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BIO and BIOBIBLIOGRAPHIC RESOURCES
Anybody who decides to embark on the studies of life and professional and social activities of the individual members of the "Russia abroad" community, will often face obstacles and "loose ends". This is particularly true for the population that fled Russia after the Revolution. Very often, for political reasons, those who already had records in the pre-Revolutionary biographical sources became non-existent for compilers of the Soviet biographies. The achievements of those who became famous in exile were not noted in their homeland for many years. After the fall of the Soviet Union, the study of "Russia abroad" in Russia started to develop with accelerating speed. This naturally affected the field of biographic studies. Yet, some compilations suffer from the individual, not very objective approach, of their compilers, which is reflected in their choice of material. As for the Western sources, Russian emigres were never considered "persona non grata". Every emigrant who became a part of the mainstream activities of the new country and "deserved" to be entered in Western biographical sources, could be found there. Unfortunately, with these sources a researcher might face a "catch 22" situation. That is, in order to use the appropriate source, some initial information on the life (chronological and geographical details) and professional activities of the individual should be available; but these details are hidden in a source. The exceptions are Western encyclopedias, guide books, dictionaries, and others on Russian literature. These compilations might be of a great help in providing basic biographic information on émigré writers: giving lists of critical works and secondary sources and, sometimes, information on translated works. The articles on emigré literature provide an overview of the "Russia abroad" literary activities and their bibliographical supplements help the researcher to explore the subject further.
It might seem unusual to place at the head of the list the obituaries guides. However, very often, a summary of information on an individual and references to obituaries in publications of the period are recorded there. Such information will serve as a great help for starting a biographic project. Russia Abroad Introduction | General Resources | Bibliographic Resources | Miscellaneous Sources Bio and Biobibliographic Resources Return to Table of Contents | Return to Expanded Table of Contents Chuvakov, V.N. Nezabytye
mogily: rossiiskoe zarubezh'e: nekropoli 1917-1997: v shesti tomakh DESCRIPTOR
Chuvakov, V.I. Russkii zarubezhnyi
nekropol' 1917-1967 Records in this compilation became later a part of the " Nezabytye mogily…". Nevertheless, we list this source since there are records for names from "A" to "IA". It will loose its significance after all six volumes of the "Nezabytye mogily" will be published. DESCRIPTOR
Gasperovich, Vanda; Shumkov,
A.A. Rossiiskie
mogily na rimskom kladbishche Verano
Nikolai Mikhailovich, Grand Duke of Russia. Russkii
nekropol' v chuzhikh kraiakh vyp. 1-I; Parizh I ego okrestnosti.
Shulepova, E.A. Russkii
nekropol' pod Parizhem.
Nosik, B.M. Na
pogoste XX veka. DESCRIPTOR
Lobytsyn, V.V. Martirolog
russkoi voenno-morskoi emigratsii po izdaniiam 1920-2000gg. DESCRIPTOR
Russia Abroad Introduction | General Resources | Bibliographic Resources | Miscellaneous Sources Bio and Biobibliographic Resources Return to Table of Contents | Return to Expanded Table of Contents While searching WorldCat on your own using subject words below please be aware of the following caveat. The majority of Russian emigre figures started to appear only in late 1980s in biographical guides published in Russia. Russkoe Zarubezh'e The general information
about this Internet site is in General Bibliography section.
Shelokhaev, V.V. Russkoe
zarubezh'e Zolotaia kniga emigratsii: pervaia tret' XX veka: entsiklopedicheskii
biograficheskii slovar'.
Who is who in Central and
East Europe, 1933/34-1935/36. A biographical dictionary containing about
10,000 biographies of prominent people from Albania, Austria, Bulgaria,
Czechoslovakia, Danzig, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Liechtenstein,
Lithuania, Poland, Rumania, Switzerland, Turkey and Yugoslavia. Countries listed in the title can explain the choice
for this source. Practically all of these places became a new home for
Russians who escaped the Revolution of 1917 in Russia. Although this western
source has many of the limitations mentioned above, it still might include
some facts on the occupations of the individuals who settled and worked
in academic and governmental institutions. The geographical index presents
about 8600 names listed alphabetically for each location.
Russia Abroad Introduction | General Resources | Bibliographic Resources | Miscellaneous Sources Bio and Biobibliographic Resources Return to Table of Contents | Return to Expanded Table of Contents Good sources for a bio and biobibliographic information on the émigré writers are literary encyclopedias, dictionaries, guides and others, issued in Russia, particularly after the fall of the Soviet Union, and on the West. Listed below are some of them. Most of them represent general literary sources and has been annotated in the section on Bibliography of Russian Literature. Terras, Victor. Handbook
of Russian literature.
