“There are impressions in every man's life that are alive in his soul until his last breath”. Letters of S. Y. Kulakovsky to E. V. Spektorsky. 1938

Document publication

doi 10.28995/2073-0101-2024-4-1122-1139

For citation

Mikhalchenko, Sergey I., Tkachenko, Elena V. (2024) “There are impressions in every man's life that are alive in his soul until his last breath”. Letters of S. Y. Kulakovsky to E. V. Spektorsky. 1938, Herald of an Archivist, no. 4, pp. 1122-1139, doi 10.28995/2073-0101-2024-4-1122-1139

Mikhalchenko, Sergey I., Tkachenko, Elena V., I. G. Petrovsky Bryansk State University, Bryansk, Russia

“There are impressions in every man's life that are alive in his soul until his last breath”. Letters of S. Y. Kulakovsky to E. V. Spektorsky. 1938

Abstract

Three letters from the famous Slavic philologist and novelist, Russian emigrant of the “first wave”, lecturer at the University of Warsaw, Sergei Yulianovich Kulakovsky, to the jurist and historian, professor at the University of Ljubljana, Evgeny Vasilievich Spektorski, are published. The letters date back to 1938 and are published according to manuscript originals kept in the E. V. Spektorski's fund in the Archive of the Republic of Slovenia in Ljubljana (Arhiv Republike Slovenije (ARS). Fond AS.1901. ?v.1). Content-wise, the letters fall into two parts. The first is an autobiographical characterization of S. J. Kulakovsky's scientific and teaching activities, his achievements in the field of Romance and Slavonic philology, since the reason for writing the letters was his desire to get a job at the University of Ljubljana and his request to E. V. Spektorski for patronage. The very important second part is S. Y. Kulakovsky's detailed memoirs, scattered throughout the letters, about the life of the Kiev and Moscow professors during the Civil War. Thus, there is a kind of unification/intersection of two types of sources of personal origin - letters and memoirs. The impetus for writing this part was the publication of E. V. Spektorsky's memoir-jubilee book about St. Vladimir's University, of which he was rector in 1918-1919. V. Spektorsky about St. Vladimir's University, whose rector he was in 1918-1919. S. Y. Kulakovsky, having highly appreciated the book, presented a kind of additions to it, connected, first of all, with the possibility of realization in the revolutionary years of academic activity. The addressee tells in detail about the difficulties with the organization of his master's exams, characterizes the living conditions and conditions of teaching work in 1919-1921. The memoirs of S. Y. Kulakovsky about the classicist professor, dean of the History and Philology Department of Kiev University in 1919-1922, A. I. Sonny (including his attempt to go to Finland), as well as about the Kiev counter-revolutionary organization “Center of Action”, which, as it turns out, took place in Kiev. A. I. Sonny (including his attempt to go to Finland), as well as about the Kiev counter-revolutionary organization “Center of Action”, in which, as it turns out, S. Y. Kulakovsky took part (as well as, among others, the famous historian Professor P. P. Smirnov). The content of the letters, undoubtedly possessing considerable informational value, allows us to draw a conclusion about a certain academic autonomy preserved in universities during the Civil War, and also adds new touches to the characterization of those difficult years. The published letters, on the one hand, once again demonstrate the value of epistolary heritage as a historical source, and on the other hand, they are an example of combining/intersecting two types of sources of personal origin - letters and memoirs.

Keywords

Letters of emigrant scholars, Archives of the Republic of Slovenia, Russian emigration, E. V. Spektorski, S. Y. Kulakovski, A. I. Sonni, sources of personal origin.

Download the article: mikhalchenko_tkachenko_doi

References

Elkin, A. I. (2008). Russian emigrant intelligentsia in Poland in the 20-30s of the XX century, IN: Russian-Polish Historical Almanac, v. III. Stavropol, Volgograd, SGU publ., pp. 199-206.

