# Seweryn Bialer

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German-born American academic (1926–2019)

**Seweryn Bialer** (November 3, 1926 in [Berlin](/source/Berlin) – February 8, 2019 in [New York City](/source/New_York_City)) was a German-born American academic. He was emeritus professor of political science at [Columbia University](/source/Columbia_University) and an expert on the [Communist parties of the Soviet Union](/source/Communist_Party_of_the_Soviet_Union) and [Poland](/source/Polish_United_Workers'_Party). He was the Director of Columbia's Research Institute on International Change.

## Biography

Born in [Berlin](/source/Berlin), Germany, Bialer joined the [underground anti-fascist movement](/source/Polish_resistance_movement_in_World_War_II) in [Lodz, Poland](/source/%C5%81%C3%B3d%C5%BA) in 1942. Between February 1944 and May 1945 he was a prisoner in the [Auschwitz concentration camp](/source/Auschwitz_concentration_camp).

From May 1945 to June 1951 he was member of the Polish communist police force (the *[Milicja Obywatelska](/source/Milicja_Obywatelska)*). He also held various positions in the Polish Communist Party ([PZPR](/source/Polish_United_Workers'_Party)). He was a political officer of the State Police in Warsaw and a member of the [Central Committee](/source/Central_Committee) of the Polish Worker's Party. Subsequently, beginning in June 1951, he became a Professor at the Institute of Sociology and political editor of the newspaper *[Trybuna Ludu](/source/Trybuna_Ludu)*. He was also a researcher in economics at the [Polish Academy of Sciences](/source/Polish_Academy_of_Sciences). During this time he authored several political science textbooks.[1]

In January, 1956, Bialer defected to West Berlin and conducted almost one-year-long interview sessions for [Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty](/source/Radio_Free_Europe%2FRadio_Liberty) in New York, which was broadcast to Poland during that year.

He moved to New York, eventually receiving a Ph.D. in political science from Columbia. He was appointed [Robert](/source/Robert_A._Belfer) and Renee Belfer Professor of Political Science. In 1983 he was awarded a prestigious [MacArthur Fellowship](/source/MacArthur_Fellows_Program). He was elected a Fellow of the [American Academy of Arts and Sciences](/source/American_Academy_of_Arts_and_Sciences) in 1984.[2]

He died in February 2019 at the age of 92.[3]

## Harassment allegations

In 1986, an anonymous female graduate student at Columbia filed a formal grievance against Bialer for sexual harassment. The grievance alleged that less than two weeks after beginning to work with the student, Bialer rescheduled a meeting to take place at his apartment, during which he offered alcohol and removed his trousers. The harassment reportedly continued for another three semesters until the student began working with a different professor in a different specialty. Bialer received only a warning from the department and continued his position at Columbia.[4]

## Selected works

### Books

- *The Domestic Context of Soviet Foreign Policy*. Westview Press. 1981. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780891588917](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780891588917). Editor.

- [*Stalin's Successors: Leadership, Stability and Change in the Soviet Union*](https://archive.org/details/stalinssuccessor0000bial). Cambridge University Press. 1982. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780521289061](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780521289061).

- *Stalin and His Generals: Soviet Military Memoirs of World War II*. Pegasus. 1983. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0672535970](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0672535970). Editor.

- *Soviet Paradox: External Expansion, Internal Decline*. I.B. Tauris. 1986. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9781850430308](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9781850430308).

- [*Gorbachev's Russia and American Foreign Policy*](https://archive.org/details/gorbachevsrussia00nt19). Westview Press. 1988. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780813307480](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780813307480). Edited with [Michael Mandelbaum](/source/Michael_Mandelbaum).

### Essay

- Dallin, Alexander; Lapidus, Gail W., eds. (1995). "Domestic and International Factors in the Formation of Gorbachev's Reforms'". [*The Soviet System. From Crisis to Collapse*](https://archive.org/details/sovietsystemfrom00dall) (2nd revised ed.). Westview Press. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780813318769](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780813318769).

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** ["Transcripts and Analyses of Seweryn Bialer"](https://catalog.osaarchivum.org/catalog/j6dom2zR). [Blinken Open Society Archives](/source/Blinken_Open_Society_Archives). 4 December 2012. Retrieved 8 September 2021.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-AAAS_2-0)** ["Book of Members, 1780–2010: Chapter B"](http://www.amacad.org/publications/BookofMembers/ChapterB.pdf) (PDF). American Academy of Arts and Sciences. p. 45. Retrieved 16 March 2013.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** ["In Memoriam: Seweryn Bialer (1926-2019)"](https://web.archive.org/web/20190622073656/https://harriman.columbia.edu/news/memoriam-seweryn-bialer-1926-2018). Archived from [the original](https://harriman.columbia.edu/news/memoriam-seweryn-bialer-1926-2018) on 2019-06-22. Retrieved 2019-02-16.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** Bayer, Amy (19 November 1986). ["CU prof Bialer charged with sexual harassment"](https://archive-publications.library.columbia.edu/?a=d&d=cs19861119-01.2.2&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN-------). Vol. CXI, no. 51. Columbia Spectator.

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