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Seryshev (Innokentii Nikolaevich) papers
2000C23
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Title: Innokentii Nikolaevich Seryshev papers
Date (inclusive): 1891-1968
Collection Number: 2000C23
Contributing Institution: Hoover Institution Library and Archives
Language of Material:
Russian
Physical Description:
20 microfilm reels
(3.0 Linear Feet)
Abstract: Correspondence, speeches and writings, printed matter, and photographs, relating to the Russian Orthodox Church abroad, Russian
émigré affairs, and the promotion of Esperanto.
Creator:
Seryshev, Innokentiĭ Nikolaevich, 1883-
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 2000.
[Identification of item], Innokentii Nikolaevich Seryshev papers, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library
& Archives.
Originals in: Museum of Russian Culture, San Francisco.
| 1883 August 14 | Born, Bol'shaia Kudara village, Zabaikal district, Russia |
| 1902 | Married Ekaterina Fedorovna Bondarenko |
| 1906-1909 | Priest, Doronino (Zabaikal district) |
| 1910-1913 | Priest, Shergol'dzhin (Zabaikal district) |
| 1917-1919 | Member, Board of Directors, Soiuz kul'turno-prosvetitel'nykh obshchestv Altaiskogo kraia |
| 1920-1922 | Studied educational system in Japan |
| 1922-1924 | Taught in the railroad school, Harbin, China |
| 1924 | Author, Strana samuraev |
| Taught in the Chinese Esperanto College, Peking, China | |
| 1925-1965 | Priest and editor of religious and secular periodicals (some in Esperanto) in Sydney, Australia |
| 1976 August 23 | Died, Australia |
Father Innokentii Seryshev was born on 14 August 1883 in the village of Bol'shaia Kudara, in the Trans-Baikal region. In 1902
he married Ekaterina Fedorovna Bondarenko. From 1906 to 1909 he was the village priest in Doronino, and from 1910 to 1913
in Shergol'dzhin, both in the Trans-Baikal region. It was in this period that he became interested in Esperanto, a language
he spent most of the rest of his life promoting. From 1917 to 1919 he was a member of the board of directors of the Soiuz
kul'turno-prosvetitel'nykh obshchestv Altaiskogo kraia.
From 1920 to 1922, Seryshev was in Japan, where he made a study of the Japanese educational system (published in his Strana
samuraev, 1924). Thereafter, from 1922 to 1924, he lived in Harbin and Peking, where he taught in the railroad school and
at the Chinese Esperanto College. In 1925 Seryshev emigrated to Australia, where he was a parish priest in Sydney and editor
and chief writer for a number of secular and religious periodicals: Aziia, Put' emigranta, Tserkov' i nauka, and others (including
some in Esperanto). He also compiled a biographical dictionary of prominent Russians, entitled Great, Outstanding, and Eminent
Personalities of Russia (1945-1946). Seryshev died in Australia in 1976.
This collection consists of the papers of Rev. Innokentii Seryshev, a Russian Orthodox priest active in the first half of
the 20th century in Siberia, Japan, China and Australia. Of particular interest is his hobby: the study of Esperanto, of which
he was a devoted adherent. Some correspondence and publications are in that language (
Oriento,
La Pacifiko, and other works in the Speeches and Writings series), and there is a written work on its development in Russian and the
USSR ("Esperanto v S.S.S.R.," Box 11, Folder 7).
The materials in the collection reflect mainly his involvement in émigré and Church affairs, mainly in China and Australia,
and include correspondence with prominent émigré figures as well as materials for a biographical encyclopedia of prominent
Russians that included a large number of émigrés. Also valuable are his multi-volume memoirs, "V zemnom plane moego vechnogo
bytiia."
A significant part of the collection consists of periodicals edited and published by Seryshev, on both religious and secular
themes, most of which are in mimeograph or similar format, and there is a large amount of writings on religious issues: sermons,
apologetics, etc.
Detailed processing and preservation microfilming of these materials were made possible by a generous grant from the National
Endowment for the Humanities and by matching funds from the Hoover Institution. The grant also provides depositing a microfilm
copy in the Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Russia -- Emigration and immigration
Esperanto
Russkai͡a pravoslavnai͡a t͡serkovʹ