Documentary Monuments of the L.A. Greenberg Collection from the State Historical Museum: The History of Acquisition
| 12 September 2024
Posted in
Archival funds and collections
Katagoshchina M.V.,
Moscow, Russian Federation
Documentary Monuments of the L.A. Greenberg Collection from the State Historical Museum: The History of Acquisition
Abstract
The article reviews the circumstances of acquisition of documents from the private collections of Russian emigres by the archives of the USSR. It is a case-study of the acquisition by the State Historical Museum (GIM) of documentary relics from the collection of L. A. Greenberg, a well-known Parisian antiquarian, collector and cultural figure of the Russian diaspora. The author assesses L.A. Greenberg's contribution to the intellectual and artistic life of Russian emigres in the 1930s-1960s and his interactions with Soviet museums and archives. The article is based on correspondence between the collector and I.I. Astafyev, a GIM employee, dated 1965-1966, stored in the Manuscript Section of the State Historical Museum. In 1966-1972, during L.A. Grinberg’s Moscow visits, the Museum acquired from him more than 100 chirographs of members of the Romanov family and Russian statesmen of the 18th – beginning of the 20th century, including letters of Tsarevich Alexei Petrovich, letters of Nicholas II, Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich, Minister of Foreign Affairs D. S. Sazonov, and others. These documents are of high scientific and historical value. The article reviews the circumstances of retaining these documents abroad, as well as organizational and financial problems encountered in the process of their transfer to the USSR. Drawing on study of correspondence between L.A. Greenberg and the GIM employee I.I. Astafiev, the author introduces into scientific use new data on Soviet time acquisitions by the Manuscript Section of the State Historical Museum, as well as cooperation between collectors from the Russian emigre community and national museums and archives.
Keywords
State Historical Museum, Manuscript Section, Russian emigre community, rossica, private collecting, historical archives
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About the authors
Katagoshchina Mariya Vsevolodovna, PhD in History, senior researcher at Manuscript Section of the State Historical Museum, Moscow, Russian Federation, +7-916-194-76-07, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it