Sources for the study of the russian emigration to Italy

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Sources for the study of the russian emigration to Italy

E.A. Buluchevskaia

The article presents the currently important sources for studying Russian emigration to Italy after 1918. During the 1920s -- 1930s and after the Second World War the most important funds of documents were being formed in Italy and in Russia as well. These funds include not only the correspondence between emigrants or their private documents, but the materials about emigrants' social and economic standing abroad. It is important to determine what funds and documents in Italian and Russian archives contain nowadays necessary and unpublished information for the future study of Russian emigrants' history in Italy. Through the example of three large archives -- Central State Archive of Rome, Roman Archive of Vyacheslav Ivanov, State Archive of Russian Federation -- are chosen the archival documents. Its analysis is currently central for the future studying of the theme. The Central State Archive of Rome stores the materials about cultural contacts of the URSS and Italy in the mid-1930s, in particular, about the XIII International Congress of Architects in Rome. Roman Archive of Vyacheslav Ivanov has a significant amount of correspondence of one of the most important representatives of Russian emigration to Italy. On the basis of these documents we can select the circle of the main Ivanov's correspondents, as well as the themes of the key figures' of Russian culture in exile correspondence. From the materials of the State Archive of the Russian Federation it is important to analyze the documents from the fund of the historian E. F. Shmurlo, especially his social activity in Rome (in particular, the fate of “Russian academic group” in Rome). In addition, the archive contains documents describing the attempts of Russian immigrants to unite under the social and public organizations in Italy, to be absorbed in the Italian socio-cultural context. In general, the further analysis of the documentation of the Russian and Italian archives is necessary for the study of cultural transfer between the USSR and Italy, one of the most important trends of the modern study of the topic. Refs 16.

Keywords: Russian emigration to Italy, Central State Archive of Rome, Roman Archive of Vyacheslav Ivanov, State Archive of Russian Federation, Vyacheslav Ivanov, E. F. Shmurlo, cultural transfer.

Е. А. Булучевская

ИСТОЧНИКИ ИЗУЧЕНИЯ РУССКОЙ ЭМИГРАЦИИ В ИТАЛИЮ

В статье рассматриваются актуальные источники по изучению русской эмиграции в Италию. Основное внимание уделено периоду «первой волны» отечественной массовой эмиграции на Апеннины в 1918-1939 гг. В течение 1920-1930-х годов, а также после Второй мировой войны в Италии и СССР формировались наиболее значительные архивные фонды, включившие в себя как личную документацию русских эмигрантов, так и материалы, описывающие их социально-экономическое положение за рубежом. Важно определить, какие фонды и отдельные документы в итальянских и отечественных архивах содержат необходимую и неопубликованную информацию для дальнейшего изучения истории русской эмиграции в Италию. На примере трех крупных архивов -- Центрального государственного архива Рима, Римского архива Вячеслава Иванова, Государственного архива Российской Федерации -- выделены те архивные документы, анализ которых представляется актуальным для дальнейшего исследования темы. Центральный государственный архив Рима хранит материалы, касающиеся культурных контактов СССР и Италии в середине 1930-х годов, в частности XIII Международного конгресса архитекторов в Риме. Римский архив Вячеслава Иванова представляет большой объем корреспонденции одного из самых значительных представителей русской эмиграции в Италию. На основе данных документов возможно определить круг основных корреспондентов Иванова, а также тематику переписки ключевых деятелей русской культуры в эмиграции. Из совокупности материалов Государственного архива Российской Федерации можно выделить личный фонд Е. Ф. Шмурло, требующий анализа общественной деятельности ученого в Риме (в частности, это касается судьбы «Русской академической группы» в Риме). Кроме того, Архив содержит документы, описывающие попытки русских эмигрантов объединиться в рамках социально-общественных организаций в Италии, включиться в итальянский социокультурный контекст. Необходимо продолжить дальнейший анализ документации архивов России и Италии -- для исследования культурного трансфера между СССР и Италией, одного из наиболее актуальных направлений современного изучения темы. Библиогр. 16 назв.

Ключевые слова: русская эмиграция в Италию, Государственный архив Рима, Римский архив Вячеслава Иванова, Государственный архив Российской Федерации, Вяч. Иванов, Е. Ф. Шмурло, культурный трансфер.

