Nicholas N. Isnard Diaries and Correspondence, 1920-1932

Creator:: Isnard, Nicholas N
Extent:: 0.42 linear feet (1 document box)
Language:: Russian
Scope and content:: Correspondence, diaries, and photographs of Nicholas N. Isnard, Russian émigré who worked as an Assistant Director of the Russian Railroad System before 1917, and then immigrated to France.
Biographical / historical:: Nicholas N. Isnard (1851–1933) was a first-generation Russian, his parents having been French-born immigrants to the Crimea about 1843. They were champagne makers who became quite wealthy. N.N. Isnard didn't care for the champagne business and went to St. Petersburg to study engineering. He was a designer of the rail system linking the Baku oil field to Moscow. In 1905, in Bern, Switzerland, he was the Russian signatory of the European Rail Tariff Treaty. By that time, Nicholas N. Isnard had risen to become Assistant Director of Russian Railways under Count Sergei Witte. He and his family escaped Russia in February 1920 in two one-horse sleighs over the frozen Gulf of Finland to Helsinki, then to England, then to France. Nicholas N. Isnard died in Paris in 1933.

Catalog record:

Local call number:

BA#0633

Processing information:

Collection-level record describing unprocessed material made public in summer 2018 as part of the Hidden Collections initiative.

Processed by Tanya Chebotarev, May 2026; finding aid prepared by Vianca Victor, June 2026

Acquisition information:

2017.2018.M092: Source of acquisition--Victor Vacquier. Method of acquisition--Gift; Date of acquisition--2018.

Accruals:

Materials may have been added to the collection since this finding aid was prepared. Contact rbml@columbia.edu for more information.

Rules or conventions:

Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Preferred citation:

Identification of specific item; Date (if known); The Nicholas N. Isnard Diaries and Correspondence; Box and Folder; Bakhmeteff Archive, Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University Library.

Access and use

Restrictions:: This collection has no restrictions.
Terms of access:: Reproductions may be made for research purposes. The RBML maintains ownership of the physical material only. Copyright remains with the creator and his/her heirs. The responsibility to secure copyright permission rests with the patron.

Location of this collection:: Rare Book & Manuscript Library

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Collection