Elected Fellow, Australian Academy of Humanities (1996)
• Elected Fellow, American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2005)
• John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship (1988)
• MacArthur Foundation Research & Writing Award (1987–8)

Grants and Supervision: She has been a Chief Investigator on multiple ARC Discovery Projects, including studies on Russian immigrants in Cold War Australia and postwar displaced persons. She serves as a full HDR supervisor and has mentored numerous scholars through collaborative research. Her editorial roles include long-term service on the Journal of Modern History and several international journals in Soviet and Russian studies.

Public Engagement: She is actively involved in public history, contributing to London Review of Books, The Guardian, and The Conversation, and participating in writers’ festivals, radio interviews (ABC, BBC), and public lectures across Australia, the US, Europe, and Asia.