George Dmitrievich Grebenstchikoff (russian: Георгий Дмитриевич Гребенщиков; 6 May
4 April Old Style1883 – 11 January 1964) was a writer and professor of Russian literature.
Personal life
Grebenstchikoff was born in
Nikolayevsky Rudnik,
Tomsk Governorate
Tomsk Governorate (russian: Томская губерния) was an administrative division (a '' guberniya'') of the Russian Empire, Russian Republic, Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic located in Siberia from 1804 to 1925 as part of t ...
,
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...
(now in
East Kazakhstan Province
East Kazakhstan Region ( kk, Шығыс Қазақстан облысы, translit=Şyğys Qazaqstan oblysy; russian: Восточно-Казахстанская область, Vostochno-Kazakhstanskaya oblast) is a region of Kazakhstan. It occupi ...
,
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...
). George's mother, Elena Petrovna Grebenstchikoff, encouraged him to learn to read and write at an early age, an uncommon skill in a typical family of miners. He began writing poetry at the age of nine, but his father, Dmitri Lukich Grebenstchikoff, had taken George with him into the lumber industry, thus curtailing any further elementary education.
While serving in the
Imperial Russian Army during the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, he met Tatiana Denisovna Stadnik. Tatiana was serving as a nurse with the
Red Cross
The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure respect for all human beings, and ...
. She was former ballerina with the Mariinsky Theatre in
St. Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
.
Career
At the age of twelve, George left his hometown for the nearby city of Semipalatinsk to earn a living through a variety of jobs: making postmarks, washing dishes, being an apprentice to a pharmacist, and assisting in a hospital. At fourteen, George became a scribe for the city magistrate and was able to pursue his scholarly interests. He first began publishing his literary work in 1905, writing reviews, reports, and short stories for the local newspapers. In 1909, George published his first play. In the spring of 1909, George toured Moscow and St. Petersburg for the first time. He also visited
Leo Tolstoy
Count Lev Nikolayevich TolstoyTolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; russian: link=no, Лев Николаевич Толстой,In Tolstoy's day, his name was written as in pre-refor ...
at the novelist's estate in Yasnaya Polyana. Upon his return home, George surveyed Altai and read lectures with an ethnographic team. George continued his literary profession in Barnaul, where he became editor and journalist for the paper "Altai Life." In 1912, George met
Maxim Gorky
Alexei Maximovich Peshkov (russian: link=no, Алексе́й Макси́мович Пешко́в; – 18 June 1936), popularly known as Maxim Gorky (russian: Макси́м Го́рький, link=no), was a Russian writer and social ...
and received influential praise for his writing, establishing himself firmer as an author.
[George and Tatiana Grebenstchikoff papers, 1910-1964](_blank)
Immigration History Research Center Archives
University of Minnesota Libraries
The University of Minnesota Libraries is the library system of the University of Minnesota Twin Cities campus, operating at 13 facilities in and around Minneapolis–Saint Paul. It has over 7 million volumes and 119,000 serial titles that are coll ...
.
Grebenstchikoff published segments of his serialized novel ''Churaevy'' before emigrating to Paris (1921) and then the United States (1924). George pursued a prolific literary career in France until meeting
Nicholas Roerich
Nicholas Roerich (; October 9, 1874 – December 13, 1947), also known as Nikolai Konstantinovich Rerikh (russian: link=no, Никола́й Константи́нович Ре́рих), was a Russian painter, writer, archaeologist, theosophi ...
in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
in 1923, a painter who became instrumental in the Grebenstchikoffs' spiritual direction and their subsequent departure for America. As the couple prepared for their final step in emigration, George formed his first publishing company, Alatas, with Roerich.
In April 1924, the Grebenstchikoffs arrived in New York and a year later, in 1925, George and Ilia Tolstoi (son of Russian novelist
Leo Tolstoi
Count Lev Nikolayevich TolstoyTolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; russian: link=no, Лев Николаевич Толстой,In Tolstoy's day, his name was written as in pre-refor ...
) founded the
Churaevka
The Russian Village Historic District, also known as Churaevka (russian: Чураевка), is a historic summer colony founded by George Grebenstchikoff and Ilya Tolstoy in Southbury, Connecticut. The colony was founded in the 1920s by Russian ...
artists' colony in
Southbury, Connecticut
Southbury is a town in western New Haven County, Connecticut, United States. Southbury is north of Oxford and Newtown, and east of Brookfield. Its population was 19,879 at the 2020 census.
Southbury comprises sprawling rural country areas, sub ...
. The village enjoyed visits from numerous Russian poets, musicians and scientists such as inventor
Igor Sikorsky
Igor Ivanovich Sikorsky (russian: И́горь Ива́нович Сико́рский, p=ˈiɡərʲ ɪˈvanəvitʃ sʲɪˈkorskʲɪj, a=Ru-Igor Sikorsky.ogg, tr. ''Ígor' Ivánovich Sikórskiy''; May 25, 1889 – October 26, 1972)Fortie ...
, singer Fyodor Chaliapine and sculptor
Sergey Konenkov
Sergey Timofeyevich Konenkov (Сергей Тимофеевич Коненков) (also Sergei Konyonkov) (russian: Серге́й Тимофеевич Конёнков; – 9 December 1971) was a Russian and Soviet sculptor. He was often c ...
