Thomas Skidmore

This article is about the historian. For the reformer, seeThomas Skidmore (reformer).

Thomas Skidmore, 2016.

Thomas Elliott Skidmore(July 22, 1932, inTroy, Ohio– June 11, 2016) was an Americanhistorianand scholar who specialized inBrazilian history.

Biography

Skidmore graduated in political science and philosophy in 1954 fromDenison University.He received aFulbright Fellowshipto studyphilosophyatMagdalen College, Oxfordwhere he met his wife Felicity. He received a secondB.A.inPhilosophy, Politics and Economicsin 1956 and amaster's degreein 1959. He obtained hisPh.D.atHarvard Universityin 1960 with a thesis on the German ChancellorLeo von Caprivi.

His attention shifted toSouth Americaafter theCuban Revolution.His Harvard post-doctorate focused on Brazil. In 1967 he publishedPolitics in Brazil: 1930-64, An Experiment in Democracy.

He began his teaching career at Harvard as an instructor (1960-61), research fellow in Latin American studies (1961-64), and then assistant professor (1964-66).In 1966, Skidmore joined the faculty of theUniversity of Wisconsin, Madison.He became afull professorin 1968. In 1986, Skidmore moved toBrown University.

Selected bibliography

• Politics in Brazil 1930–1964: An Experiment in Democracy(Oxford University Press, 1967)
• Black Into White: Race and Nationality in Brazilian Thought(Oxford University Press, 1974)
• Modern Latin America,withPeter H. SmithandJames N. Green(Oxford University Press, multiple editions, 1984–2014)
• The Politics of Military Rule in Brazil: 1964–1985(1988)
• Television, Politics, and the Transition to Democracy in Latin America(Johns Hopkins University Press, 1993, ed.)
• “Bi-Racial U.S.A. vs Multi-Racial Brazil: Is the Contrast Still Valid?,”Journal of Latin American Studies25, no. 2 (1993): 373-385
• Brazil: Five Centuries of Change(Oxford University Press, 1999)