Simon Karlinsky papers, 1924-2007

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Summary

Creators:
Karlinsky, Simon
Abstract:
The Simon Karlinsky papers document his career as a scholar and professor of Russian literature at the University of California, Berkeley, and offer insight into his life as a gay man. Major topics include émigré literature, gay culture, history and iterature in Russia, Nikolai Gogol, Vladimir Nabokov and Edmund Wilson, Valery Perleshin, Russian theater and drama, Gennady Trifonov, and Marina Tsvetaeva. The collection includes personal and professional correspondence; administrative materials from the university; writings; course materials; musical scores Karlinsky composed; and audiotapes.
Extent:
17.8 Linear Feet (12 cartons, 1 box, 2 oversize boxes)
Language:
Materials are in English, Russian, French, German, Polish, and Italian.
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Simon Karlinsky papers, BANC MSS 2010/177, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.

Background

Scope and content:

The Simon Karlinsky papers document his career as a scholar and professor of Russian literature at the University of California, Berkeley and offer insight into his life as a gay man. Major topics include Anton Chekhov; Sergei Diaghilev; émigré literature; gay culture, history and iterature in Russia; Nikolai Gogol; Vladimir Nabokov and Edmund Wilson; Valery Perleshin; Russian theater and drama; Pyotr Tchaikovsky; Gennady Trifonov; and Marina Tsvetaeva.

The collection has been divided into eight series: Correspondence; Administrative Materials; Notebooks and Personalia; Writings; The Nabokov-Wilson Letters; Course Materials; Musical Scores Composed by Karlinsky; and Audiovisual Materials.

Biographical / historical:

Simon Karlinsky was a distinguished scholar of Russian literature and member of the University of California, Berkeley Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures, 1964-1991. Born in 1924 in the Russian émigré conclave of Harbin, Manchuria, Karlinsky and his family immigrated to the United States in 1938, settling in Los Angeles. He enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1944, then worked as an interpreter in Germany, and studied music in Paris and Berlin. After returning to the States, Karlinsky earned his BA in Slavic Languages and literature at UC Berkeley, his Master's at Harvard, and his Ph.D. at Berkeley in 1964. Karlinsky was openly gay; when he died in 2009, he was survived by his husband, humanistic counselor Peter Carleton.

Karlinsky taught and wrote about a wide variety of subjects. His scholarship included articles and books on émigré literature and Russian writers in exile in the West; the twentieth-century poet Marina Tsvetaeva; the history of the Russian theater and drama; Nikolai Gogol; gay history, literature, and homophobia in Russia; Anton Chekhov;, and the correspondence between Vladimir Nabokov and Edmund Wilson.

Acquisition information:
The Simon Karlinsky papers were given to The Bancroft Library in 2010 by Peter Carleton, executor of the estate of Simon Karlinsky.
Processing information:

Arranged to the folder level.

Processed by Marjorie Bryer in 2021. Thanks to Liladhar Pendse, Ph.D., UC Berkeley Librarian for East European and Eurasian Studies, and for Latin American Studies, and Professor Roman Utkin, Wesleyan University, for their help translating some names and titles. Any errors in this finding aid are mine alone.

Accruals:

No future additions are expected.

Physical / technical requirements:

Access to audio-visual materials may be restricted due to technical limitations.

Physical location:
Many of the Bancroft Library collections are stored offsite and advance notice may be required for use. For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the library's online catalog.
Rules or conventions:
DACS

Access and use

Restrictions:

Collection is open for research.

Terms of access:

Some materials in these collections may be protected by the U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.). In addition, the reproduction of some materials may be restricted by terms of University of California gift or purchase agreements, donor restrictions, privacy and publicity rights, licensing and trademarks. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owner. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user. All requests to reproduce, publish, quote from, or otherwise use collection materials must be submitted to The Bancroft Library. See: http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/reference/permissions.html

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Simon Karlinsky papers, BANC MSS 2010/177, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.

Location of this collection:
University of California, Berkeley, The Bancroft Library
Berkeley, CA 94720-6000, US
Contact:
510-642-6481
bancref-library@berkeley.edu
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