David K. Wyatt
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David K. Wyatt (September 21, 1937 - November 15, 2006) was a highly acclaimed American historian, working on Southeast Asian topics, especially Thailand. His book Thailand. A Short History has become the authority on Thai history in the English language.
Born in Fitchburg, Massachusetts in 1937, he grew up in Iowa. Wyatt studied philosophy at Harvard University, where he received a bachelor's degree in 1959. He continued to study at Boston University, where he got an MA in history in 1960. He graduated from Cornell University with a PhD in History in 1966.
Already before his graduation, he accepted a teaching position at the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London, where he taught until 1968. After one year teaching at the University of Michigan, he returned to the Cornell University Department of History in 1969, serving for a time as the Department Chairman, and stayed there until his retirement in 2002.
In October 2005 he sold his library consisting of roughly 15,000 volumes to the Southeast Asia Collection at Ohio University.
Wyatt was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1995, but he continued to travel extensively until his death. He died of emphysema and congestive heart failure in the Hospicare Residence in Ithaca, New York. He is survived by his wife Alene Wilson Wyatt, three sons and five grandchildren.
[edit] Bibliography
- The Politics of Reform in Thailand, 1969
- Thailand: A Short History, 1984, 2003. ISBN 978-0-300-08475-7
- Siam in Mind, 2002. ISBN 978-974-7551-72-3
He also translated several Thai chronicles.
[edit] External links
- SEA library of David Wyatt
- Obituary in "The Nation" (contains some inaccuracies)
- New York Times obituary (login required)
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| NAME | Wyatt, David K. |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | Historian |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1937 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Fitchburg, Massachusetts |
| DATE OF DEATH | November 15, 2006 |
| PLACE OF DEATH | Ithaca, New York |
