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Belitsky (Dr. Tatiana) Collection
OCH.DTBC
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Contributing Institution:
Special Collections & Archives
Title: Dr. Tatiana Belitsky Collection
Creator:
Belitsky, Tatiana, 1906-1980
Identifier/Call Number: OCH.DTBC
Extent:
1.96 linear feet
Date (inclusive): 1923-1956
Abstract: Dr. Tatiana Belitskty was a dental
surgeon from Russia, who worked in Shanghai from the early 1930s until 1949. The collection
consists of photographs, correspondence, identification documents, and other records that
document Belitsky's career in China and her attempts to gain work in the dental industry
after immigrating to the United States in the early 1950s.
Language of Material: English
Tatiana Belitsky, neé Titova, was born in 1906 in Samara, Russia. After attending
university in Russia, she enrolled in medical school in China. She married Benjamin Belitsky
in 1923, and had a daughter, Augusta, in 1926. After her daughter was born, Tatiana decided
to pursue dentistry instead of general medicine and enrolled in dental school in Harbin,
China.
After graduating in 1931, the family moved to Shanghai where Belitsky worked as a dental
surgeon. She divorved her husband in 1935, and after raising her daughter as a single mother
for years, she married Serge Barabash in 1949.
While in Shanghai, in addition to having a private practice Belitsky served as a dental
surgeon for students at the Aurora College for Women and the students and nuns at the
Convent of the Sacred Heart. She even continued to provide dental care for the convent
during World War II, when it was turned into an internment camp for religious persons.
In 1949, after the communist takeover in China, Belitsky began working in an International
Refugee Organization camp for White Russians in the Philippines while waiting for a visa to
emigrate to the United States. In August of 1950, Belitsky traveled to San Francisco, where
she began looking for work in the dental field.
While Belitsky had plenty of experience and letters of recommendation, the Department of
Health would not allow her to use her foreign license or test for an American license unless
she reenrolled in dental school. As a result, Belitsky was forced to take a lesser position
as a dental technician at Pacific Dental Lab in San Francisco, where she worked for 15
years.
The
Dr. Tatiana Belitsky Collection consists of the personal
records of Belitsky, a dental surgeon who worked in Shanghai from the early 1930s until
1949. Items in the collection include identification documents, photographs, marriage and
divorce certificates, receipts for dental work performed by Belitsky, travel documents,
letters from patients, letters of recommendation from employers, and other personal
records.
The collection is open for research use.
Copyright for unpublished materials authored or otherwise produced by the creator(s) of
this collection has not been transferred to California State University, Northridge.
Copyright status for other materials is unknown. Transmission or reproduction of materials
protected by U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.) 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 owners. Responsibility for any
use rests exclusively with the user.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Augusta Prewett-Gunn, November 12, 2013.
For information about citing items in this collection consult the appropriate style manual,
or see the
Citing Archival Materials
guide.
Jessica Geiser, 2013