Register of the Pravoslavnoe palestinskoe obshchestvo records
Finding aid prepared by Hoover Institution Library and Archives Staff
Hoover Institution Library and Archives
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Title: Pravoslavnoe palestinskoe obshchestvo records
Date (inclusive): 1922-2015
Collection Number: 2016C38
Contributing Institution: Hoover Institution Library and Archives
Language of Material: Russian and English
Physical Description:
3 manuscript boxes
(1.3 Linear Feet)
Abstract: By-laws, minutes, correspondence, memoranda, reports, and legal documents relating to administration of Orthodox Church property
in Palestine and to legal disputes over its ownership.
Creator:
Pravoslavnoe palestinskoe obshchestvo
Physical Location: Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Access
The collection is open for research; materials must be requested in advance via our reservation system. If there are audiovisual
or digital media material in the collection, they must be reformatted before providing access.
Use
For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
Acquisition Information
Materials were acquired by the Hoover Institution Library & Archives in 2016.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Pravoslavnoe palestinskoe obshchestvo records, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution
Library & Archives.
Historical Note
Orthodox Palestine Society; affiliate of Russkai͡a pravoslavnai͡a t͡serkov' zagranit͡seĭ. This organization was founded in
1882 as the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society. Its governing Council was reconstructed in Berlin in 1919 and later transferred
to Paris.
Scope and Content of Collection
The bulk of the collection consists of correspondence and supporting documents related to the arbitration of the dispute over
the administration of Pravoslavnoe palestinskoe obshchestvo properties in Palestine from 1990 to 1993. Anthony Grabbe, former
Chief of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem and head of the Pravoslavnoe palestinskoe obshchestvo, claimed that
the section, which was founded in 1970, was separate and independent from the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (ROCOR)
and the Pravoslavnoe palestinskoe obshchestvo Supreme Council. ROCOR and the Pravoslavnoe palestinskoe obshchestvo asserted
that the Pravoslavnoe palestinskoe obshchestvo Holy Land Section was not the property owner, but just the custodian, or trustee,
for the entire Society. There is also earlier correspondence from 1989 about a possible criminal case to be filed against
Anthony Grabbe for the alleged theft and sale of Church property such as icons and books.
Earlier Pravoslavnoe palestinskoe obshchestvo property issues from 1963 to 1977 are documented in the correspondence of Archimandrite
Anthony Grabbe, while Chief of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem, Prince Teymuraz Bagration-Mukhranskii, and
others concerning disputes with the governments of Israel and Jordan related to the status of properties belonging to the
Russian Orthodox Church and the Pravoslavnoe palestinskoe obshchestvo which had been in part surrendered to the Soviet government
or on which the Soviets were making claims.
Other correspondence and archival documents relate to the activities of the Pravoslavnoe palestinskoe obshchestvo Supreme
Council and its United States and European Sections. This includes by-laws, meeting minutes, resolutions, pilgrimage brochures,
appeals, and clippings.
Of special interest is a dossier containing correspondence with Grand Duchesses Elena Vladimirovna and Vera Vladimirovna and
others dating from 1922 to 1970, as well as photostats of pre-1917 ground plans of Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society property
in Jerusalem and an original copy of a map of the Russian Compound in Jerusalem (1929, revised 1937).
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Palestine
Orthodox Eastern Church
Russkai͡a pravoslavnai͡ t͡serkov' zagranit͡seĭ
box 1, folder 1
Alekseev Vasilii Ivanovich
1971
Scope and Contents
Includes biographical note, correspondence, and theses.
box 1, folder 2
Bagration, Irina Leonidovna
2015
Scope and Contents
Includes obituaries and correspondence.
box 1, folder 3
Convent de la Sainte-Vierge de Lesna
1970
Scope and Contents
Correspondence
Orthodox Palestine Society in Europe
1966-1991
box 1, folder 4
1966-1976
Scope and Contents
Correspondence and reports
box 1, folder 5
1969-1986
Scope and Contents
Includes correspondence with Nathalie Hvostoff (Наталья Хвостова) amd memoranda.
box 1, folder 6
1989-1991
Scope and Contents
Includes correspondence and minutes of meeting of the Council
Orthodox Palestine Society in Jerusalem
1922-1988
box 1, folder 7
1922
Scope and Contents
Includes Mandate for Palestine, League of Nations
box 1, folder 8
1935-1937
Scope and Contents
Includes correspondence and printed matter
box 1, folder 9-10
1938-1941
Scope and Contents
Contains correspondence with Grand Duchesses Elena Vladimirovna (Елена Владимировна) and Vera Vladimirovna (Вера Владимировна)
box 1, folder 11
1948
Scope and Contents
Includes correspondence, appeal, reports, and memoranda.
box 1, folder 12
1949-1954
Scope and Contents
Includes correspondence with Grand Duchess Elena Vladimirovna (Елена Владимировна)
box 1, folder 13
1964-1981
Scope and Contents
Includes correspondence and photographs.
box 1, folder 14
1970-1988
Scope and Contents
Correspondence, memoranda, and reports accusing Archimandrite Anthony Grabbe of theft and sale of the Church properties
Orthodox Palestine Society, U.S.A., Inc.
1964-1991
box 1, folder 15-16
1964-1975
Scope and Contents
Correspondence between Teimuraz Konstantinovich Bagration-Mukhransky (Теймураз Константинович Багратион-Мухранский), Gleb
Alexandrovich Rahr (Глеб Александрович Рар) and others concerning the publication of church bulletins for distribution in
the Soviet Union
box 1, folder 17-18
1985-1987
Scope and Contents
Includes correspondence, reports, and printed matter regarding Holy Land Pilgrimage
box 1, folder 19
1989-1991
Scope and Contents
Annual meetings minutes
Property dispute arbitration
1952-1993
Scope and Contents
Includes legal papers, correspondence, meeting minutes, printed matter, and other materials relating to the property dispute
arbitration in Palestine.
box 3, folder 10
Russian excavations
1965-1969
Scope and Contents
Includes correspondence, the report, and appeal on the Russian excavations in Jerusalem.
Oversize material
1925-1927
drawer F08, folder 1
Map of the Russian Compound in Jerusalem
1927
drawer F08, folder 2
Map of Jerusalem whis marked Russian property
1925
