My brother, Richard Abraham, who has died aged 82, was an author of books about key figures in the Russian revolution, a history teacher for 40 years and a dedicated choir member.
From 1969 to 1971, Richard was a tutorial assistant in Russian history, and a member of the faculty board of the School of European Studies, at the University of East Anglia, where he taught Russian history, 1682-1921. He also made research visits to places such as Helsinki, Paris and New York.
His most substantial work, Alexander Kerensky: The First Love of the Revolution (1990), about the social democrat politician who led the government between the March and October 1917 revolutions, was widely acclaimed. His research resulted in several other publications including Rosa Luxemburg: A Life for the International (1989).
Born in Tetbury, Gloucestershire, Richard was the oldest of the four children of Maire Boughton (daughter of the composer Rutland Boughton and the artist Christina Walshe) and Percy Abraham, a trade unionist and, later, a teacher. Three of Richard’s grandparents were Protestant Republican Irish, and learning the Irish language was both an expression of Richard’s identity and a deliberate way of deepening his connection with the country. Early influences included fierce political debates within the family, with Richard emerging as a social democrat.
Politics was offset by a backdrop of classical music, his mother’s fine mezzo-soprano leading the rest. At the Crypt school in Gloucester he enjoyed drama and music, and made lifelong friends. Around this time he also developed friendships with families in Paris and San Sebastián, Spain, that our family had known before and during the second world war.
In 1957, at the age of 15, Richard travelled to Austria on his first six-week exchange through the Anglo-Austrian Society. German became the chief language Richard used academically and later he learned Russian. From 1961 to 1964 he studied history at Downing College, Cambridge.
After his stint at UEA, Richard embraced teaching history at Battersea county school in south London (1971-86). From 1988, at Graveney school in nearby Tooting, he led departmental colleagues, encouraged young people as a form teacher, and joined the school choir as a member and supporting teacher (he went on 18 choir tours). He also fostered student learning communities with Russian, Belgian and especially Ukrainian and Italian schools. His translations, published through the UEA network, continued into Richard’s retirement in 2007.
In 1996, Richard married Evadney Sutherland-Lord, whom he had met in London the previous year. Evadney survives him, as does his son, Mark, and three stepdaughters, Sharon, Julia and Claire, from his first marriage, to Wendy Abraham, which ended in divorce in 1993, another stepdaughter, Vanessa, from Evadney’s first marriage, and his three siblings, Caroline, Robert and me.