Ivanov, A. E. (2016). Academic dignity in the Russian Empire, XVIII - beginning of XX century, Moscow, New Chronograph publ., 656 p.

Levchenko, V. V. (2021). From the History of the Russian Abroad: letters of F. G. Aleksandrov to A. V. Florovsky, Russian Archive, № 9 (2), pp. 143-164.

Matveev, S. A. (2023). Letters of L. M. Sukhotin as a historical source, Bulletin of the State University of Education, Series History and Political Science, № 4, pp. 70-80.

Puchkov, A. A. (2011). Adolf Sonny, a Kievian, Toward a History of Classical Philology at the Imperial University of St. Vladimir, Kiev, Phoenix publ., 296 p.

Puchkov, A. A. (2004). Julian Kulakovsky and his time, St. Petersburg, Aleteia publ., 477 p.

Robinson, M. A. (2018). Fate of the Russian Kievian, letters of S. Y. Kulakovsky to A. I. Sobolevsky (Revolution, Civil War, the first years of emigration), Slavic Almanac, № 3-4, pp. 215-246.

Simonova, T. M., Glushkovsky, P. (2018). History of Russian emigration in Poland in 1919-1939, new sources and modern historiography of the problem, Vestnik RUDN, Series History of Russia, № 1, pp. 50-73.

Spektorsky, E. V. (2020). Vospominanii, Ryazan, NRIID publ., 652 p.

Spektorskii, E. V. (Ed.) (1935). Centenary of the Kiev University of St. Vladimir: Centenary of the Kiev University of St. Vladimir, a publication of the Committee of Kiev Professors in Ljubljana, Belgrade, B. i., 101 p.

Horchodina, T. I. (2020). Historical and Archival Institute in the History of the Domestic Higher School, 1930-1920, Edited by A. B. Bezborodov, 2 nd ed., supplement, Moscow, RSHU publ., 449 p.

B?deker, H. E. (2004). Letters as historical sources – some concluding reflections, IN: Reading, Interpreting and Historicizing: Letters as Historical Sources, Ed. by Schulte R., von Tippelskirch X., San Domenico, Fi publ., pp. 199-202.

Dryblak, ?. (2016). Only Prometheanism? The policy of the Polish state towards selected circles of the Russian emigration in the years 1926–1935, Studia z Dziej?w Rosji i Europy ?rodkowo-Wschodniej, T. 51, № 1 (Special Issue), pp. 77–113.

Elliot, B., Gerber, D., Sinke, S. (Ed.) (2006). Letters across Borders, The Epistolary Practices of International Migrants, N.-Y., Palgrave Macmillan publ., 310 р.

Skorczewski, D. (2019). Letter-Writing, Between the Art of Literature and Communication, IN: Nadzieje upadaj?cego ?wiata: nadzieja w chrze?cija?skiej epistolografii ?aci?skiej IV i V wieku, Lublin, KUL publ., pp. 11-24.

Zienkiewicz, T. (2000). Sergiusz Ku?akowski. Popularyzator literatury polskiej w ?rodowisku emigracji rosyjskiej, Acta Polono-Ruthenica, № 1, (V), pp. 151–160.

About the authors

Mikhalchenko Sergey I., Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor, I. G. Petrovsky Bryansk State University named after academician, Institute of Economics, History and Law, Director, 8-483-258-05-31, ext. 12-45, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Tkachenko Elena V., PhD in History, I. G. Petrovsky Bryansk State University named after Academician, Faculty of Law, Department of State and Legal Disciplines, Head of Department, 8-483-258-05-16, ext. 14-14, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Grant information

The article was prepared with the financial support of the RNF grant (project No. 24-28-00505 “Epistolary Complexes of Russian Intellectual Abroad 1920-1940 in the Archives of Slovenia and the Czech Republic”), https://rscf.ru/project/24-28-00505/

The article was received in the editorial office on 09.07.2024, recommended for publication on 20.09.2024.