David Hendrick Schimmelpenninck van der Oye, FRSC, KStJ (; 1957âÂÂ2022), was a Canadian historian who was a professor of the history of Russia at Brock University. He also was a member of the Canadian Association of Slavists.
Schimmelpenninck van der Oye was born in the Netherlands in 1957. On his mother's side he was of Russian descent: his grandfather fled the country as part of the White Army under the command of Pyotr Wrangel in 1921. In 1967 David moved in Canada. As a child, he had a dream of one day becoming a diplomat, but subsequent military service as a Canadian Army reservist made him extremely skeptical of public service.
In 1982 Schimmelpenninck van der Oye entered in the finance world. He worked in Midland Doherty Ltd, Toronto (1982âÂÂ1985) and in Enskilda Securities, London (1988âÂÂ1989) and at the same time received a higher education in Russian history in Yale University. From 1989 Schimmelpenninck van der Oye worked in Brock University. In 1997 David graduated from this university with a PhD. degree with the thesis Ex Oriente Lux: Ideologies of Empire and RussiaâÂÂs Far East, 1895âÂÂ1904. In 2015 he was elected in the Royal Society of Canada.
In 2016, Schimmelpenninck van der Oye found himself at the centre of a sex scandal when his student, who wished to remain anonymous, complained to CBC News that two years ago he invited her and a male student to drink alcohol. Later, when he was alone with her, he made her a sexual proposal, but the girl immediately refused. David was later suspended from teaching, but returned to teaching in 2019.
Schimmelpenninck van der Oye died at the age of 64 on 14 March 2022.