Vladimir Feofilovich Zeeler Papers, 1870-1950

Summary Information

Abstract

Vladimir Feofilovich Zeeler (Владимир Феофилович Зеелер; 1874-1954) was a Russian lawyer, state official and political activist; the Interior Minister in the South Russian Government; a pivotal figure of the Russian emigration; and a journalist, editor, memoirist and philanthropist. The collection includes correspondence, manuscripts, and photographs of many prominent cultural figures in the Russian emigration. A sizable part of the collection also concerns the painter Il'ia Repin (1844-1930).

At a Glance

Arrangement

Arrangement

This collection is arranged in six series.

• Series I: Correspondence
• Subseries I.1: Cataloged correspondence
• Subseries I.2: Arranged correspondence
• Series II: Manuscripts
• Subseries II.1: Cataloged manuscripts
• Subseries II.2: Arranged manuscripts
• Series III: Photographs and caricatures
• Subseries III.1: Cataloged photographs and Caricatures
• Subseries III.2: Arranged photographs
• Series IV: Cataloged Documents
• Series V: Materials relating to Il'ia Repin and family
• Subseries V.1: Correspondence
• Subseries V.2: Other materials
• Series VI: Subject Files and Miscellaneous

Description

Scope and Contents

The Vladimir Feofilovich Zeeler (1874-1954) papers consist of correspondence, manuscripts, documents, photographs, and memorabilia.

A sizable part of the collection concerns the painter Il'ia Repin (1844-1930), including letters to Zeeler from Repin and his children; photographs of Repin; and his artist's brushes and paints.

The collection includes correspondence with many prominent writers, poets, composers, artists, and political figures. Among Zeeler's correspondents are Konstantin Bal'mont, Aleksandr Benois, Ivan Bunin, Vladislav Khodasevich, Aleksandr Kuprin, Pavel Miliukov, Sergei Rakhmaninov, Nikolai Roerich, and Ivan Shmelev. There are one or two letters each from Marc Chagall, Mikhail Fokin (Michael Fokine), Knut Hamsun (copy), Rudyard Kipling (copy), Vladimir Nabokov, Leonid Pasternak, Sergei Kusevitskii, Dmitrii Merezhkovskii, and Fedor Shaliapin. (Some of this correspondence concerns Il'ia Repin).

Manuscripts include poems by Bal'mont, stories by Kuprin, and novels by Shmelev; there is also a nearly-complete manuscript of Pamiati pogibshikh (1929), a collection dedicated to the memory of Kadet Party members who had died between 1917 and 1921, edited by Zeeler and others.

There are also many photographs, some inscribed, of major cultural figures in the Russian emigration.

• Series I: Correspondence

  Series includes letters of major cultural figures in the Russian emigration, including poets, writers, artists, composers, musicians, and political figures. There is also general and subject correspondence organized in Subseries I.2: Arranged correspondence.

• Series II: Manuscripts

  Series includes poems by Konstantin Bal'mont, stories by Aleksandr Kuprin, writings by Il'ia Repin, Ivan Shmelev and other prominent authors. There is also a nearly-complete manuscript of Pami︠a︡ti pogibshikh (1929), a collection dedicated to the memory of Kadet Party members who had died in 1917-1921, edited by Zeeler and others.

• Series III: Photographs and caricatures

• Series IV: Cataloged Documents

• Series V: Materials relating to Il'ia Repin and family

  Series includes letters to Zeeler from Repin and his children, photographs of Repin, as well as memorabilia including Repin's brushes and paints.

• Series VI: Subject Files and Miscellaneous

  Series VI is a group of materials mostly related to Den' russkoi kul'tury (Day of Russian Culture) and Ob"edinenie russkikh advokatov vo Frantsii (Union of Russian Lawyers in France), and Bal pressy in 1936.

Using the Collection

Rare Book and Manuscript Library

Restrictions on Access

You will need to make an appointment in advance to use this collection material in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library reading room. You can schedule an appointment once you've submitted your request through your Special Collections Research Account.

Readers must use photocopies of letters from Il'ia Repin to Vladimir Zeeler.

This collection is located on site.

This collection is located on-site.

