Andy Willimott

Dr. Andy Willimott is a Senior Lecturer in Modern Russian History at Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) and Founding Director of the Centre for Eurasian, Russian, and East European Studies (CEREES). He joined QMUL in 2019 as an Inaugural Fellow of the Institute for Humanities & Social Sciences. Previously, he held roles as Assistant Professor at the University of Reading, Leverhulme Early Career Fellow at UCL School of Slavonic & East European Studies, and Lecturing Fellow at the University of East Anglia.

His research focuses on revolutionary movements, Soviet ideology, and historical memory, with a specialization in the Russian Revolution and its legacies. Notable works include his award-winning book Living the Revolution: Urban Communes & Soviet Socialism, 1917-1932 (Oxford UP), which received the Alexander Nove Book Prize. Current projects explore the afterlife of the Paris Commune in Soviet revolutionary narratives and the intersection of radical movements with historical memory.

Teaching responsibilities include undergraduate courses on Soviet history and postgraduate seminars on writing the Russian Revolution. He has secured research funding from the Arts & Humanities Research Council, Leverhulme Trust, and British Academy, including a 2023 project on 'From Paris to Petrograd.' Public engagement includes BBC consulting, Amazon Prime documentaries, and lectures at venues like the Royal Academy of Arts.