After the Russian revolution of 1917 a huge number of cultural intellectuals left Soviet Russia and settled down in a number of countries of Europe and the USA. From 1917 to 1922 the Russian йmigrй community became a unique phenomenon in Russian history. After the Civil War and until the Second World War there were about 1.16 mln people who left Russia. The theme of Russian emigration is of great interest to historians. However articles and research on the subject mainly cover emigration to France, Germany and the USA but strangely enough they rather neglect the Russian emigrant community in Italy which was impressive both in its size and its impact on the European culture. For instance, from 1920 to 1925 there were about 15 thousand Russian legal emigrants in Italy, while in France there were approximately 200-300 thousand, in Germany, 300-400,000.

Nowadays the analysis of the sources for studying Russian emigration to Italy has become one the most necessary aspects. Some documents from archives have been published Some documents have been published in the edition “Archivio Italo-Russo III'' [Archivio Italo-Russo III 2001]., but the main part is still conserved in Italian state archives, mainly in Rome (in the “State Central State Archive of Rome” and “Roman Archive of Vyacheslav Ivanov”). In Russia the most important emigrant funds are kept in the State Archive of the Russian Federation. Moreover, the electronic series of the Roman Archive of Vyacheslav Ivanov, which has been created by the Russian scientist A. Shishkin, is of great significance for studying the Italian period of Ivanov's life in emigration. Some documents from the Roman Archive have been published in the Annals of the Institute of Russian Literature in St. Petersburg (Pushkin House) [Rimskij Arhiv Vyacheslava Ivanova 2002].

We have been working in the Italian archives (Rome) and in the State Archive of the Russian Federation, and there is a great variety of documents still unknown to researchers. The aim of this article is to characterize the level of study among the Russian emigration taking into account the aspect of cultural transfer between Italy and the Soviet Union in 1920-1930s.

In the State Archive of the Russian Federation, documents about social life of Russian emigrants in Italy are located. For instance, there is a fund of A. Shumrlo, a Russian historian who lived in Italy from 1891-1924 and after that immigrated to Prague. How-ever, his social activity in emigration has not been very well examined. We know that in 1921 Shmurlo founded a Russian academic group in Italy, but there is a lack of facts about its influence on Italian society and on the Russian emigrants' lives. In the fund the introduction to the “Collected works of Russian academic group in Italy” is preserved [Predis- lovie k “Sborniku trudov ...”, l. 1]. This document is a unique one as it helps to fill a gap in history of Russian emigration in Rome. One of the future aims is to determine the circumstances of the Russian academic group's creation. Moreover, in the funds of the State Archive we can find papers about the Russian consular agency in Italy in the early 1920s, for instance, correspondence between the Russian consul in Rome and the Committee of support to the Russians in Milan [Rossijskij general'nyj konsul v Rime ..., d. 102]. By the early 1920s financial support had become the most important problem for the Italian government as well as for the emigrant European organizations. The Committee of support to the Russians guaranteed pension payments and support to the Russian residents and immigrants in financial distress. The fund includes lists with the names of Russian emigrants who were on welfare, for instance, on Capri [Spisok lic na Kapri ., l. 60]. This document gives us facts for the future analysis of individual emigrants' biographies.

Finally, in the Archive are located sources of studying the work of Russian social organizations in Italy in the 1920s: the Labor office and the women's cooperative “Trud” [Svedenija o belojemigrantskih organizacijah v Italii..., l.1-2]. From 1919-1920 these Russian communities had become one of the first emigrants' attempts at consolidation under a social or cultural organization and to create a social and economic basis of living in emigration. Another way to create an emigrant diaspora was the political one. The Russian economist and journalist G. Shreider left an article about the conditions of Russian accommodation in Italy. He declared the necessity of the creation of a political emigrant organization: “On a huge scope of the whole world an almost two-million mass of Russian refugees has been thrown out [...] All these people who have doomed themselves and their families to all the victims and deprivations of the exile [...] need, obviously, the security and protection of the human rights and interests. [... E]lementary practical expediency demands that an agency forced to work in the European democratic situation should be democratic as well [.] from the first days of tragic Russian fleeing has become evident the necessity of the creation of a special public organization which would assume the hard task of legal, moral and financial support to the Russian citizens abroad” [Stat'ja Shrejdera, l.2]. Such an organization was not created in Italy, but the study of all the attempts is an actual problem for understanding the level of the Russian emigrants' social activity abroad.

