DOI:

https://doi.org/10.22455/2541-8297-2020-16-119-181

УДК / UDK: 821.161.1
Issue:

2020 №16

About the author:

Alexei Lyubomudrov, Dr. Hab. of Philology, Leading Researcher, Institute of Russian Literature (Pushkin House) of the Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg, Russia. E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Abstract:

For the first time а complete correspondence between Leonid Zurov (1902  –1971), the writer of the Russian Diaspora, and Viktor Manuilov (1903  –1987), a famous literary researcher, is introduced into a scientific usage. The main theme of their letters is the problem of transferring to Russia Ivan Bunin’s manuscript and memorial heritage, of which Zurov became the owner. The publication clarifies the reasons why the long and hard negotiations ended without any success. It allows to define more exactly the details and circumstances of this case. The correspondence affects the names of many key figures of cultural life both of the Russian abroad and Metropolitan area. It characterizes those persons who actively supported the return of Bunin's legacy as well as officials who blocked the process. The material reflects the struggle of Russian writers, scientists, museum curators against the Soviet bureaucratic machine for which Bunin was always ideologically alien. It paints a picture of the public sentiment and the Soviet cultural policy of the 1960s. Some letters concern Zurov’s articles devoted to M. Lermontov as well as his work on the novel “Winter Palace”. The publication allows to clarify Zurov’s psychological portrait and to identify a number of significant episodes in the V. Manuilov’s scientific biography.

Keywords: Leonid Zurov, Viktor Manuilov, Ivan Bunin’s archive, Russian emigration, Russian literature, correspondence.
For citation:

Lyubomudrov Alexei. “Everything simple and clear has been turned into incredibly complex by someone”. Correspondence between Leonid Zurov and Viktor Manuilov (1961  –1967). Literaturnyi fakt, 2020, no. 2 (16), pp. 119  –181.

DOI 10.22455/2541-8297-2020-16-119-181

References:

Baboreko A.K. Dorogi i zvony: vospominaniia, pis’ma. [Roads and peals: Memoirs, letters]. Moscow, Skify Publ., 1993. 211 p. (In Russ.)

Belobrovtseva I.Z. “Vidno, moia sud’ba, chto menia otseniat posle smerti” [“Apparently my fate is that I will be appreciated after my death”]. Zurov L. Ivan-daMar'ia [Ivan-da-Marya]. St. Petersburg, Limbus Press Publ., 2015, pp. 5 –30. (In Russ.)

Golovanova T.P., Nazarova L.N. Parizhskie vstrechi s dalekim i nedal’nim proshlym [Paris meetings with the distant and recent past]. Buninskii sbornik: materialy nauchnoi konferentsii, posvyashchennoi stoletiiu so dnya rozhdeniia I.A. Bunina [Bunin Collection: Proc. of the Sci. Conf. dedicated to the centennial of I.A. Bunin]. Orel, Orel State Pedagogical Institute Publ., 1974, pp. 295 –307. (In Russ.)

Gromova A.V. Iz istorii literatury Russkogo zarubezh’ia. Sbornik L.F. Zurova “Mar’ianka” (Parizh, 1958) v otzyvakh chitatelei i kritiki [From the history of Russian émigré literature. L.F. Zurov’s collection “Mar'yanka” (Paris, 1958) reviewed by readers and critics]. Russkaia literatura, 2008, no. 2, pp. 203 –211. (In Russ.)

“Dushevno Vasha S. Pregel’”. Perepiska S.Iu. Pregel’ s L.F. Zurovym, 1938  –1971 gg. [“Sincerely devoted to you, S. Pregel”. Correspondence between S.Yu. Pregel and L.F. Zurov, 1938  –1971], publ., ed., intro., and comment. P.A. Tribunskii and V. Khazan. Ezhegodnik Doma russkogo zarubezh’ia imeni Aleksandra Solzhenitsyna, 2014 –2015 [Alexander Solzhenitsyn House of Russia Abroad Annual, 2014 –2015]. Moscow, Alexander Solzhenitsyn House of Russia Abroad Publ., 2015, pp. 516 –605. (In Russ.)

Lavrov A.V. V.A. Manuilov — uchenik Viacheslava Ivanova [V.A. Manuilov as a student of Vyacheslav Ivanov]. Viacheslav Ivanov. Issledovaniia i materialy [Vyacheslav Ivanov. Studies and materials], issue 1. St. Petersburg, Pushkin House Publ., 2010, pp. 620 –669. (In Russ.)

Manuilov V.A. Zapiski schastlivogo cheloveka: Vospominaniia. Avtobiograficheskaia proza. Iz neopublikovannykh stikhov [Notes of a happy man: Memoiris. Autobiographical prose. From unpublished poems], ed. N.F. Budanova. St. Petersburg, Evropeiskii dom Publ., 1999. 448 p. (In Russ.)

Manuilov V.A. Roman M.Yu. Lermontova “Geroi nashego vremeni”: kommentarii [Novel “Hero of Our Time” by M.Yu. Lermontov: Comments]. Moscow; Leningrad, Prosveshchenie Publ., 1966. 276 p. (In Russ.)

“Sovetskaia khronika” Ivana Bunina [Ivan Bunin’s “Soviet chronicle”], publ. D.E. Chernigovskii. Roshchin M.M. Ivan Bunin. Moscow, Molodaia gvardiia Publ., 2000, pp. 291 –328. (In Russ.)

“Vashe pis’mo... menya ochen’, ochen’ tronulo”. (Perepiska S.Iu. Pregel’ s L.V. Nikulinym i P.L. Viacheslavovym) [“Your letter touched me very, very much”. Correspondence of S.Yu. Pregel with L.V. Nikulin and P.L. Viacheslavov], publ., ed., intro. and comment. V. Khazan. Metropoliia i diaspora: dve vetvi russkoi kul’tury. 5 Kul’turologicheskie chteniia “Russkaia emigratsiia 20 veka” [Metropolitan and diaspora: two branches of Russian culture. 5th cultural Proc. “Russian Emigration of the 20th Century”]. Moscow, Marina Tsvetaeva House-museum Publ., 2015. pp. 403 –444. (In Russ.)

“Znaiu, chto vy liubite drevnii Pskov”. Perepiska L.F. Zurova i V.I. Malysheva (1957  –1971) [“I know you like the ancient Pskov”: Сorrespondence between Leonid Zurov and Vladimir Malyshev (1957  –1971)], intro. and comment. A.M. Lyubomudrov. Ezhegodnik Doma russkogo zarubezh’ia imeni Aleksandra Solzhenitsyna, 2016 [Alexander Solzhenitsyn House of Russia Abroad Annual. 2016]. Moscow, Alexander Solzhenitsyn House of Russia Abroad Annual Publ., 2016, pp. 441 –517. (In Russ.)