Post-revolution oriental studies in the ussr: correspondence between v. V. Bartold and a. Y. Krymsky in the 1920s

Abstract

The primary reason for writing this article is a very special date – the 150th anniversary of the birth of \nacademician and Orientalist V. V. Bartold, an event celebrated in Russia in 2019. At the turn of the \ntwentieth century the scholar and humanist wrote: Under the influence of the Golden East, \nWonderland works written by European orientalists, the East of One Thousand and One Nights \ngradually retreats into the realm of legends; instead, the picture of the actual life of the Eastern \npeoples unfolds before us, and we find out the reasons that determined the course of their history and \ntheir role in the history of humankind.1 Famous intellectuals and thinkers V. V. Bartold (1869-1930) \nand A.Y. Krymsky (1871-1942) and their legacy vividly showcase the earthly fate, scientific \nachievements and spiritual experience of the history of classical Oriental studies in Russia and \nEurope. \nThe collections of the Institute of Manuscripts of the V.I. Vernadsky National Library of Ukraine hold \n10 letters written by V.V. Bartold addressed to A.Y. Krymsky, while the St. Petersburg Archive of the \nRussian Academy of Sciences keeps seven response letters from A.Y. Krymsky. Although the extant \ncorrespondence covers a period of twenty years, from 1908 to 1928, this article will focus on the \nsignificance of letters dating from the 1920s. The legacy of A.Y. Krymsky and V. V. Bartold has great \nhistorical, scientific and cultural weight in the history of Russian, Ukrainian, and European Oriental \nstudies. \nThe article analyzes the unpublished correspondence between V.V. Bartold and A.Y. Krymsky \nbetween 1922 and 1928. It contains valuable data which helps reconstruct the main trends of \ncontemporary academic life and improve understanding of existing problems in the field of Oriental \nstudies in Russia in the 1920s. The correspondence of these distinguished scholars showcases their \ncommon professional interest in both the state of Oriental studies and the educational system