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Zernova (Ruth) and Serman (Ilya) papers
2021C61
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Title: Ruth Zernova and Ilya Serman papers
Date (inclusive): 1880-2011
Collection Number: 2021C61
Contributing Institution: Hoover Institution Library and Archives
Language of Material: In Russian
Physical Description:
29 manuscript boxes, 6 oversize boxes, 7 audio recordings, 3 video recordings, digital files
(16.3 Linear Feet)
Abstract: Ilya Serman (1913-2010) was a literary scholar and professor of Russian and Slavic Philology in Russia and Israel. Ruth Zernova
(1919-2004) was a writer and interpreter, an author of several novels and many short stories. Their archive contains biographical
material including papers of Serman's mother G. YA. Aronson-Veksler; vast correspondence with colleagues, friends, and family;
writings by Zernova, Serman and other prominent literary scholars; well preserved photographs; and audiovisual material.
Creator:
Zernova, Rufʹ, 1919-2004
Creator:
Serman, I. Z. (Ilʹi︠a︡ Zakharovich), 1913-2010
source:
Serman, M. (Mark)
Physical Location: Hoover Institution Library & Archives
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.
For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
Acquired by the Hoover Institution Library & Archives in 2021.
[Identification of item], Ruth Zernova and Ilya Serman papers, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library
& Archives.
Serman, I. Z. (Ilʹi︠a︡ Zakharovich), 1913–2010, Soviet and Israeli literary critic, professor of Russian philology, specialized
in Russian literature of the XVII–XX centuries.
Serman's mother, G. YA. Aronson, the sister of Menshevik Gregor (Grigoriĭ) Aronson, was a member of the Jewish Labor Bund,
a secular Jewish Socialist party in Russia, dissolved by the Bolsheviks in 1921.
In 1939 I. Serman graduated from the philological department of the Leningrad State University; at the end of 1941 he was
drafted into the Red Army and fought on the Volkhov front. After suffering from concussions he was discharged from the army
and evacuated to Tashkent, where he taught in higher educational institutions and received his PhD in 1944. In Tashkent he
met Ruth Zernova.
Ruth Zernova (born Ruf' Zevina), 1919–2004, writer and translator, author of numerous books and publications in periodicals,
was born in Kalarash village, Bessarabia. During the Spanish Civil War, under the name Ruth Zernova, she served as a military
translator for a Soviet military advisor. She later used that name as her literary pseudonym.
Upon her return from Spain, Zernova first worked at the People's Commissariat of the Navy, then in TASS (Telegraph Agency
of the Soviet Union). She was also evacuated to Tashkent, where she met I. Serman and where they got married.
After the war the family, including a small daughter Nina, returned to Leningrad. I. Serman worked in various institutions
and taught in the Gertsen Leningrad Pedagogical Institute. R. Zernova graduated from the Roman Department of the Leningrad
State University in 1947. At that time they had two children.
In 1949 R. Zernova and I. Serman were arrested and charged with "anti-Soviet slanderous fabrications." I. Serman was sentenced
to 25 years and sent to the Magadan area, while Zernova was sentenced to 15 years and sent to the Altai Mountains. After the
death of Joseph Stalin, they were released in 1954 by amnesty and rehabilitated in 1961.
From 1956 to 1976 I. Serman worked as a research associate (he was promoted to the position of senior research associate in
1961) in the Institute of Russian Literature (Pushkinskiĭ Dom), where he researched literary works of Russian writers and
poets of the XVII–XIX centuries. He also taught Russian literature at Leningrad State University.
Ruth Zernova became known as a writer in 1955. Her works were published in periodicals and as separate books. She also published
her recollections about the Spanish Civil War. In 1964 she became a member of the Union of Soviet Writers.
After their daughter, Nina Serman-Staviskaia, immigrated to the United States, I. Serman was fired from the Institute of Russian
Literature, and R. Zernova was expelled from the Union of Soviet Writers. The family was forced to leave the Soviet Union
and moved to Israel.
In Israel I. Serman worked at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem as a professor of Russian philology. He also taught at universities
in the US, France, Italy, and Germany. During those years he started researching works of XX century writers.
R. Zernova continued her work as a writer and translator. She translated into Russian books by Elie Wiesel and memoirs of
Golda Meir.
Scope and Content of Collection
The Ruth Zernova - Ilya Serman papers were acquired from their son Mark Serman in 2021. The collection consists of materials
related to their lives and professional activities, their family, friends, and their creative work.
The collection contains biographical papers; a vast correspondence with coworkers, family, and friends; materials relating
to I. Serman's mother; handwritten and typed copies of writings by I. Serman and R. Zernova; photographs; and audiovisual
materials.
The historical documents cover the period from the 1905 revolution in Russia through the year 1976, when professor Serman
was expelled from the Institute of Russian Literature for political/anti-Semitic reasons. They include the diaries of G. YA.
