Remembering Historian Gabor S. Boritt

Renowned historian, author and professor Gabor S. Boritt passed away Monday in Gettysburg, shortly after celebrating his 86th birthday. A leading Lincoln scholar, Boritt penned 16 books throughout his career, including the Pulitzer Prize-nominated Lincoln and the Economics of the American Dream, as well as work that advanced Civil War academia. 

“Gabor Boritt’s contributions to the field of historical study cannot be overstated,” said Trust President David Duncan. “His life story is just as impressive as his scholarship, and he will be sorely missed.” 

Born in Budapest during World War II, Boritt’s family was forced from their home during the Nazi occupation. In 1956, after participating in the Hungarian Revolution, he and his sister escaped the country during the Russian invasion and made their way to an Austrian refugee camp. Months later, he arrived in the United States with one dollar in his pocket, one of tens of thousands of Hungarian refugees welcomed by President Eisenhower. 

Wanting to learn English, Gabor picked up a free booklet of Abraham Lincoln’s writings. Both Lincoln’s prose and his rise from poverty to the presidency inspired Boritt to begin studying American history, eventually making it his vocation.  

“Gabor Boritt was a towering figure in Civil War and Lincoln scholarship. He had a profound influence on my understanding of that period and that man, as well as my work,” said award-winning documentarian Ken Burns. “And he was a good friend—for decades. His loss is immeasurable.” 

As a professor at Gettysburg College, Gabor taught American history to students across many decades as the school’s first Robert Fluhrer Professor of Civil War Studies. While at Gettysburg, he founded and served as director of the Civil War Institute, a staple in the history community for more than forty years. Boritt also worked with philanthropists Richard Gilder and Lewis Lehrman to establish the $50,000 Lincoln Prize, one of the most prestigious awards for the study of American history. 

“In his nearly three decades at the college, Boritt was an inspirational teacher-scholar to generations of Gettysburg College students,” said Gettysburg College president Robert W. Iuliano. “His dynamic presence on the faculty at Gettysburg helped draw young historians to the college at an important time of intellectual change and growth.” 

Boritt’s love for history extended beyond the classroom. He served on the board of the Gettysburg Foundation, helping to build a new visitor center for Gettysburg National Military Park. He deeply understood the power of place on the Gettysburg Battlefield, offering tours to Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, Charlton Heston, Colombian President Alvaro Uribe Velez, General Colin Powell and President George W. Bush in the final months of his presidency. That same year, President Bush honored Boritt with the National Humanities Medal for a distinguished career of scholarship on Lincoln and the Civil War era. 

Beyond leaving a lasting legacy in the field of history, he is survived by his wife of more than 50 years, Liz, with whom he shared a farm in Gettysburg that served as a hospital during the battle and a stop on the Underground Railroad; their children — Beowulf, a Tony Award-winning set designer, Jake (Heather), a documentarian and founder of the Gettysburg Film Festival and Dan (Katie), executive director of the Indiana Wildlife Federation; as well as five grandchildren. 

The American Battlefield Trust is dedicated to preserving America’s hallowed battlegrounds and educating the public about what happened there and why it matters today. The nonprofit, nonpartisan organization has protected more than 60,000 acres associated with the Revolutionary War, War of 1812 and Civil War across 160 sites in 25 states. Learn more at battlefields.org.