Thomas E. Skidmore
Thomas Elliott Skidmore was an American historian and scholar who specialized in Brazilian history.
Biography
Skidmore graduated in political science and philosophy in 1954 from Denison University. He received a Fulbright Fellowship to study philosophy at Magdalen College, Oxford where he met his wife Felicity. He received a second B.A. in Philosophy, Politics and Economics in 1956 and a master's degree in 1959. He obtained his Ph.D. at Harvard University in 1960 with a thesis on the German Chancellor Leo von Caprivi.His attention shifted to South America after the Cuban Revolution. His Harvard post-doctorate focused on Brazil. In 1967 he published Politics in Brazil: 1930-64, An Experiment in Democracy.
He began his teaching career at Harvard as an instructor, research fellow in Latin American studies, and then assistant professor. In 1966, Skidmore joined the faculty of the University of Wisconsin, Madison. He became a full professor in 1968. In 1986, Skidmore moved to Brown University.
Selected bibliography
Politics in Brazil 1930–1964: An Experiment in Democracy Black Into White: Race and Nationality in Brazilian Thought Modern Latin America, with Peter H. Smith and James N. Green The Politics of Military Rule in Brazil: 1964-1985 Television, Politics, and the Transition to Democracy in Latin America- “Bi-Racial U.S.A. vs Multi-Racial Brazil: Is the Contrast Still Valid?,” Journal of Latin American Studies 25, no. 2 : 373-385
- ''Brazil: Five Centuries of Change''