Kasack, Wolfgang. Dictionary
of Russian literature since 1917.
Weber, Harry. The Modern
encyclopedia of Russian and Soviet literature. According to the editor notes in the first volume of the encyclopedia, the purpose of this publication was to deliver "a specialized reference work in English containing accurate and comprehensive information on Russian and Soviet literature...". Emigre literature is treated in this compilation "as a significant part of the totality of Russian literature". There are three articles on the Russian emigre literature describing its three waves in volume 4, pp. 134-151. Entries on authors provide biographic information, some literary analyses of their writings, a bibliography of publications, and references to critical works. Although the editor acknowledged that "sources of information for Russian writers in emigration are somewhat limited" and the MERSL is represented only by 10 volumes where "Ivanov-Paimen" is the last entry, the source is definitely a valuable addition to the reference materials on "Russia Abroad". DESCRIPTOR
Nikolaev, P.A. , Baskakov, V.N., Vatsuro, V.E. Russkie
pisateli, 1800-1917: biograficheskii slovar'.
*While searching WorldCat using these subject words, please be aware of the fact that the names of most Russian émigré writers started to be included in dictionaries published in Russia only in late 1980s.
Nikoliukin, A.N.; Etova, O.V.
Literaturnaia entsiklopediia russkogo zarubezh'ia, 1918 - 1940. The first volume of this publication is issued in
3 parts with a distinctive title: Pisateli russkogo zarubezh'ia, 1918-1940:
spravochnik. Every one of the 175 articles is compiled from well dated
biographical essay followed by a list of a secondary sources on each author.
The name index is at the end of third part. The three parts of the third
volume supply information on history and literary criticism for the most
significant works by the writers listed in volume 1. The name index is
in the end of third part. DESCRIPTOR
Ledkovskaia-Astman, Marina; Rosenthal, Charlotte;
Zirin, Mary Fleming. Dictionary of
Russian women writers.
Bulgakov, V.; Vaneckova, G.; Kneeley, R. Slovar'
russkikh zarubezhnykh pisatelei.
Kreid, Vadim. Slovar' poetov
Russkogo Zarubezh'ia. This dictionary includes biographical and some bibliographic
information on 392 poets of the three waves of Russian emigration through
the period 1917-1980s. The three sections of the book represent each of
these waves. Every section was compiled by a different person. V. Kreid
is responsible for the first wave-the revolutionary period; V. Sinkevich
put together the information on the second wave-World War II; D. Bobyshev
compiled the list of poets of third wave-1960-1980s. Every entry, besides
a well dated biographic sketch, includes information on professional activities.
It also provides a short bibliography of secondary sources, mostly of
"Russia Abroad". A name index for each section is provided.  Stevanovic, B.; Wertsman, V.; Sumerkin, A.; Free
voices in Russian literature, 1950s-1980s; a bio-bibliographical guide. DESCRIPTOR
Russia Abroad Introduction | General Resources | Bibliographic Resources | Miscellaneous Sources Bio and Biobibliographic Resources Return to Table of Contents | Return to Expanded Table of Contents Alekseev, A.P.; Alekseev, P.V. Filosofy
Rossii XIX-XX stoletii: biografii, idei, trudy.
Platonov, O. Istoricheskii
slovar' rossiiskikh masonov XVIII-XX vekov.
Leikind, O.L. et al. Khudozhniki
russkogo zarubezh'ia 1917-1939. Biograficheskii slovar'.
Rutych, N. Biograficheskii
spravochnik vysshikh chinov Dobrovol'cheskoi armii i Vooruzhennykh Sil
Iuga Rossii: materialy k istorii Belogo dvizheniia iuga.
Khisamutdinov, A. Rossiiskaia
emigratsiia v Aziatsko-Tikhookeanskom regione i Iuzhnoi Amerike: biobibliograficheskii
slovar'.
Russia Abroad Introduction | General Resources | Bibliographic Resources | Miscellaneous Sources Bio and Biobibliographic Resources Return to Table of Contents | Return to Expanded Table of Contents
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Slavic Library | Slavic Reference Service Russian and East European Studies Center University Library Gateway | University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Last updated: 01/26/06 Comments to: Helen Sullivan |