I.K. Smolitch as a scholar in the history of the Russian Church. His life and heritage
https://doi.org/10.28995/2658-6541-2019-4-60-79
Abstract
The aim of the research is the reconstruction of the creative biography of Igor Smolitch, as well as the assessment of the significance of his heritage to the Russian historical science. The very figure of Igor Smolitch whose biography appeared a mirror-image of complex and ambiguous events in the history of Russia in the beginning of the 20th century is as relevant to the topic of the article as its historiographical issues. I.K. Smolitch, a Russian and a German scholar, wrote a fundamental work devoted to the Synod period in the history of the Russian Church which was published in Russia many years after its publication in Germany and was highly appreciated To date, no comprehensive study of the works and views of I.K.Smolich has been carried out in Russian and foreign historiography.The historical method as well as the traditional methods of source study used in the present work allowed to define the scope of the sources and to evaluate their importance for the analysis. The most significant for the research was the systematic approach the essence of which was the understanding of Igor Smolitch’s creative heritage as a complicated system composed of an array of separate elements that are diversely interconnected and mutually dependent.
Keywords
Igor K. Smolitch,
history of the Russian Church,
Synod period,
Igor K. Smolitch’s intellectual biography,
Igor Smolitch’s heritage
Supporting agencies: The authors would like to thank the friends and colleagues who greatly assisted in the preparation of this work. We would like to express our gratitude to the Dr. of philosophy, Professor Gottfried Kratz, who provided invaluable assistance in the bibliographic search in German libraries. Special thanks to the German colleague, Director of the Institute for the Study of Byzantium, Professor Reiner Stihel, who shared his memories and helped to find publications about I.K. Smolic. We also express our gratitude to Dr. Olaf Hamann, Head of the Department of Eastern Europe at the National Library of Germany. We sincerely thank Dr. Michaela Rückert, an employee of the archive of the Free University of Berlin, who, at our request, copied and provided valuable documents about I.K. Smolic. We must not forget the help of the archives employees of the A.I. Solzhenitsyn House of Russian Abroad who showed us a courtesy with admission to the unprocessed documents of Doctor of Theology, YMCA Secretary for Student Affairs, YMCA-Press Publishing Head Lauri Donald. Thanks to their help, Dr. Lauri Donald's correspondence with Igor Smolich was luckily found. Special thanks to Natalia Tillmans, an art historian who graduated the history department of St. Petersburg State University and lives in Germany. Her enthusiasm and generous help in translating requests into German archives as well as the translation of the information and documents obtained from them is an act of the kind participation in searches related to the life and work of I.K. Smolich in Germany. The article is the result of cooperation, including the international one, as well as constant communication, the exchange of experience and opinions between specialists working in various fields of humanitarian knowledge.
About the Authors
A. V. Popov
Russian State University for the Humanities
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Cand. Of Sci. (History), associate professor
bld. 6, Miusskaya Square, Moscow, Russia, 125993
A. Yu. Kvaktun
Russian State University for the Humanities
Russian Federation
bld. 6, Miusskaya Square, Moscow, Russia, 125993
Russian Federation
bld. 6, Miusskaya Square, Moscow, Russia, 125993
References
1. Danilenko, B. protopriest. (1999), “Russian theologians and history scholars in Russian emigration of 20th century”, Tserkovno-istoricheskii vestnik, vol. 4-5, pp. 224–231.
2. Rossiiskoe zarubezh'e vo Frantsii 1919–2000. Biograficheskii slovar’. V 3 t. T. 3. S–Ya. [Russian Abroad in France 1919–2000. Biographical Dictionary. In 3 t. T. 3.] (2010). Nauka; Dom Mariny Tsvetaevoi, Moscow, Russia, pp. 145–146.
3. Smolitsch, I. (1964), Geschichte der russischen Kirche, 1700–1917. Vol. I. E. J. Brill, Leiden.
4. Smolitsch, I.K. (1992), “Lives and teaching of elderly monks”, Bogoslovskie Trudy, vol, 31, pp. 97–174.
5. Smolitsch, I.K. (1997a), Istoriya Russkoi Tserkvi: 1700–1917: V 2 chastyakh [The history of the Russian Church: 1700-1917. In 2 vols], Valaamskii monastyr’, Moscow, Russia.
6. Smolitsch, I.K. (1997b), Russkoe monashestvo. Vozniknovenie. Razvitie. Sushchnost’. (988–1917). Zhizn’ i uchenie startsev [Russian monastic life. Origin. Development.
7. Essence. (988–1917); Lives and teaching of elderly monks], Valaamskii monastyr’, Moscow, Russia.
8. Stupperich, R. (1971), Kircheim Osten, Bd. 14. Göttingen, Germany.
Review
For citations:
Popov A.V., Kvaktun A.Yu. I.K. Smolitch as a scholar in the history of the Russian Church. His life and heritage. History and Archives. 2019;(4):60-79. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.28995/2658-6541-2019-4-60-79
Views:
667
Email this article 