Mikhail Mikhailovich Karpovich Papers, 1900-1959

Creator:

Karpovich, Michael, 1888-1959

Abstract:

Correspondence, manuscripts, lectures, lecture notes, and subject files of Russian-American historian Mikhail Mikhailovich Karpovich (1888-1959). Karpovich was an employee of the embassy of the Russian Provisional Government in Washington, D.C., Professor Emeritus of Russian History and Literature at Harvard University, and founding editor of Novyĭ zhurnal.

Extent:

17 linear feet 43 manuscript boxes

Language:

Russian , English , French .

Scope and content:

Correspondence, manuscripts, lectures, lecture notes, and subject files of Russian-American historian Mikhail Karpovich. The correspondence includes letters from former ministers of the Russian Provisional Government Alexander Kerensky, Aleksandr Guchkov, and the Provisional Government's ambassador to the United States, Boris Bakhmeteff. There are letters from Social Revolutionaries Nikolai Avksentʹev and Vladimir Zenzinov, Menshiviks Boris Nikolaevsky and Nikolaĭ Vol'skiĭ. There is also extensive correspondence with contemporary historians such as Michael Florinsky, Sergeĭ Pushkarev, George Vernadsky, and Karpovich's students, who included Marc Raeff and Richard Pipes. Much of the correspondence concerns Karpovich's involvement in emigre affairs and the promotion of Russian studies in the United States, including such institutions as the Bakhmeteff Archive, the "Novyĭ zhurnal," and the Chekhov Publishing House. There is correspondence with prominent authors and literary critics including Mark Aldanov, Ivan Bunin, Alekseĭ Remizov, Gleb Struve and Roman Gulʹ. Of special importance are letters and poems by Vladimir Nabokov.

Manuscripts include material from writers Maria Germanova and Pavel Mili︠u︡kov, as well as translations by Oscar Jaszi. Detailed lecture notes on Russian History in English and Russian cover the years 1935-1957. There are also notes on non-Russian subjects. The subject files include materials on Boris Bakhmeteff, Alexander Kerensky, Vladimir Nabokov and Karpovich's work as editor of Pavel Mili︠u︡kov's books. They also include Karpovich's bibliography cards and material on Russian archives and organizations. The printed materials and clippings are generally related to Slavic Studies.

Biographical / historical:

Mikhail (also known as Michael) Mikhailovich Karpovich (1888-1959), Russian-American historian, one of the fathers of Slavic Studies in America, was an employee of the embassy of the Russian Provisional Government in Washington, D.C., Professor Emeritus of Russian History and Literature at Harvard University, and founding editor of Novyĭ zhurnal.

Born in Tiflis (Tbilisi), Karpovich studied history at the Sorbonne and Moscow University. He completed a Candidate of History degree at Moscow University in 1914, and joined the Russian Provisional Government in 1917. In May of that year, he accompanied ambassador Boris A. Bakhmeteff to Washington, D.C., where he served as Bakhmeteff's personal secretary. He stayed in Washington throughout the Russian Civil War, then followed Bakhmeteff to New York City in 1922.

Karpovich was hired as a lecturer in history at Harvard University in 1927. He spent the rest of his career at Harvard, serving as Professor of History, Chairman of the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures (1949-1954), and Curt Hugo Reisinger Professor of Slavic Languages and Literatures (1954-1957). He was awarded emeritus status upon his retirement in 1957.

Karpovich married Tatiana Potapoff in November 1923. They had four children, Arseny, Nathalie, Sergei, and Maria. He died on November 7, 1959 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and is buried in Novo-Diveevo Cemetery in Nanuet, New York.

Acquisition information:

Correspondence: Source of acquisition--Karpovich, Serge. Method of acquisition--gift; Date of acquisition--01/04/88. Accession number--B-89-12-28.

Gift of Serge Karpovich, 1988.

Processing information:

Correspondence Processed ejs 08/--/89.

A small amount of reprocessing work was done at the same time the finding aid was converted to EAD. The collection's title was changed to better reflect the multiple formats of materials included in the collection after multiple additions to the original accession of correspondence. The collection was also previously described in two parts: Part I (7 boxes) and Part II (36 boxes). The collection was intellectually re-arranged into six series, and box numbering was revised to a single sequence: Box 1 of the Part II was changed to Box 8, and so on. Items were not physically rearranged. The collection's biographical note was also expanded, and related materials notes were added.

Arrangement:

This collection is arranged in six series. Select correspondence, manuscripts, and photographs cataloged.

Accruals:

There were at least two additions to the collection: one in 2004 and another in 2007.

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

Rules or conventions:

appm

Related material:

Mikhail Mikhailovich Karpovich Papers on Vladislav Khodasevich: A small collection of correspondence with and manuscripts by the Russian poet Vladislav Khodasevich, collected by Mikhail Karpovich.

George Vernadsky Papers: George Vernadsky was a professor of Russian history at Yale and a close colleague of Karpovich. The two planned to collaborate on a ten volume history of Russia, though Karpovich died before he could complete his portion of the project.

Marc Raeff Papers: Raeff was Karpovich's student at Harvard University. He completed his Ph.D. in Russian history in 1950 and ultimately became Bakhmeteff Professor of Russian Studies at Columbia University.

Boris Aleksandrovich Bakhmeteff Papers: Karpovich was Bakhmeteff's personal secretary during Bakhmeteff's time as the Russian Provisional Government's ambassador to the United States. The bulk of their correspondence in the Bakhmeteff Papers relates to Bakhmeteff's Humanities Fund.

Access and use

Restrictions:: This collection is located on site.

Preferred citation:: Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Mikhail Mikhailovich Karpovich Papers; Box and Folder (if known); Bakhmeteff Archive of Russian and East European History and Culture, Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University Libraries.

Location of this collection:: Rare Book & Manuscript Library

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Collection