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Karlinsky (Simon) papers
BANC MSS 2010/177
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Contributing Institution:
The Bancroft Library
Title: Simon Karlinsky papers
Creator:
Karlinsky, Simon
Identifier/Call Number: BANC MSS 2010/177
Physical Description:
17.8 Linear Feet
(12 cartons, 1 box, 2 oversize boxes)
Date (inclusive): 1924-2007
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.
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.
Language of Material: Materials are in English, Russian, French, German, Polish, and Italian.
Collection is open for research.
No future additions are expected.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The Simon Karlinsky papers were given to The Bancroft Library in 2010 by Peter Carleton, executor of the estate of Simon Karlinsky.
There are no alternative forms of this collection.
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.
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
Access to audio-visual materials may be restricted due to technical limitations.
[Identification of item], Simon Karlinsky papers, BANC MSS 2010/177, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.
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.
Elena Wilson papers, 1906-1979 (Beinecke Rare Books and Manuscript Library, Yale University, YCAL MSS 188)
Nina Berberova papers, 1891-1993 (Beinecke Rare Books and Manuscript Library, Yale University, GEN MSS 182)
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.
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
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Karlinsky, Simon -- Archives
University of California, Berkeley Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures -- Faculty
Russian literature--History and criticism.
Russian literature -- Study and teaching -- California -- Berkeley
Faculty papers
Gays' writings -- History and criticism
Lesbians' writings -- History and criticism