Dmitry S. Likhachev in the letters of Varvara P. Adrianova-Peretz to Nikolay K. Gudziy (1940–1959): On the 120th anniversary of the scholar

This paper examines the correspondence between Varvara Pavlovna Adrianova-Peretz and Nikolai Kallinikovitch Gudziy, housed within the archives of the Institute of Russian Literature (Pushkin House) of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The letters focus on scholarly work, the Pushkin House, the Department of Old Russian Literature, with particular attention paid to the future head of the Department, Academician Dmitry Sergeevich Likhachev. As the biographical details of Likhachev are widely known, any chance to add to and clarify them is of great value, with the letters of Adrianova-Peretz representing an invaluable source. The paths of Varvara Pavlovna and Dmitry Sergeevich crossed in the mid-1930s, with his work at Pushkin House starting in 1938. Within the correspondence with Gudziy, Dmitry Sergeevich is principally referenced in relation to the planned publications of the Institute of Russian Literature, specifically the “History of Russian Literature” (10 volumes), the Proceedings of the Department of Old Russian Literature (“Literary Monuments” Series). Also discussed is the defense of Likhachev’s doctoral thesis, in which Gudziy participated as an opponent. Adrianova-Peretz writes of Likhachev with notable emotion and intricate observation, praising his “efficiency and ingenuity” and the “freshness of his thought.” By the turn of the 1950s, Dmitry Sergeevich became the main assistant for Varvara Pavlovna. He was elected a Corresponding Member of the USSR Academy of Sciences in 1953 and succeeded Varvara Pavlovna as head of the Department of Old Russian Literature in 1954.

Keywords

Authors

References