Welcome to the Pitirim A. Sorokin Collection at the University of Saskatchewan Special Collections.

Pitirim A. Sorokin was born in 1889 in Komi (province in Northern Russia) into a peasant family. During his early childhood he traveled with his father and two brothers earning their living by remodeling and painting rural churches. His strong interest in education, combined with a natural talent and work ethic, soon transformed him into a leading Russian social scientist and famous politician who was at the center of the Russian Revolution in 1917. In 1923, after his banishment by the Bolsheviks, Pitirim Sorokin started a new life in the United States. In less than 10 years the Russian émigré became a world-renowned sociologist and the founder of the Department of Sociology at Harvard University. Over 30 major books were published over a period of 50 years of active intellectual life. His ideas attracted the attention of Albert Einstein and Albert Schweitzer, Herbert Hoover and John F. Kennedy, political activists and yoga followers, military and peace proponents. At the time of his death in 1968 Pitirim Sorokin was one of the leading thinkers of the 20th century. (Biographical sketch provided by Pavel Krotov.)

The Pitirim A. Sorokin Collection came to the University of Saskatchewan in 1968. The collection contains Sorokin's entire library of more than 1,500 books, and numerous other materials, including his own books, translations of these in some 50 languages, and books and articles by such other eminent scholars as Arnold Toynbee with Sorokin's comments in the margins. Other contents include: original Sorokin authored manuscripts; books and articles including first drafts and final revisions; some 90 notebooks on his reading and thinking; books and articles about him and his theories; his personal correspondence; photographs and other memorabilia. Among other materials there is a unique archive of Harvard Research Center in Creative Altruism founded by Sorokin.

A complete finding aid to the collection is available in pdf.

The entire collection will remain viewable upon request exclusively in the University of Saskatchewan Archives & Special Collections reading room. Please feel free to contact University Archives & Special Collections with any questions you may have regarding the Sorokin Collection or this online resource.