Information about the author:
Alexandre F. Stroev
Alexandre F. Stroev, DSc in Philology, Professor, New Sorbonne, UFR LLD, Department LGC, 8 st. de Saint-Mande, 75012 Paris, France.
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Abstract:
The French press, archival documents, correspondence and memoirs of Russian writers who emigrated reconstruct the life of Dmitry Merezhkovsky on the Basque coast in 1940–1941. Articles, interviews and letters allow us to discover the writer’s circle of acquaintances in Biarritz, his daily life and, above all, his unknown speeches and texts. They shed light on the genesis of Merezhkovsky’s last works, The Mystery of the Russian Revolution and Europe Facing the USSR, and prove the direct link between the lectures of the summer of 1941, his article “Bolshevism and Humanity” and a possible radio speech in 1941. The writer supported the war against the Soviet Union, but did not glorify Hitler.