Volkovich (Wolkowitsch) Boris Zalmanovich (b. 1936, Daugavpils) – historian and educator.
Boris Volkovich graduated from the Faculty of History and Philology at the Daugavpils Pedagogical Institute in 1960. He dedicated fifty years of his professional life to this institution, which evolved from the Daugavpils Pedagogical Institute to the Daugavpils Pedagogical University and eventually the Daugavpils University.
His academic journey included roles such as:
Laboratory assistant in the Department of Russian and World Literature (1959–1962)
Senior laboratory assistant in the Department of Marxism (1962–1967)
Lecturer in Scientific Atheism within the Department of Philosophy and Political Economy (1967–1991)
Lecturer in the Department of Socialism, Philosophy and Economics (1991–1998)
Lecturer in the Department of Economics and Social Sciences
During the Soviet era, he led the university's Club of Militant Atheists (KVAT), which gained popularity both locally and beyond the Latvian SSR. After the political transition, he taught subjects such as philosophy, the history of religion, the history of sport, and logic.
His main fields of research included the history of religion, the history and culture of Latvian Jews, Zionism, the broader history and culture of Latvia, and the history of sport in Latvia.
From 1993 to 2009, he published approximately 70 works (including co-authored publications), encompassing monographs, books, articles, and conference theses. He was a regular participant in various international conferences, particularly all those under the series “Jews in a Changing World.”
Key publications include:
«Сионизм и сионисты в Даугавпилсе (1900-1940)Евреи в Даугавпилсе. Даугавпилс, 1993 (Zionism and Zionists in Daugavpils (1900–1940) Jews in Daugavpils, Daugavpils, 1993)
Иудаизм в Латвии (1920-1940)(Vēsture. Dzīve/ Rīga, 1993 (Judaism in Latvia (1920–1940) Vēsture. Dzīve, Riga, 1993)
«Страницы истории еврейского народа» (в соавторстве), Даугавпилс, 1995(Pages from the History of the Jewish People (co-authored), Daugavpils, 1995)
«Еврейские организации в Даугавпилсе. Даугавпилс, 1998 (Jewish Organisations in Daugavpils, Daugavpils, 1998)
Даугавпилсское отделение Бунда (1920-1934). в кн. «Евреи в Даугавпилсе». Книга вторая. Даугавпилс, 1999; (The Daugavpils Branch of the Bund (1920–1934) Jews in Daugavpils, Vol. 2, Daugavpils, 1999)
«Евреи Даугавпилса на фронтах Второй Мировой войны (в соавторстве). Даугавпилс. 2000 (Jews of Daugavpils on the Frontlines of the Second World War (co-authored), Daugavpils, 2000)
«Из истории еврейской культуры Латвии (1918-1940)» в 2 частях. Даугавпилс, 2002 (From the History of Jewish Culture in Latvia (1918–1940), in two parts, Daugavpils, 2002)
«Холокост» в Латгалии» (в соавторстве), Даугавпилс, 2005 (The Holocaust in Latgale (co-authored), Daugavpils, 2005)
«Сионистское движение в Латвии» (1918-1940) Даугавпилс, 2008 и 2009. Книга 1 книга 11. (The Zionist Movement in Latvia (1918–1940), Vols. I and II, Daugavpils, 2008 and 2009)
Volkovich also served as a member of the editorial board and editor of five volumes of Jews in Daugavpils, and as Deputy Chairman of the Daugavpils Jewish Community from 1992 to 2005.
Source: Volkovich B., The Zionist Movement in Latvia (1918–1940), Vol. I, Daugavpils, 2008.