The main bulk of the Italian archival materials devoted to the social and cultural life of Russian emigrants is located in the Central State Archive of Rome (Archivio Centrale dello Stato). There the documents of the central governing bodies (Prime minister's office, ministries) are kept. Nowadays the most relevant aspect of studying the history of Russian emigration to Italy is the cultural transfer between two countries. These are the archival materials in Italy which contain necessary information as yet unpublished. For instance, the documents from the archive “Ministero per la stampa e la propaganda” (The Ministry of the press and propaganda) provide us information about Russian architects in Italy in 1935 which is currently central as the emigrant history of Italy in the 1930s is little-known. In 1935 Russian architects took part in the XIIIth Congress of Architects in Rome (XIII Congresso Internazionale Architetti), and the documents of the archive contain facts about Russian-Italian cultural transfer during the 1930s [Architetti sovietici in Italia, ll. 7-10]. We can also find rare evidences about A. Shchusev's residence to Italy in 1935 [Architetti sovietici in Italia. Mio rapporto n.1681, ll. 3-4]. Moreover, in 1938 the Roman ambassador in Moscow left a report about Stalin's speech about Soviet science [Direttive staliniane nel campo della scienza, ll. 1-2] which was an example of the Italian reaction to cultural and political processes in the Soviet Union of the 1930s.

The Roman archive of Vyacheslav Ivanov, one of the key personalities of the Silver Age and Russian philosophical thought of the first half of the 20th century, is large and considerable Russian emigrant archive. It includes the best part of poet's heritage: a big corpus of writings, especially poetry, as well as correspondence between Russian emigrants to Italy, France, Germany. Ivanov's correspondence has reached us in a complex of hand-written and typewritten texts.

The publication of Vyacheslav Ivanov's heritage became possible thanks to collaborative work of the scientists of the Institute of Russian Literature and their Italian colleagues from the Roman archive. The most important role was played by edition of the “Russian-Italian archive” [Archivio Italo-Russo III 2001]. Finally, a tribute to the staff of the Manuscript Department of the Institute of Russian Literature was the publication of Ivanov's correspondence with S. A. Vengerov [Perepiska Vjach. Ivanova s S. A. Vengerovym 1993], A. N. Chebotarevskaya [Pis'ma Vjach. Ivanova k Aleksandre Chebotarevskoj 2002]. Nowadays the main method of scientific development of the Roman archive is electronic textology which is carried out by the “Research center of Vyacheslav Ivanov in Rome”.

Structurally the Roman archive includes six inventories. The first inventory contains poetic autographs of Ivanov (“The Roman diary”, “The Roman sonnets”, “Light the Evening”, etc.), “Notebooks” of the poet, translations of poetic texts. The second inventory includes stories, plays, drama fragments. The third and the fifth inventories are devoted to Ivanov's correspondence with contemporaries, the fourth one contains intra-family correspondence. Finally, the sixth inventory is devoted to biographical materials of Ivanov's emigrant life. The greatest interest, thus, for us is represented by the inventories devoted to Vyacheslav Ivanov's correspondence with contemporaries, including Russian emigrants located in France, Italy, the USA, Germany and other countries.

One of the most active is the correspondence with the prominent writer A. V. Amfiteatrov [Amfiteatrovu Aleksandru Valentinovichu, ll. 1-8; Amfiteatrov Aleksandr Valentinovich, ll. 1-23], in 1904-1906 exiled in France and Italy in view of prohibition of his literary activity in the homeland. Correspondence of the 1930s includes three letters of Ivanov to Amfiteatrov and seventeen letters of the latter to Rome. The circle of the questions discussed in correspondence is wide -- from philosophical views to social and economic problems of emigrant life. A portion of the letters represents a critical evaluation of Amfiteatrov's works by Ivanov.

Ivanov's correspondence with M. Gorki is intensive too. In about 1924 Gorki lived in emigration in southern Italy (apart from short-term homecomings of 1928 and 1929), and in 1932 he left Italy for good. From 1924 to 1957 Gorki wrote twelve letters to V. Ivanov. Its following subjects are clearly examined: polemics about the relation of writers to the Soviet regime; Ivanov's addresses to Gorky about a possibility of preserving the Soviet pension; Gorky's requests to resolve a problem of his disastrous financial position in emigration.

The Roman archive includes also rather modest, however interesting correspondences between Ivanov and D. S. Merezhkovski, who left Petrograd in 1919 and went at first to Warsaw, then to Italy and, at last, to Paris. One of the most known letters of Ivanov is the so-called “Letter to Merezhkovski” of December 10, 1935 [Pis'mo k Merezhkovskomu, ll. 1-2]. Ivanov's letter on Merezhkovski's 70th birthday is imbued with sincere worship towards a genius and the authority of one of the key persons of Russian culture.

