Hari Shankar Vasudevan (15 February 1952 – 10 May 2020) was an Indian historian, writer and emeritus professor. His work was primarily focused on history of Europe and India–Russia relations besides his contribution to the history of Russian and Central Asia.[2] He served as the president of the Institute of Development Studies, Kolkata from July 2018 until he died in May 2020. His last publication was India and the October Revolution: Nationalist Revolutionaries, Bolshevik Power and Lord Curzon’s Nightmare, later published in multiple parts and volumes in the book titled The Global Impact of Russia’s Great War and Revolution (RGWR), and in its second book The Wider Arc of Revolution. It is also published in RGWR's second part titled Bloomington, Indiana: Slavica Publishers, 2019.
Hari Vasudevan's parents were Methil Vasudevan and Sreekumari Menon. His father Methil Vasudevan was a mechanical and aeronautical engineer. Hari Vasudevan grew up in India, Europe and Africa. After completing his PhD studies from University of Cambridge in 1978, he became a Reader in European History at University of Calcutta in 1978, later going on to become an emeritus professor at the University.[6][7]
He authored 'Footsteps of Afanasii Nikitin: Travels through Eurasia and India in the early 21st century' in 2015 and 'Shadows of Substance: Indo-Russian Trade and Military Technical Cooperation' in 2010. He edited and co-authored numerous books.[3] He married Tapati Guha-Thakurta and has a daughter.[7] Tapati Guha-Thakurta is a director and professor in history at Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Calcutta.[9]
He also produced his work focused on Indian and Russian military cooperation. Some of his work revolves around early European and Afanasy Nikitin's trade in India during 15th century to the modern India. He along with his mother wrote a biography titled Memoirs of a Malabar Lady, consisting of a detailed account of her life.[4]