Aronson-Veksler (I. Serman's mother) about her life and party activities as a Bund member and her work with Nadezhda Krupskaya,
the wife of V. Lenin, in the People's Commissariat of Education; R. Zernova's notes about the Spanish Civil War; and family
travails under Stalin: arrests and long sentences to Gulag forced labor camps.
The philological /literary papers describe the Leningrad literary community from the end of the 1920s through 1976. They depict
the work of G. Aronson-Veksler in the
Literaturnyi sovremennik (The Literary Contemporary) magazine and of I. Serman on radio in Leningrad at the time of the siege, along with famous radio
hosts Ol'ga Berggol'ts and Gennadiĭ Makagonenko.
In addition, letters from writers, literary critics, journalists, historians, and public figures present a panoramic picture
of life in the Soviet Union.
The photographs in the collection are also very impressive: from Karl Radek to academician D. G. Likhachev, writer Sergei
Dovlatov, and names very familiar to the Hoover Archives, such as Andreĭ Siniavskiĭ, Joseph Brodsky, Petr and Zinaida Grigorenko,
and Arina Ginzburg. Many photographs were signed in the 1930s.
The
Ruth Zernova and Ilya Serman joint file consists of correspondence addressed to either R. Zernova or I. Serman, or to both of them, including letters from family
and friends and famous scholars, writers, public figures, and coworkers, Konstantin Azadovskiĭ, Nikita Krivoshein, Igor Efimov,
Boris Lavrenev, Nina Katerli, Feliks Kandel', YAkov Lurie, Igor Smirnov, Marc Raeff, Olga Hughes, and Tomas Venclova among
them.
The joint file also includes materials from their arrests, investigative and court trials, appeals, release, and rehabilitation.
Most tragic are records of witness interrogations, when people considered friends would give fodder for future arrests of
I. Serman and R. Zernova. The family managed to save letters from friends they made in the Gulag, photographs, as well as
letters from their children received while in the Gulag.
Included in the joint file are documents reflecting the international protest campaign against the firing of I. Serman from
the Institute of Russian Literature organized by Professor Gerald Smith, consisting of correspondence of Gerald Smith with
the international scholarly community and with I. Serman and R. Zernova.
The
Ruth Zernova file consists of biographical documents, materials from her memorial service, and writings (published and unpublished), including
diaries and travel notes. The collection of psychological tests in this file presents a set of drawings evaluated by various
people, such as writers Rid Grachev, Feliks Kаndel', and Lidiia Chukovskaia, renown scholars D. G. Likhachev and Nina Zhirmunskaia,
poet Aleksandr Kushner, and actor I. Smoktunvskiĭ, to name just a few.
The
Ilya Serman file includes biographical papers meticulously documenting his life, work, and illegal firing from the Institute of Russian Literature;
papers of his mother, Genrietta Aronson (Veksler), especially her diaries, and recollections of I. Serman about her; Serman's
numerous writings on Russian literature of the XVII–XX centuries, especially about M. Lomonosov, M. Lermontov, A. Pushkin,
B. Pasternak, B. Slutskiĭ, B. Eikhenbaum, and G. Gukovskiĭ. Also of great interest are his memoirs, describing his life and
recollecting his friends and teachers.
The
Writings by others series includes writings by such famous scholars and writers as Grigoriĭ Gukovskiĭ, IUriĭ Lotman, Viktor Zhirmunskiĭ, Lidiia Ginzburg,
and Sergeĭ Dovlatov.
The
Photographs series consists of two groups of albums and loose prints. The first group of albums includes family photographs from the year 1880
through 2002. They include pictures of five generations of the Serman and Zevina families. The albums also include portraits
of friends, famous people of literature, culture, and art, including Efim Etkind, Frida Vigdorova, Iuriĭ Nagibin, Roman Timenchik,
Dmitriĭ Likhachev, Georges Nivat, and Marc Raeff. The second group of untitled albums includes more family photographs depicting
Zernova, Serman, younger generations of family and friends, and travel photographs. The loose prints depict travels, conferences,
parties, and the 1991 Moscow Putch.
The
Audiovisual materials include audio recordings of the Ruth Zernova 2011 memorial, BBC recordings with participation of R. Zernova and L. Kopelev,
a reading of Zernova's writings, and recording of Zernova singing songs. The video recordings include the
Старые знакомыe (Old acquaintances) documentary and R. Zernova's memorial in Jerusalem.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Authors, Russian
Russian literature
Political prisoners
Soviet Union
Internment camps -- Soviet Union
Forced labor -- Soviet Union
Personal correspondence
Photographs
Zernova, Rufʹ, 1919-2004
Serman, I. Z. (Ilʹi︠a︡ Zakharovich), 1913-2010
Serman, M. (Mark)