Metadata: Overview of the Manuscripts Fonds of Seraya Shapshal
Collection
- Country:
- Lithuania
- Holding institution:
- Wroblewski Library of the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences
- Holding institution (official language):
- Lietuvos mokslų akademijos Vrublevskių biblioteka
- Postal address:
- Žygimantų g. 1, 01102 Vilnius
- Phone number:
- +370 5 262 9537
- Web address:
- http://www.mab.lt/
- Email:
- aptarnavimas@mab.lt
- Reference number:
- F143
- Title:
- Overview of the Manuscripts Fonds of Seraya Shapshal
- Title (official language):
- Šapšalo Serajos (F143) rankraščių fondo apžvalga
- Creator/accumulator:
- Shapshal, Seraya
- Date(s):
- 1625/1961
- Language:
- French
- Russian
- Polish
- German
- Bulgarian
- Romanian; Moldavian; Moldovan
- English
- Lithuanian
- Turkish
- Persian
- Hebrew
- Arabic
- Ukrainian
- Hungarian
- Czech
- Extent:
- 1630 manuscripts
- Type of material:
- Textual material
- Photographic images
- Cartographic material
- Physical condition:
- good
- Scope and content:
-
The collection includes manuscripts and other material gathered by Seraya Shapshal which is divided into sections and subsections.
Section 1, Personal Documents, includes Seraya Shapshal's personal documents from 1899 until the 1940s. They are organised chronologically. It includes the passports of Seraya and his wife Vera; certificates and permits; work related certificates; material gathered for his PhD degree; personal notebooks; financial documents; letters from the communities of Karaim; letters for birthdays and holidays from 1923-1960; an invitation to the anniversary of the university of Steponas Batoras in 1929; invitations from Belarusians, Tatars, and Turks to various events, 1932-1958. Photographic images include photos of Shapshal on his trips to Austria, Hungary and Yugoslavia in 1936; photographs with family and friends from 1937-1958, portrait images of Shapshal, images of Romanian Tatars visiting Shapshal in the 1940s.
Section 2, Correspondence, only has a few letters written by Shapshal himself. However, there are many letters received by him from various individuals, societies and organisations in Lithuanian, Russian, Polish, and French. The letters are arranged alphabetically. Letters written by Shapshal cover the period of 1929-1951. Most letters concern Karaim-related questions. There are also two copies of letters addressed to Joseph Stalin, a few personal letters, a few letters to his wife Vera and a few letters sent to various newspapers and magazines. Most letters written to Shapshal from 1928-1961 concern Karaim, Karaim communities, Karaim language (a Crimean dialect), related questions in various countries, such as France, Czech Republic, Germany, Poland, etc. Some letters contain requests to issue a document of proof of Karaim origin (in order not to be confused with Jews), especially between 1934 and 1939. There is a small subsection of letters from unknown authors containing Karaim-related questions.
A small subsection are the documents of Vera Shapshal, containing personal letters written to S Shapshal, letters received from her brother Bari Egizas, and a letter from Sofija Firkovičiene. The letters cover the period of 1947-1951.
Section III covers Scientific Work and Material. At the beginning of the section there are larger works of S Shapshal, such as the Karaim - Russian dictionary folder (195-), a fragment of a Karaim - Russian language dictionary (1956), old Karaim language dictionary (1954-1955), a continuation of modern Karaim language dictionary (1959), Turkish-Polish dictionary (1932). Other material includes a few monographs, papers, articles (mostly in Russian ) concerning questions of Karaim; fragments of Karaim prayers, excerpts from the Bible in the Old Karaim language; notes about Karaim; translations by S Shapshal from Turkish and Tatar languages; manuscripts written in Karaim, Russian, and Hebrew, fragments of prayers, etc.
Section IV, Activities, is divided into seven sub-sections.
The first subsection includes documents, correspondence and other records which concern the life and service of Shapshal in Persia and Constantinople from 1900 to 1939. The material is arranged chronologically. The material contains letters, finances, and study material.
The second subsection concerns chronologically-arranged material of the club of Turkologists and society of Orientalists from 1929-1937. This subsection also includes a few photographic images.
The third subsection is dedicated to the community of Karaim. The documents from 1919-1922 concern the aid provided for the starving members of the community. There are records of correspondence between the hacham of the Karaim and various institutions concerning the questions of the Karaim from 1923-1958. Other records include documents regarding S Shapshal becoming the Hacham of Karaim; letters of greetings; financial documents of the community of Karaim; regulations of the American Karaim Aid Union in 1924; emigration orders to the USA to the Karaites of Constantinople; material concerning the origin of Karaim and their legal status in Germany and other states, in the period of Fascist government and in occupied countries, including Lithuania, 1934-1943. The records also contain requests for the issue of certificates to confirm their Karaim origin.
