Catherine Post Collection, 1900-1986

Summary Information

Description

Scope and Content

The collection consists of manuscripts, photographs, original watercolors, clippings and printed materials. The collection primarily concerns Ms. Post's family in Russia before the Revolution and in the emigration in France and the U.S.A. and to Boris Bakhmetev who was the ambassador of the Russian provisional government to the United States, later chairman of the Lyon Match company in Long Island City where Ms. Post worked for many years.

Materials relating to Boris Bakhmetev include photographs of his family in Tbilisi, photographs of the opening of the Russian embassy in Washington D.C. in 1917 and a large file of obituaries.

Memorabilia of Ms. Post's family begin chronologically with photographs of her grandfather, Nikolai Fedorovich Bekker. Bekker's daughter Vera was an accomplished amateur artist and examples of her original water colors and poems are included, along with reproductions of paintings by her husband Iosif Krachkovskii who was a popular Petersburg society painter around the turn of the century. Their son, Dmitrii Krachkovskii wrote under the pen name Klenovskii and was a popular poet in the emigration who published many books of verse, some of which are included in the collection. Also included is Klenovskii's bound manuscript entitled "Stihotvorenniia", his autograph poems, photocopies of manuscripts, photographs and clippings.

Nikolai Bekker's son Nicolas Becker (de Becquère) was a successful artist both in St. Petersburg and on the French Riviera where he painted portraits of the European aristocracy. Reproductions of his paintings are included along with manuscripts of his poems, and miscellaneous biographical information.

Materials not relating to the Bakhmetev or Bekker families include the typescript memoirs of a self-taught Russian peasant named Alekseĭ Savisko who moved to the U.S.A. in 1957 and became a farmer in Maine. The memoirs entitled "Otvet khuliteliam proshlogo Rossii" (In Answer to the Degraders of Russia) describe his family and work on farms and factories in the Ukraine before the Revolution. Savisko defends the tsarist government against its critics and praises its treatment of peasants and workers.

Miscellaneous items include a photograph of Nicholas II inspecting the Vyborg Regiment, an embroidered collar from the Obshchestvo Pooshchreniiia kustarnoi promyshlenosti (Home Craft Art Industry) in St. Petersburg, an unidentified watercolor stage design, a small collection of Russian postcards, and examples of Russian currency from the tsarist and provisional governments.

Arrangement

Selected materials cataloged; remainder arranged by subject.

Using the Collection

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.

This collection is located on-site.

Terms Governing Use and Reproduction

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.

Preferred Citation

Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Catherine Post Collection; Box and Folder; Bakhmeteff Archive, Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University Library.

Related Materials

See personal documents of Nikolai Nikolaevich Bekker (Nicolas Becker) in Nikolai Nikolaevich Bekker Documents.

Accruals

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

Ownership and Custodial History

Gift of Catherine Post, 1988.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Collection: Source of acquisition--Post, Catherine. Method of acquisition--Gift; Date of acquisition--02/18/88. Accession number--B-88-9-15.

About the Finding Aid / Processing Information

Columbia University Libraries, Rare Book and Manuscript Library

Processing Information

Collection Processed ejs d-b-coll-15 05/--/88.

Revision Description

2009-06-26 File created.

2019-05-20 EAD was imported spring 2019 as part of the ArchivesSpace Phase II migration.

Biographical sketch

Catherine Post (Ekaterina Bekker) was assistant to the production manager of the Lyon Match Company, Mr. Serge Bazavov, the brother-in-law of the company's chairman, and former Russian ambassador, Boris Bakhmetev.

Subject Headings

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

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