Summary Information

Title: Michael Cherniavsky Papers
Collection Number: AIS.1974.15
Creator: Cherniavsky, Michael

Collection Dates: 1922-1973
Extent: 6.9 linear feet (9 boxes)

Language: English

Abstract:

The collection contains the works of Dr. Michael Cherniavsky, including manuscripts, notes, articles, and lectures. Dr. Cherniavsky was professor of Russian medieval history with a specialty in 15th and 16th century Russian political theory.

Publisher:

ULS Archives Service Center
University of Pittsburgh Library System
7500 Thomas Boulevard
Pittsburgh, PA, 15260
412-648-3232
archives-ref@mail.pitt.edu

Date Published:

November 2004

Author:

Finding aid prepared by Carly Reed.

Revision Description:

August 24, 2006:

Converted from EAD Version 1.0 to EAD Version 2002

Biography

Dr. Michael Cherniavsky was born in Harbin, China, of Russian born parents and raised in Manchuria. He was educated at the University of California where he received a B.A. in 1946, an M.A. in 1947, and a Ph.D. in history in 1951. He became an instructor in history at Wesleyan in 1952 after having been a research assistant at the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton; he joined the faculty of the University of Rochester as Associate Professor in 1964. In 1972, he was appointed Andrew W. Mellon Professor of History at the University of Pittsburgh. His field was Russian medieval history with a specialty in 15th and 16th century Russian political theory. Dr. Cherniavsky died in Pittsburgh in 1973.

Collection Scope and Content Notes

This manuscript collection contains the correspondence, unpublished and published writings, manuscripts of direct studies and some personal memorabilia of Dr. Cherniavsky. The correspondence includes letters to and from scholars and specialists in medieval and Russian history, including Norman Cantor, Ernst H. Kantorowicz, Theodor E. Mommsen, Marc Raeff, and George Vernadsky.

Subject Terms

Topics

• Historians

Corporate Names

• Princeton University. Institute for Advanced Study.
• University of Pittsburgh. Dept. of History.
• University of Rochester.
• Wesleyan University (Middletown, Conn.).

Personal Names

• Cantor, Norman F. -- Correspondence
• Cherniavsky, Michael
• Giesey, Ralph E. -- Correspondence
• Mommsen, Theodor Ernst, 1905-1958 -- Correspondence
• Raeff, Marc -- Correspondence
• Schorske, Carl E. -- Correspondence
• Vernadsky, George, 1887-1973 -- Correspondence

Locations

• Russia -- History -- 1533-1613
• Russia -- History -- To 1533
• Russia -- Politics and government -- 1533-1613
• Russia -- Politics and government -- To 1533

Category

• Personal papers

Access and Use

Access Restrictions:

No restrictions.

Acquisition Information:

Gift of Mrs. Michael Cherniavsky, February 17, 1974.

Preferred Citation:

Michael Cherniavsky Papers, 1922-1973, AIS.1974.15, Archives Service Center, University of Pittsburgh

Processing Information:

This collection was processed by Carly Reed in November 2004.

Copyright:

Permission for publication is given on behalf of the University of Pittsburgh as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained.

Separated Material:

Published articles and books from the collection have been cataloged in the University Library System.

Collection Inventory

Series I. Correspondence, 1953-1974

Scope and Content Notes: Correspondence, both written by and written to Dr. Cherniavsky, between the years of 1953-1974, is organized alphabetically by surname. The correspondence from Charles Halperin includes the first draft of Muscovite Ideology at the End of the Fourteenth Century: The Kulekovo Cycle, a carbon typescript of Halperin's dissertation, and a mimeographed article, The Concept of the Russian Land from the 9th to the 14th Centuries.

