Guide to the Ivan Elagin Papers, 1937-1990 UA.90.F85
Arrangement
Repository
ULS Archives & Special Collections
Title
Ivan Elagin Papers
Creator
Elagin, Ivan
Collection Number
UA.90.F85
Extent
4.1 Linear Feet(9 boxes)
Date
1937-1990
Abstract
This is a collection of the papers of Ivan Elagin, a poet and professor in the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures at the University of Pittsburgh mostly dating from 1960 to his death in 1987. Elagin was one of the most prominent of the Russian émigré poets of the mid twentieth century. The collection consists of personal files of his life and work and correspondence files with other literary figures.
Language
Russian
.
Author
Marianne Kasica with assistance from Faye Leibowitz
Publisher
ULS Archives & Special Collections
Address
University of Pittsburgh Library System Archives & Special Collections Website: library.pitt.edu/archives-special-collections Business Number: 412-648-3232 (Thomas) | 412-648-8190 (Hillman) Contact Us: www.library.pitt.edu/ask-archivist URL: http://library.pitt.edu/archives-special-collections
Biography
Ivan Elagin was born Ivan Venediktovich Matveiev in Vladivostok, Russia on December 1, 1918. His father was the Futurist poet Venedikt Mart. His grandfather was N.P. Matveiev, a publisher and journalist. Elagin began his academic career studying Medicine at the Soviet Institute of Higher Learning in Kiev in the 1930's. In 1941 his studies were interrupted by war and he served as a medic in the military. Following World War II, he lived in several displaced persons camps around Europe and wrote his first volume of poetry, Po doroge ottuda; stikhi published in Munich. His poems focused on the theme of the estranged and bewildered émigré. In 1950 he immigrated to the United States where he continued his education and his career as a poet and translator. All of his literary work was written under the name Elagin and published in Russian.
Elagin's education in the U.S. was at Columbia University and then New York University where he completed his Ph.D. in Slavic Languages. In 1970 he accepted an appointment as an Associate Professor in the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures at the University of Pittsburgh and was made full professor in 1978. He also taught at the prestigious summer program in Russian language and culture at Middlebury College in Vermont.
Elagin had married Olga Anstey on June 17, 1938. They had two children: Inna who was born on October 8, 1943 and died of pneumonia in January of 1944 and Helen (Yelena) who was born on January 8, 1945. Elagin and Olga divorced in 1950 after their move to New York. He then married Irena Ivanovna Danngeizer on April 19, 1958. Their son Sergei was born in 1967. Ivan Elagin died of pancreatic cancer on February 8, 1987 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Scope and Content Notes
The collection is divided into four series. First are personal papers and letters. The second and largest series of the collection is the correspondence files. These are letters from poets, artists and figures connected to Russian literature and arts. The third series is literary works. These are some original works, translations, the Laguna Beach poetry reading and part of Elagin's dissertation. In addition there are several audio and video tapes. The final series contains class lecture notes from Elagin's classes at the University of Pittsburgh and Middlebury College. Elagin's book collection also came to the Archives and contains 105 books, pamphlets and journal issues that are inscribed by their authors. Topically these books are mostly poetry.
Arrangement
Series I. Personal files and letters
Series II. Letters from authors and poets
Series III. Literary works
Series IV. Instruction materials
Access Restrictions
No restrictions.
Acquisition Information
The Elagin Papers were acquired by the University Library System from Elagin's widow, Irene Matveiev, in 1992. The book collection was acquired from his daughter, Helen Matveiev, also in 1992. The book collection consisted of mostly books of poetry from other Russian poets and all are inscribed by the authors. Both collections were deposited in the Special Collections Department in Hillman Library in 1991. The Papers and the book collection were transferred to the University Archives by Charles Aston in 2008.
Previous Citation
Ivan Elagin Papers, UA.90.F85, University Archives, Archives Service Center, University of Pittsburgh
Preferred Citation
Ivan Elagin Papers, UA.90.F85, University Archives, Archives & Special Collections, University of Pittsburgh Library System
Processing Information
This collection was processed by Marianne Kasica in 2009 from an inventory created by Karen Rondestvedt. Assistance with the processing of the papers was given by Faye Leibowitz and Hannah Bergman. Michael Lowry assisted with the book collection.
Copyright
The University of Pittsburgh holds the property rights to the material in this collection, but the copyright may still be held by the original creator/author. Researchers are therefore advised to follow the regulations set forth in the U.S. Copyright Code when publishing, quoting, or reproducing material from this collection without the consent of the creator/author or that go beyond what is allowed by fair use.
Separated Material
The book collection was separated, cataloged and sent to library remote storage. A list of the books is available at the Archives Reading Room. Two folders, "Orlov, Aleksei" and "TSGALI (Central Government Archive of Literature and the Arts in the USSR)" were found to be empty at the time of processing and were removed from the collection.
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