Paul B. Anderson

Paul Anderson spent his 48-year career working with the YMCA’s International Committee. He lived in Russia during the overthrow of the Czar and subsequent attempts to establish a democratic government.

He spent four years in Germany before moving to Paris in 1921, where he provided leadership to the Russian-language YMCA Press for 26 years. The Press published over 400 titles, including Russian Orthodox theologians, scholarly works related to Communism, and the original Russian text of three of Alexander Solzhenitzyn’s novels.

Anderson returned to New York in 1947 to serve as the associate executive secretary for World Service until his retirement in 1961. He was awarded the French Legion of Honor with Palms and the Officer of the British Empire in recognition of his WWII service in Europe.

*Photo Courtesy of Kautz Family YMCA Archives, University of Minnesota Libraries.