In Memoriam: Rosanne Klass of the Afghanistan Information Center

Washington

In response to the death of Rosanne Klass, who served as director of the organization’s Afghanistan Information Center during the 1980s, Freedom House issued the following statement:

“Rosanne Klass lived and taught in Afghanistan for years before the civil war broke out, and had a real love for the Afghan people,’ said Arch Puddington, senior vice president for research. “She deeply believed that Afghans deserved a better leadership than the Soviet puppets who had seized control of the government  in the 1970s or the religious fanatics who rose to power after the Soviets left. She helped make Freedom House a center for analysis and commentary.”

Background:
Klass came to Freedom House as a highly respected authority on Afghanistan culture and politics shortly after the Soviet Union invaded the country in December 1979. During her years at Freedom House, she wrote extensively on the war and arranged for visits by leading members of the moderate mujahideen. 

Her first book, Land of the High Flags: A Travel Memoir of Afghanistan,  detailed her experiences living, teaching and traveling in Kabul and throughout Afghanistan and the region.

In 1987, Klass edited and co-authored Afghanistan: The Great Game Revisited, published by Freedom House, which became the standard reference on the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan and pre-Soviet history of the country.