Keith Hitchins at 85

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Biographical and Professional Information  Being a distinguished meticulous man, with a balanced judgement, Hitchins has always known how to combine the accurate knowledge of the historical detail and the ampler, more complex appreciation of the geopolitical events and developments in time and space. I am, of course, referring to his judgements and syntheses of the Carpathian and Danube world. I for one do not hesitate to describe Keith Hitchins as invincible for the judicious way in which he presents the Romanians’ history, without bias or any preconceived ideas. What helps him in this respect? I should mention two things. One of them is a remarkable capability to understand and know the contexts. In Romania there are few people who know that Professor Keith Hitchins has a deep knowledge not only of the languages, cultures and historical events of Central Europe and the Balkans, but also of the ones in the Caucasus and Central Asia. Such an amply contextual outlook is an invaluable advantage in history writing.  Everything Hitchins writes, absolutely everything, is worth being fully trusted, it is the pure truth, as much as our imperfect human mind can conceive it. The second thing pertains to man’s character. Keith Hitchins has an inborn supple dignity, a way of being reserved and even-tempered, but he does not lack cordiality for people who know him better, without being in the least contaminated by an empty exuberance or theatrical gestures”.Virgil Nemoianu