Government Professor Shklar Suffers Massive Heart Attack

Cowles Professor of Government Judith N. Shklar remained in critical condition yesterday after suffering a massive heart attack last week, family members said.

The heart attack occurred Friday during a family vacation in New Hampshire, according to her husband Gerald Shklar, Brackett professor of oral pathology at the Dental School.

Shklar, an eminent political theorist, spent two days at the Concord (N.H.) Hospital and was transferred to Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston on Sunday because of the seriousness of her condition.

Shklar, listed in critical condition, was resting in the intensive care unit last night.

Her husband said Shklar, who will be 64 next week, is "very heavily sedated and resting comfortably."

It was Shklar's first heart attack. Her husband said doctors could not offer a prognosis.

"It was a very sudden, unexpected heart attack, and a serious one. We can't really assess at this point what the future will be," he said. "It's day to day."

Reischauer Professor of Japanese Politics Susan J. Pharr, chair of the Government Department, said the heart attack has been "a tremendous shock in the department."

"People are standing by and hoping for her recovery," Pharr said. "She has mattered so much in the lives of so many students, and her colleagues."

Shklar is on leave for the fall semester, and is scheduled to teach Government 1080, "American Political Thought," this spring.

Born in Latvia, Shklar attended McGill University and received her doctorate at Harvard. She received tenure in 1970 and was awarded the Cowles professorship in 1980.

In 1984, she won a MacArthur "genius" grant.

Her husband said he and his family are confident about the quality of his wife's care.

"The Brigham is one of the world's great hospitals. We trust in their judgment and what they can do," he said. "Her care is excellent."

The Shklars have three children. They reside in Cambridge.