Paul Avrich (August 4, 1931 – February 16, 2006) was an American historian specializing in the 19th and early 20th-century anarchist movement in Russia and the United States.

He taught at Queens College, City University of New York, for his entire career, from 1961 to his retirement as distinguished professor of history in 1999.

He wrote ten books, mostly about anarchism, including topics such as the 1886 Haymarket Riot, the 1921 Sacco and Vanzetti case, the 1921 Kronstadt naval base rebellion, and an oral history of the movement in the United States.

He wanted his work to resurrect the thought of marginalized anarchists, whom he saw as "pioneers of social justice" worth revisiting in the revival of libertarianism following the Vietnam War and second-wave feminism.

[1] Avrich joined Queens College as a Russian history instructor in 1961, where he remained for the duration of his career, though he also was a member of the City University of New York Graduate Center faculty.