Vasiliĭ Fedoseevich Butenko Papers, 1925-1960

Collection context

Creator:
Butenko, Vasiliĭ Fedoseevich, 1894-1976
Extent:
4 Linear Feet 9 boxes
Language:
Russian .
Scope and content:

The papers of Vasiliĭ F. Butenko (1894-1976), Russian émigré socialist and political activist, include correspondence, manuscripts, documents, photographs,and printed materials. The bulk of the collection relates to various émigré political organizations in which Butenko was involved: the Labor Peasant Party (Trudovai︠a︡ krestʹi︠a︡nskai︠a︡ partii︠a︡), the Russian Consolidated Mutual Aid Society in America (Russkoe obʺedinennoe obshchestvo vzaimopomoshchi v Amerike), the Anti-Bolshevik Struggle Coordinating Center (Koordinettsionnyi Tsentr Antibol'shevistskoi Bor'by or KTsAB), and others.

Most of Butenko's correspondents were politically-active émigrés of a similar hue. The manuscripts, with few exceptions, relate either to the Soviet Union or to the affairs of the émigré parties. Besides brief articles and letters to the editor by Butenko himself, there are articles on the Soviet economy and Soviet politics by D. N. Ivantsov and a memoir of life in German-occupied Kharkov during World War II by P. N. Sedenko. The largest manuscript is a collective Istoriia Markovskikh pokhodov devoted to the Markov unit of the White Army in which Butenko served.

Other materials include manifestos, programs, minutes, and membership lists of various parties or groups; stenographic reports of the 1952 and 1953 coordinating conferences in Germany which led to the establishment of an umbrella organization representing various émigré parties (the KTsAB); clippings, which often trace the course of some controversy in the émigré press; and issues of several party organs—notably Znamia Rossii and Partiinaia Mysl' (Trudovai︠a︡ krestʹi︠a︡nskai︠a︡ partii︠a︡).

Biographical / historical:

Vasiliĭ Fedoseevich Butenko (1894-1976) was a Russian émigré socialist political activist. He was born in the Russian Empire on July 31, 1894. He served in the Markov unit of the White Army during the Russian Civil War, then emigrated to New York at the close of the war.

Butenko, a supporter of the Socialist Revolutionary (Partii︠a︡ Sot︠s︡ialistov-Revoli︠u︡t︠s︡ionerov) Party prior to the Civil War, was active in several émigré political organizations. These included the Labor Peasant Party (Trudovai︠a︡ krestʹi︠a︡nskai︠a︡ partii︠a︡), the Russian Consolidated Mutual Aid Society in America (Russkoe obʺedinennoe obshchestvo vzaimopomoshchi v Amerike), the Anti-Bolshevik Struggle Coordinating Center (Koordinettsionnyi Tsentr Antibol'shevistskoi Bor'by or KTsAB), and the New York League of Struggle for People's Freedom (Liga Bor'by za Narodnuiu Svobodu).

At one point, Butenko lived in the office of one of these political organizations, and complained of hunger in his letters to Roman Gul'. He explained that he had turned down a job as a dishwasher because it would take too much time from his political work. In 1952 and 1953, he attended two coordinating conferences of émigré political organizations in Germany.

Butenko died in New York City in February of 1976. He is buried in St. Vladimir's Russian Orthodox Cemetery in Jackson, New Jersey.

Access and use

Restrictions:

This collection is located on-site.

This collection has no restrictions.

Preferred citation:

Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Vasiliĭ Fedoseevich Butenko Papers; Box and Folder (if known); Bakhmeteff Archive, Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University Libraries.

Location of this collection:
6th Floor East Butler Library
535 West 114th Street
New York, NY 10027, USA
Before you visit:
Researchers interested in viewing materials in the RBML reading room must must book an appointment at least 7 days in advance. To make the most of your visit, be sure to request your desired materials before booking your appointment, as researchers are limited to 5 items per day.
Contact:
rbml@library.columbia.edu