If Ivanov's correspondence with I. A. Bunin and B. K. Zaytsev is not fully reflected in the archive (as well as his correspondence with N. A. Otsup and F. A. Stepun), an important place is taken by the poet's dialogue with S. L. Frank, a philosopher and religious thinker who, after 1922, was located in Berlin and had been a part of the Religious and Philosophical Academy organized by N. A. Berdyaev. The Roman archive locates only one (however, substantial) letter of Ivanov to Frank [Franku Semenu Ljudvigovichu, ll. 1-5]. Correspondence between the two largest representatives of the Russian thought abroad is also devoted to the one of philosophical questions, fundamental to Ivanov: the problem of the religious searching which had became the poet's reflection on the crisis of Christian humanity in Europe. The subject of religious searching was a principal one for the poet, and his conversion to Catholicism in 1926 is a subject of particular interest for researchers. russian emigration italy historical

The fifth inventory of the Roman archive includes correspondence which came to the Roman address of Ivanov from 1920 to the 1940s. Among the correspondents were: M. Aldanov, V. E. Meyerhold, E. K. Metner, P. P. Muratov, N. P. Ottokar.

Thus Ivanov's circle of epistolary communication is diverse. Despite it, the intensity of correspondence with emigrants by the middle of the 1930s had conceded to the frequency and volume of correspondence arriving to the poet. That fact was connected, first of all, with the isolated way of Ivanov's life in Rome. The Roman archive has concentrated on features of spiritual and intellectual life in the Russian emigration. An important place is taken by Ivanov's critical judgment of his contemporaries. The circle of the questions which his correspondence brings up is wide. Among them is included questions about the search for the cultural, spiritual, historical, religious path for Russia; problems of the consciousness of the Russian person, the creative person in emigration.

Generally, there are three main archives in Russia and Italy which contain necessary facts for the future study of the history of Russian cultural emigration to Italy. The archival materials of A. Shumrlo are located the State Archive of the Russian Federation. The analysis of his role in the social emigrants life is one the most relevant questions. The Roman Archive of V. Ivanov gives us the possibility to understand not only the poet's circle of contacts in emigration, but, widely, the level of cultural connections between Russians abroad, the spiritual questions which occupied their minds and social problems of their accommodation. Finally, the documents about cultural Russian-Italian contacts of the 1930s are kept in the Central State Archive of Rome. The publication of these documents as well as their integration into the research community is a prerequisite for 21st century studies of the Russian emigrant experience.

References

1. Amfiteatrov Aleksandr Valentinovich [Amphiteatrov Alexandr]. Rimskij Arhiv Vyacheslava Ivanova [Roman Archiv of Vyacheslav Ivanov] (RAI) (The research center of Vyacheslav Ivanov in Rome), op. 5, C. 1, B. 3, ll. 1-23. (In Russian). Available at: www.v-ivanov.it (accessed 10.10.2015).

2. Amfiteatrovu Aleksandru Valentinovichu [To Amphiteatrov Alexandr]. Rimskij Arhiv Vyacheslava Ivanova [Roman Archiv of Vyacheslav Ivanov] (RAI) (The research center of Vyacheslav Ivanov in Rome), op. 3, C. 1, B. 1, ll. 1-8. (In Russian). Available at: www.v-ivanov.it (accessed 10.10.2015).

3. Architetti sovietici in Italia [Russian architects in Italy]. Archivio Centrale dello Stato [State Archive of Rome]. Ministero per la stampa e la propaganda [The Ministry of the press and propaganda], f. I-62, B. 12, ll. 7-10. (In Italian, unpublished)

4. Architetti sovietici in Italia. Mio rapporto no.1681 [Russian architects in Italy. My report no.1681]. Archivio Centrale dello Stato [State Archive of Rome]. Ministero per la stampa e la propaganda [The Ministry of the press and propaganda], f. I-62, B. 12, ll. 3-4. (In Italian, unpublished)

5. Archivio Italo-Russo III [Russian-Italian Archive III]. Ed. by D. Rizzi, A. Shishkin. Trento, Universita degli studi, Dipartimento di scienze filologiche e storiche Publ., 2001, 574 p. (In Italian)

6. Direttive staliniane nel campo della scienza [Stalin's science prescriptions]. Archivio Centrale dello Stato [State Archive of Rome]. Ministero per la stampa e la propaganda [The Ministry of the press and propaganda], f. I-61, B. 36, ll. 1-2. (In Italian, unpublished)

7. Franku Semenu Ljudvigovichu. Rimskij Arhiv Vyacheslava Ivanova [Roman Archiv of Vyacheslav Ivanov] (RAI) (The research center of Vyacheslav Ivanov in Rome), op. 3, C. 1, B. 35, ll. 1-5. (In Russian). Available at: www.v-ivanov.it (accessed 10.10.2015).

