Robert Skidelsky, a British economic historian renowned for his definitive three-volume biography of John Maynard Keynes, died on April 15 at the age of 86, the University of Warwick confirmed. Skidelsky had been an emeritus professor of political economy at Warwick since 2006, where he began teaching in 1978.

Born on April 25, 1939, in Harbin, then part of the Japanese-controlled puppet state of Manchukuo, Skidelsky’s family background was rooted in Russian émigré origins. His father, Boris Skidelsky, a Jewish émigré, and his mother, Galia Sapelkin, of Christian heritage, endured internment during World War II following the outbreak of hostilities between Britain and Japan. The family was later exchanged and relocated to England, where Robert grew up amid the dangers of wartime Britain.

Skidelsky’s academic career began at Oxford, where he studied history and completed graduate research. His first major work, published in 1967, examined the failure of democratic governments to respond effectively to economic crises, a theme that persisted throughout his career. Early on, he attracted controversy with a 1975 biography of Oswald Mosley, Britain’s prewar fascist leader, which many critics said downplayed Mosley’s antisemitism. The work, while meticulously researched, contributed to Skidelsky being denied tenure at Johns Hopkins University and hindered his prospects at Oxford. He later returned to Britain, securing a professorship at Warwick.

Skidelsky’s most acclaimed contribution was his extensive biography of Keynes, released in three volumes between 1983 and 2000. The biography, widely regarded as the definitive account of Keynes’s life and ideas, helped revive interest in Keynesian economics at a time when free-market policies dominated Western economic thought. Skidelsky portrayed Keynes as a multifaceted thinker who recognized the limits of market rationality and emphasized the roles of uncertainty, psychology, and confidence in economic behavior. His work also illuminated Keynes’s personal life, including his associations with the Bloomsbury Group, his marriage to the Russian ballerina Lydia Lopokova, and his complex sexuality.

Knighted with a life peerage as Baron Skidelsky of Tilton in 1991, he moved across the UK political spectrum, beginning in Labour, then joining the Social Democratic Party, and later the Conservative Party. He served briefly as a Conservative spokesman in the House of Lords but left the party in 2001 due to disagreements over foreign policy, subsequently sitting as a crossbench peer.

Skidelsky’s views on Russia and the West sparked further debate. He argued that NATO’s expansion contributed to deteriorating relations with Russia and opposed economic sanctions following Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, favoring negotiations over sustained conflict. His business ties to Russian firms, including Rusnano and Russneft, attracted scrutiny and led to a one-month suspension from the House of Lords in 2023 after failing to disclose certain affiliations linked to Russian funding.

Despite these controversies, Skidelsky remained a significant voice in economic history and public discourse. He published his final book, “Keynes for Our Times,” in June 2026 and delivered his last speech in the House of Lords shortly before his death, invoking Keynes’s ideas on addressing youth unemployment.

Skidelsky is survived by his wife, Augusta Hope, whom he married in 1970, their three children—Edward, William, and Juliet—and six grandchildren.