Conditions Governing Use

Single photocopies 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.

Preferred Citation

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

Related Materials

Soiuz russkikh pisatelei i zhurnalistov v Parizhe Records, 1917-1952: Records of the Union of Russian Writers and Journalists in Paris, of which Zeeler was secretary for three decades. In the Bakhmeteff Archive, Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University Libraries.

Accruals

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

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Papers: Method of acquisition--Purchase; Date of acquisition--1957.

Papers: Method of acquisition--Purchase; Date of acquisition--1960.

Bibliography

Publications based on the V. F. Zeeler Papers: Schwartz, Stephen. "Intellectuals and assassins - annals of Stalin's killerati," The Nev York Times Book Review, Jan. 2U, 1988.(Photograph of Nadezhda Plevitskaya)

Draper, Theodore. "The mystery of Max Eitingon," The New York Review of Books, April 14, 1988. (Photograph of Nadezhda Plevitskaya)

Valkenier, Elizabeth Kridl. "Repin in Emigration," The Harriman Review, December, 1995 (excerpts from letters by Repin)

"Pis'mo T. I. Repinoi-Iazevoi k V. F. Zeeleru: Vstupitel'naia zametka i publikatsiia I. A. Doronchenkova" Belaruska-Ruskae Kul'turnae uzaemadzeianne kantsa XlX-pachatku XX st. Vitsebsk: Kamintern, 1995.

About the Finding Aid / Processing Information

Columbia University Libraries, Rare Book and Manuscript Library

Processing Information

Papers Accessioned 1957.

Papers Accessioned 1960.

Papers Processed 09/--/79.

The collection was intellectually arranged into six series at the time the PDF finding aid was converted to EAD. The biographical note was also expanded, and related materials notes were added to the finding aid. No material was physically rearranged.

Revision Description

2020-04-20 PDF finding aid converted to EAD and biographical note revised by CLB and KSD.

Subject Headings

The subject headings listed below are found in this collection. Links below allow searches at Columbia University through the Archival Collections Portal and through CLIO, the catalog for Columbia University Libraries, as well as ArchiveGRID, a catalog that allows users to search the holdings of multiple research libraries and archives.

All links open new windows.

Genre/Form

Subject

History / Biographical Note

Biographical note

Vladimir Feofilovich Zeeler (Владимир Феофилович Зеелер; 1874-1954) was a Russian lawyer, state official and political activist; the Interior Minister in the South Russian Government; a pivotal figure of the Russian emigration; and a journalist, editor, memoirist and philanthropist. After the defeat of the White Army, Zeeler left Russia and settled in Paris. He was one of the founders and a Secretary of the Union of Russian Writers and Journalists in Paris (Soiuz russkikh pisatelei i zhurnalistov v Parizhe), and a treasurer of the Union of Russian Lawyers in France (Ob'edinenie russkikh advokatov vo Frantsii).

Zeeler was born in Kiev on June 6, 1874. He graduated from the University of Kharkov and then worked as a lawyer in Rostov-on-Don. He was also an avid art collector; after his emigration his art collection was nationalized and became a part of the Don Regional Art Museum.

A member of the Constitutional Democratic Party, commonly known as the Kadet Party, Zeeler became politically active after the February Revolution of 1917. He was elected mayor of Rostov-on-Don in 1917. He condemned the Bolshevik revolution and on October 28, 1917, on behalf of the Rostov Duma, refused allegiance to those to whom he referred as "bandits." He actively supported the White Army.

Zeeler became a prominent member of the Russian émigré community in France. He was a founding member of the Union of Russian Writers and Journalists in Paris (Soiuz russkikh pisatelei i zhurnalistov), and served as its secretary for the next thirty years. He was also treasurer of the Union of Russian Lawyers in France (Ob'edinenie russkikh advokatov vo Frantsii), and secretary of the Days of Russian Culture (Dni russkoi kul'tury) central committee from 1927 onward. Zeeler was one of four editors of Pamiati pogibshikh (1929), a book commemorating the Kadet Party members who died between 1917 and 1921. He also was a member of the editorial board of the Russkaia mysl'.

Vladimir Zeeler died in Paris on December 27, 1954.