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Ignat'ev (Semen Dmitrievich) papers
2000C62
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Title: Semen Dmitrievich Ignat'ev papers
Date (inclusive): 1898-1976
Collection Number: 2000C62
Contributing Institution: Hoover Institution Library and Archives
Language of Material:
Russian
Physical Description:
6 microfilm reels
(0.9 Linear Feet)
Abstract: Correspondence, speeches and writings, financial records, printed matter, and photographs, relating to Russian choirs in the
United States.
Creator:
Ignat'ev, Semen Dmitrievich, 1891-1974
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.
[Identification of item], Semen Dmitrievich Ignat'ev Papers, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library &
Archives.
Originals in: Museum of Russian Culture, San Francisco. Boxes 8-10 were not microfilmed. These boxes contain photographs,
albums, artwork, and financial records which soley exist at the Museum of Russian Culture.
| 1891 January 25 | Born, Ostrovskii uezd, Pskovskaia guberniia, Russia |
| 1918 June 8 | Married Aleksandra Ivanovna Kozlova, Gul'kevichi village, Kubanskaia oblast' |
| 1920 | Evacuated to Gallipoli with White Army |
| c. 1926 | Organized Kuban' Cossack Chorus |
| 1950 | Emigrated to Sweden |
| 1955 | Emigrated to the United States |
| 1961 | Naturalized as a U.S. citizen |
| 1974 | Died, San Francisco, California |
S. D. Ignat'ev was born near the town of Ostrov, Pskovskaia guberniia, on 25 January 1891 (O. S.). While in the White army
in South Russia, he married Aleksandra Ivanovna Kozlova, thus cementing his association with the Kuban' Cossacks. Evacuation
to Gallipoli was followed by several years in Bulgaria.
A musician by training, he formed a chorus and musical ensemble of émigré Kuban' Cossacks around 1926, touring with them across
Europe through the 1940s. During these years, he lived primarily in Germany, and in one of his writings describes his experiences
in Berlin in 1945.
The Second World War brought about the dissolution of the Kuban' Cossack Chorus. In 1950, Ignat'ev moved to Sweden (where
he found employment mounting specimens for the botanical department of the Swedish Museum of Natural History), and then in
1955 to San Francisco, changing his musical venue to conducting church choirs (his education included the Pskov seminary,
where he received a thorough grounding in liturgical music). Ignat'ev died in San Francisco in May 1974
Semen Dmitrievich Ignat'ev was well-known as a composer and conductor of the Kuban' Cossack Chorus, and later of church choirs.
This collection consists mainly of materials relating to these activities. Other subjects include autobiographical writings
dealing with his experiences on Gallipoli in the early 1920s and in Berlin in 1945, as well as writings, subject files and
printed matter relating to Russian Orthodox liturgical music. Some of the correspondence is with relatives in the Soviet Union.
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 and the Museum of Russian Culture. The grant
also provides depositing a microfilm copy in the Hoover Institution Library & Archives. The original materials remain at the
Museum of Russian Culture, San Francisco, as its property. A transfer table of corresponding box and reel numbers is available
at the Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
The Hoover Institution assumes all responsibility for notifying users that they must comply with the copyright law of the
United States (Title 17 United States Code) and Hoover Rules for the Use and Reproduction of Archival Materials.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Russians -- United States
Choral societies -- United States