Box 1

Folder

1

A-B, 1953-1974

Folder

2

C-G, 1952-1969

Folder

3

Halperin, Charles

Folder

4

H-J, 1960-1973

Folder

5

K-L, 1958-1971

Folder

6

M-P, 1954-1972

Folder

7

Raeff, Marc, 1962-1969

Folder

8

R-S, 1956-1973

Folder

9

T-Y, 1956-1971

Folder

10

Unidentified Correspondence

Series II. News Clips, 1958-1964

Scope and Content Notes: This series includes articles on Michael Cherniavksy in Wesleyan University Alumnus, Wesleyan Argus, Campus Times (University of Rochester), Rochester Contrast, and the University of Rochester Rochester Review.

Folder

11

News Clips, 1958-1964

Series III. Writings

Scope and Content Notes: The writings are divided into manuscripts, including a copy of Dr. Cherniavsky's Masters Thesis and a summary of his dissertation, and various published articles.

Subseries 1. Manuscripts

Box 2

Folder

1

Tsar and People: Studies in Russian Myths, vol. 1

Folder

2

Tsar and People: Studies in Russian Myths, vol. 2

Folder

3

Tsar and People: Studies in Russian Myths, vol. 3

Box 3

Folder

1

Tsar and People: Studies in Russian Myths, Carbon Typescript

Folder

2

Masters Thesis, The History of the Soviet Opinion of the United State, 1936-1946..., University of California, 1946

Folder

3

Unpublished summary of PhD thesis

Folder

4

Corporal Hitler, General Winter, and the Russian Peasant

Subseries 2. Published Articles

Folder

5

The Charismatic Figure in History, in Civ. Past and Present, v. 2

Folder

6

Holy Russia: A Study in the History of an Idea, in American Historical Review, v. 63, no. 3, April 1958

Folder

7

Khan or Basileus: an Aspect of Russian Medieval Political Theory, in Journal of the History of Ideas, v. 20, no. 4, October - December 1959

Folder

8

The Reception of the Council of Florence in Moscow, in Church History, v. 24, no. 4, December 1955

Series IV. Memorabilia

Scope and Content Notes: This series includes two sketches, one of Dr. Cherniavsky and a child's sketch of "Michael fishing"; and three photographs, presumably of members of Dr. Cherniavsky's family.

Folder

9

Memorabilia

Folder

10

Photographs

Series V. Research

Scope and Content Notes: This series contains records of some of Dr. Cherniavsky's research on Russian history. They are kept in letter boxes and slide cases within the larger boxes and include draft manuscripts, reprints of articles, lecture transcripts, and photographs.

Box

4-5

Research Material

Series VI. Studies Directed by Michael Cherniavsky

Scope and Content Notes: These are three dissertations for which Dr. Cherniavsky served as advisor.

Box 6

Folder

1

Thesis: The Russian Generalist of 1730; Towards a Definition of the Aristocracy, Brenda M. Meehan, University of Rochester, 1970

Folder

2

Thesis (Draft): Russian Revolutionary Emigration, Terrorism and the 'Political Struggle', Michael Brockhardt Millard, University of Rochester, 1972

Folder

3

Thesis (Final draft): Millard, M.B.

Folder

4

Thesis: The Shape of Time, An Essay on the Meaning of the Psychiatric Conceptions of Harry Steck Sullivan, Peter S. Rosenbaum, Wesleyan University

Series VII. Miscellaneous Publications

Scope and Content Notes: This series contains theses of Matitiahu Mayzel, Thomas Esper, and Richard Wortman; and a paper by Ludolf Muller. Correspondence between Cherniavsky and Mayzel and Esper, discussing their dissertations and other research in the field of Russian history, can be found in Series I.

Box 7

Folder

1

Thesis: The Russian General Staff During the Revolution, Matitiahu Mayzel, University of Rochester, 1972

Folder

2

Thesis: Muscovite Russia 1505-1682, Thomas Esper

Folder

3

Thesis: The Crisis of Russian Populism, Richard Wortman, Cambridge University Press, 1967

Folder

4

Die drei Hauptargumente gegen die byzantenische These, Chapter III of Zum Problem des Hierarchischen Stalus und der jurisdiktioneilen Abhangigkeit der russische Kirche, Loln Braunsfeld, 1959