Igor Efimov Papers, 1980s-1990s

Summary Information

Description

Summary

Igor Efimov Papers consist of his personal papers, and materials pertaining to the publishing house Hermitage (which he and his wife founded in 1981), including correspondence, manuscripts, photographs, video materials, subject files and office files.

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.

Material is unprocessed. Please contact rbml@columbia.edu for more information.

This collection has no restrictions.

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); Igor Efimov Papers; Box and Folder; Bakhmeteff Archive, Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University Library.

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

121, 1998.1999.M011: Source of acquisition--Efimov, Igor.

About the Finding Aid / Processing Information

Columbia University Libraries, Rare Book and Manuscript Library

Processing Information

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

Revision Description

07/22/2020 Biographical note was written by Tanya Chebotarev and added to the record by Katia Shraga. Authorities and notes updated, ksd

Biographical / Historical

Igor' Efimov (August 8, 1937, Moscow, U.S.S.R.), American philosopher, historian, writer and publisher of Russian origin. A prolific author, he published more than 20 novels. Five of his works are available in English and a book on the assassination of President Kennedy was published in France.

In 1960, Igor' Efimov graduated from Moscow Polytechnic Institute and joined the Union of Soviet Writers in 1965. He then attended the Maxim Gorky Literature Institute, from which he graduated in 1973. He originally wrote stories for children and pieces for Soviet radio and television as well as screenplays. It was not known until after he left the Soviet Union (1978) that he had written Prakticheskaia Metafizika and Metapolitika under the pen name Andrei Moscovit.

Together with Boris Vakhtin, Sergei Dovlatov, Vladimir Gubin, and Vladimir Maramzin he founded the Leningrad writers' group "Urbanisty" to show their opposition to the expressive means used by the village prose writers. These young prose writers, in declaring their intention of establishing an independent literary association, were making a deliberate reference to the literary groupings of the 1920s (prior to the imposition of Socialist Realism) and, in particular, the "Serapion Brothers."

After arriving in the United States, he worked for Ardis Publishing in Michigan. In 1981 in Michigan, Igor' Efimov and his wife Marina (poet, journalist, translator) established their own company, Hermitage Publishers Co., to print works, both contemporary and classic, that could not be published in the U.S.S.R.

At first they published manuscripts which were smuggled into the West from the Soviet Union and ended up in a small basement-office of the Efimov's apartment in Ann Arbor. Then thousands copies of novels, memoirs, historical studies published by Hermitage were secretly brought into the Soviet Union by tourists, students, and professors from the West. Many Russian poets whose names are well known today had their first collections published by Hermitage: Vladimir Gandelsman, Lev Losev, Anatolii Neiman, Irina Ratushinskaia.

In 1991, after the collapse of the communist regime many well-known Russian writers still preferred to get their works published in small print runs by Hermitage in the USA than to wait their turn in Russian publishing houses.

During 40 years of its activity about 400 titles were published by Hermitage Publishers Co. In 1985, the company was relocated from Michigan to New York area, and later, in 2005, to Pennsylvania. Many books by émigré authors originally published by Hermitage have been reprinted in Russia during the last thirty years.

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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Name
Efimov, Igorʹ	CLIO Catalog	ArchiveGRID
Hermitage (Firm)	CLIO Catalog	ArchiveGRID