Obituary: Ranajit Guha (1923–2023)

The closest I came to meeting Ranajit Guha was when I was ICCR Guest Professor at the University of Vienna in 2014–15. A French student in my class informed me that Guha was settled in Vienna but, to my great misfortune, steadfastly refused to meet people. The reasons for this have remained unclear to me. After all, in 2014 he was only 81 and possibly in reasonably good health. Instead of meeting him then, I am now left with the task of writing his obituary.