Kish, George, 1914-1989

Professor of geography at the University of Michigan.

George Kish was an internationally acclaimed professor of geography at the University of Michigan, where he served for over fifty years. He was born in Budapest, Hungary in 1914. His education began in Hungary where he graduated from secondary school summa cum laude and won the national competition in geography. He then moved to Paris, where he studied political science, geography, and history, the latter two at the Sorbonne. Returning to Hungary, he received both a M.S. in Economics in 1938 and a D.Sc. in Geography in 1939 at the University of Budapest.

Kish came to America in 1939 to continue his studies in geography at the University of Michigan, where he received his Ph.D. in 1945. During the Second World War, he acted as a translator of Hungarian newspapers for the Office of Strategic Services. After the war, he returned to the U-M where he remained for fifty years, beginning as a research assistant and moving to full professor in 1956. In between, he was a teaching fellow (1940-1943) and map curator at the Clements Library (1944-1946). Originally his last name was spelled "Kiss," but on becoming a United State citizen in the late 1940s, it was Americanized to "Kish," to reflect its accurate pronunciation in Hungarian. Kish gained international acclaim as a geographer and was an active participant in his profession, especially in the subfield of political geography.

As an expert in his field, Kish was sought out for visiting positions by other institutions, including Northwestern University, Oxford University, London School of Economics, University of Warsaw, and the University of Tel-Aviv. Awarded Fulbrights in the early 1950s and mid-1960s, he taught in Italy both times. In 1980, he was named the Kenneth Nebenzahl, Jr. Lecturer in the History of Cartography at the Newberry Library in Chicago.

Kish was active in professional societies and organizations, such as the Association of American Geographers and the International Geographical Union (IGU). In the IGU, he served as chairperson for many of its committees and commissions, such as the United States National Committee and the Commission on Old Maps. He also helped found the Commission on the History of Geographical Thought for the IGU. Kish was also a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies and served on its board of directors during the 1960s.

Besides holding various visiting professorships, he traveled the world over to conduct research for his many books and articles. To learn more about the noted Swedish explorers A. E. Nordenskiold and Sven Hedin, he traveled to Sweden to examine records of their lives. While there, he received two prestigious awards: the Andree Medal for Polar Studies from the Swedish Geographical Society and the Linnaeus Medal for Studies in the History of Science from the Royal Swedish Academy of Science. Kish's books and articles were published in many languages and printed in journals around the world.

Kish was also active closer to home. He supported his home university and participated in the life of the University of Michigan. In 1975, he received the honor of being named to give the Henry Russel Lecture. In 1981, Kish became the William Herbert Hobbs professor of Geography after the Geography Department was discontinued in that year. He took an interest in university life and was on several University Senate committees, including the College of Literature, Sciences, and Arts Library Committee. He was president of the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra from 1972 to 1974 and president of the Michigan Orchestra Association from 1977 to 1979. He was also president of the Michigan Map Society in 1983 and 1984.

Kish married Elvina Anger, M.D., in 1949, a union that brought forth one daughter. Kish made his home in Ann Arbor for the last fifty years of his life and continued teaching at the university, following his retirement in 1984, until his death in July 1989.