The fourth subsection covers the period from 1928-1957 concerning the material from the museum of Karaim.
The fifth subsection comprises Lithuanian language-related material, postcards, photographs, drawings; maps, and prints. Some documents are taken from the collection of the museum of Karaim. One of the documents from 1823 is a Vilnius City police announcement prohibiting Jews from residing and renting houses in certain areas of the city. It also includes documents in Turkish and Arabic mentioning a Jewish woman named Kira, namely: 1) a letter confirming the right for the descendants of Kira to control her property (1625 CE); 2) a request from the Karaim of Stambul to the Great Vizier concerning the property of Kira (1709 CE); 3) grants of wealth from the Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent related to Kira (1521 CE); 4). A record of Mekabbech - A Karaim prayer set with two separate parts, with S Shapsal's notes in the margins. This is unique as it is first printed book of Karaim (1734). The subsection further contains a photocopy of an unspecified manuscript from 1737 in Hebrew with the names of the months in Hebrew and Karaim, and notes from Jewish tombstones from the Crimea with Shaphal's remarks from 1872.
In the subsection of iconographies, most of the material is photographic images of individuals, cities and places from the second half of the 19th century until 1950. The records include photographs of the archaeologists A Firkovič and G Firkovič (19th century); photographs of some Karaim from Crimea and Lithuania; photographs of friends of Shapshal from St.Petersburg as well as photographs from the museum of Karaim, for example, views of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem (1923-1938).
The records of the subsection of Maps include a 20t-century map of Jerusalem.
Section V, Prints, contains newspapers cuttings on Karaim in Polish, Russian, and French from 1917-1938; some newspapers in Turkish Tatar printed in Arabic letters; a newspaper affiliated with the Youth fellowship in the Karaim dialect.
Section VI comprises material of other individuals. The largest part of the section is the correspondence of Vladislavas Kotvicius (107 items). V Kotvicius was a renowned orientalist and a professor at St. Petersburg University . The section contains mostly letters between Kotvicius and other people, mostly academic questions related to topics, such as the Far East. The section also contains some of his academic works.
The subsection of J. Lobanosas, one of the most prominent members of the Karaim community contains mostly translations of poems by different authors into the Karaim language.
The subsection of “Other Persons” contains letter in Turkish, Arabic, Persian and Karaim from 1921-1931. It also contains Karaim legends and tales written by N Shishman with dedications to S Sapsal from 1937-44. The subsection also includes, for example, a letter from the community of Karaim in Israel; letters from the Hacham of Karaim in Egypt; a record of M Blum's article about the town of Trakai, a translation from the newspaper “HaDavar "from 4 February 1936.
- Archival history:
- The material was received from the descendants of S Shapshal in 1962 in Vilnius. Some additional material was received in 1964 and 1986 from Romualdas Firkovičius.
- Administrative/biographical history:
- Seraya Shapshal was born in 1873 in Bahçesaray, Crimea. In 1894 he was accepted to St. Petersburg University, where he studied the Arabic-Persian-Turkish-Tatar languages and he also took a course on ancient Hebrew language with professors Kokovcev and Hvolson. He graduated in 1899 and became a professor of Turkish and Tatar literature. In 1900 he moved to Persia where he spent six years in the residence of the heir to the throne in Tabriz which at that time was ruled by Muhammad Ali. In 1906 Shapshal moved to Tehran for two years and in 1909 he returned to Russia. There he began working at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and at the same time he also taught Eastern languages at the university and at a special school for Ministry workers. Shapsal was a founding member until his death of a Russian Orientalist Society established in St. Petersburg in 1911. In 1911 he was asked to be the Hakham of Trakai town which he refused. However, five years later he was requested to become the Hakham again. This time he accepted and in 1915 he left to live in Yevpatoria, Crimea. There he established a national library of the Karaims, national museum of the Karaims, opened a parochial school which taught in Turkish, and introduced the teaching of Karaim history in the religious school of Alexandria. In 1919, when the Bolsheviks occupied Crimea, Shapshal moved to Turkey. In 1920 he travelled to Egypt and Jerusalem. At some point Shapshal was accused of attempting to dissociate from Jews. In 1927 he was again elected to be the Hakham of Karaims. From 1930 Shapshal began teaching in Vilnius and at some point established a museum, based on his personal collection, dedicated to the history and ethnography of Karaims. In 1939 Shapshal became professor at Vilnius University. He died in 1961 and was buried in the cemetery of Karaims in Vilnius.
- Access points: locations:
- Constantinople
- Crimea
- Lithuania
- St Petersburg
- Vilnius
- System of arrangement:
- The collection is arranged chronologically and alphabetically.
- Yerusha Network member:
- Central Archives for the History of the Jewish People
- Author of the description:
- Monika Žulytė