Information about the author:
Elena M. Trubilova
Elena M. Trubilova, PhD in Philology, Senior Researcher, А.M. Gorky Institute of World Literature of Russian Academy of Sciences, Povarskaya 25 а, 121069 Moscow, Russia.
ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6272-474X
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Abstract:
The starting point of the article was two letters from N.A. Teffy to N.V. Krandievskaya from the Department of Manuscript Collections of the V.I. Dahl State Literary Museum. Undated, according to the context, they are defined as written in April 1922, and the second one contains Teffy’s reaction to the famous open letter of A.N. Tolstoy to N.V. Tchaikovsky, published in the Nakanune (The Day Before) newspaper, preceding the return of the Tolstoy family from emigration. The correspondence was from Wiesbaden, where Taffy was recovering at the time, to Berlin, where the Tolstoys had settled since October 1921. In order to appreciate the sincerity of Teffy’s approval of Tolstoy’s article and to understand the deep background of his crucial decision, it is proposed to consider the history of their relationship from the first meeting, common literary acquaintances in the context of emigrant life, creative intersections in the Gryadushchaya Rossiya (Russia to Come) and Zhar-Ptitsa (Firebird) magazines. The closeness of Teffy and Tolstoy’s views are illustrated by relevant examples from their texts. Teffy’s letters to N.V. Krandievskaya are being published for the first time.