8. Perepiska Vjach. Ivanova s S. A. Vengerovym [Correspondence of Vyach. Ivanov with S. A. Vengerov]. Ed. by O. A. Kuznetsova. Ezhegodnik Rukopisnogo otdela Instituta russkoi literatury (Pushkinskii Dom) na 1990god [Annals of hand-written department of the Institute of Russian Literature (Pushkin House), 1990]. St. Petersburg, Dmitry Bulanin Publ., 1993, pp. 72-100. (In Russian)

9. Pis'ma Vjach. Ivanova k Aleksandre Chebotarevskoj [Vyach. Ivanov's letters to Aleksandra Chebotarevskaya]. Ed. by A. V. Lavrov. Ezhegodnik Rukopisnogo otdela Instituta russkoi literatury (Pushkinskii Dom) na 1997god [Annals of hand-written department of the Institute of Russian Literature (Pushkin House), 1997]. St. Petersburg, Dmitry Bulanin Publ., 2002, pp. 238-295. (In Russian)

10. Pis'mo k Merezhkovskomu [Letter to Merezhkovsky]. Rimskij Arhiv Vyacheslava Ivanova [Roman Archiv of Vyacheslav Ivanov] (RAI) (The research center of Vyacheslav Ivanov in Rome), op. 3, C. 1, B. 24, ll. 1-2. (In Russian). Available at: www.v-ivanov.it (accessed 10.10.2015).

11. Predislovie k “Sborniku trudov Russkoj akademicheskoj gruppy v Italii” [The introduction to the “Collected works of Russian academic group in Italy”]. Gosudarstvennyi arkhiv Rossiiskoi Fedratsii [State Archive of the Russian Federation] (GARF), f. P5965. Shmurlo E. F., op. 1, d. 11, l. 1. (In Russian, unpublished) Rimskij Arhiv Vyacheslava Ivanova [Roman Archiv of Vyacheslav Ivanov]. Ezhegodnik Rukopisnogo otdela Instituta russkoi literatury (Pushkinskii Dom) na 1997god [Annals of hand-written department of the Institute of Russian Literature (Pushkin House), 1997]. Ed. by T. G. Ivanova. St. Petersburg, Dmitry Bulanin Publ., 2002, pp. 296-340. (In Russian)

12. Rossijskij general'nyj konsul v Rime. Perepiska s Komitetom pomoshchi russkim v Milane, s Komitetom pomoshchi russkim, nahodyashchimsya v Italii (Rim) o posobiyah russkim ehmigrantam v Italii [Russian Consul General in Rome. Correspondence with the help of the Committee of Russian in Milan, with the help of Russian Committee, located in Italy (Rome) Benefits Russian emigrants in Italy]. Gosudarstvennyi arkhiv Rossiiskoi Fedratsii [State Archive of the Russian Federation] (GARF), f. P4644, op. 1, d. 102, 100 ll. (In Russian, unpublished)

13. Spisok lic na Kapri, koim naznacheny posobija v zasedanii Rimskogo Komiteta Pomoshhi 5 nojabrja 1920 g. [List of persons on Capri, who are assigned benefits in the meeting of the Rome Aid Committee on November 5, 1920]. Gosudarstvennyi arkhiv Rossiiskoi Fedratsii [State Archive of the Russian Federation] (GARF), f. P4644, op. 1, d. 102, l. 60. (In Russian, unpublished)

14. Stat'ja Shrejdera [Shreider's article]. Gosudarstvennyi arkhiv Rossiiskoi Fedratsii [State Archive of the Russian Federation] (GARF), f. 6976, op. 1, d. 7, ll. 2-4. (In Russian, unpublished)

15. Svedenija o belojemigrantskih organizacijah v Italii: “Bjuro truda” v Rime i russkom zhenskom kooperative “Trud” [Data about the White Russian emigre organizations in Italy: “Bureau of work” in Rome and the Russian women's cooperative “Trud”]. Gosudarstvennyi arkhiv Rossiiskoi Fedratsii [State Archive of the Russian Federation] (GARF), f. 6976, op. 1, d. 3, ll. 1-2. (In Russian, unpublished)

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