.
Grebenstchikoff continued to direct the ''Alatas Publishing House,'' which he operated at Churaevak beginning in 1927. In the early 1940s, the Grebenstchikoffs moved to
Lakeland, Florida
Lakeland is the most populous city in Polk County, Florida, part of the Tampa Bay Area, located along Interstate 4 east of Tampa. According to the 2020 U.S. Census Bureau release, the city had a population of 112,641. Lakeland is a principal ci ...
and began working at
Florida Southern College
Florida Southern College (Florida Southern, Southern or FSC) is a private college in Lakeland, Florida. In 2019, the student population at FSC consisted of 3,073 students along with 130 full-time faculty members. The college offers 50 undergradu ...
. George taught courses in creative writing and Russian literature, while Tatiana specialized in printing and managed the school's printing press. The couple taught at the university until retirement in 1955.
In addition to ''Churaevy'', Grebenstchikoff's principal writings include the novel ''The Turbulent Giant'' (1940) and ''Egorkina zhizn, an autobiographical work.
Literary archives
Th
George and Tatiana Grebenstchikoff papersat th
Immigration History Research Center Archives(collection number IHRC809),
University of Minnesota Libraries
The University of Minnesota Libraries is the library system of the University of Minnesota Twin Cities campus, operating at 13 facilities in and around Minneapolis–Saint Paul. It has over 7 million volumes and 119,000 serial titles that are coll ...
, consist of seventeen linear feet of correspondence, diaries, photographs, manuscripts, audio recordings and printed material.
Additional archival material can be found in th
Alyce Batchelder Collection of George Grebenstchikoff General Collection, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University.
Bibliography
*''V prostorakh Sibirii'' (
1913
Events January
* January 5 – First Balkan War: Battle of Lemnos – Greek admiral Pavlos Kountouriotis forces the Turkish fleet to retreat to its base within the Dardanelles, from which it will not venture for the rest of the ...
-
1915
Events
Below, the events of World War I have the "WWI" prefix.
January
* January – British physicist Sir Joseph Larmor publishes his observations on "The Influence of Local Atmospheric Cooling on Astronomical Refraction".
* January ...
)
*''Zmei Gorynych'' (
1916
Events
Below, the events of the First World War have the "WWI" prefix.
January
* January 1 – The British Royal Army Medical Corps carries out the first successful blood transfusion, using blood that had been stored and cooled.
* J ...
)
*''Step' da nebo'' (
1917
Events
Below, the events of World War I have the "WWI" prefix.
January
* January 9 – WWI – Battle of Rafa: The last substantial Ottoman Army garrison on the Sinai Peninsula is captured by the Egyptian Expeditionary Fo ...
)
*''Churaevy'' (six volumes,
1922
Events
January
* January 7 – Dáil Éireann, the parliament of the Irish Republic, ratifies the Anglo-Irish Treaty by 64–57 votes.
* January 10 – Arthur Griffith is elected President of Dáil Éireann, the day after Éamon de Valera ...
-
1927
Events January
* January 1 – The British Broadcasting ''Company'' becomes the British Broadcasting ''Corporation'', when its Royal Charter of incorporation takes effect. John Reith becomes the first Director-General.
* January 7
...
)
*''Bylina o Mikulie Buianoviche'' (
1924
Events
January
* January 12 – Gopinath Saha shoots Ernest Day, whom he has mistaken for Sir Charles Tegart, the police commissioner of Calcutta, and is arrested soon after.
* January 20– 30 – Kuomintang in China holds ...
), published in English as ''The Turbulent Giant'' (
1940
A calendar from 1940 according to the Gregorian calendar, factoring in the dates of Easter and related holidays, cannot be used again until the year 5280.
Events
Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix.
January
* Januar ...
)
*''Egorkina Zhizn' '' (
1953
Events
January
* January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma.
* January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a government-in-exile in Oslo.
* January 14
** Marshal Josip Broz Tito is chosen President of Yug ...
and
1957
1957 ( MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1957th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 957th year of the 2nd millennium, the 57th year of the 20th century, and the 8th year ...
)
References
Further reading
*
Kasack, Wolfgang. 1988. ''Dictionary of Russian Literature since 1917''. New York: Columbia University Press.
External links
*A guide to th
Alyce Batchelder Collection of George Grebenstchikoffat th
*A finding aid to th
George and Tatiana Grebenstchikoff papersat th
Immigration History Research Center Archives University of Minnesota Libraries
The University of Minnesota Libraries is the library system of the University of Minnesota Twin Cities campus, operating at 13 facilities in and around Minneapolis–Saint Paul. It has over 7 million volumes and 119,000 serial titles that are coll ...
.
*A selection o
letters and photographsfrom th
George and Tatiana Grebenstchikoff papershave been digitized and are available through th
Project
Immigration History Research Center Archives University of Minnesota Libraries
The University of Minnesota Libraries is the library system of the University of Minnesota Twin Cities campus, operating at 13 facilities in and around Minneapolis–Saint Paul. It has over 7 million volumes and 119,000 serial titles that are coll ...
.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grebenstchikoff, George
1883 births
1964 deaths
People from Shemonaikha District
People from Tomsk Governorate
Russian writers
White Russian emigrants to the United States
Tomsk State University alumni