Metadata: Limuvia Fraternity
Collection
- Country:
- Estonia
- Holding institution:
- National Archives of Estonia
- Holding institution (official language):
- Eesti Rahvusarhiiv
- Postal address:
- Ristiku 84 (Filmiarhiiv), 10318 Tallinn
- Phone number:
- (+372) 693 8613
- Web address:
- www.ra.ee
- Email:
- filmiarhiiv@ra.ee
- Reference number:
- EFA. 238
- Title:
- Limuvia Fraternity
- Title (official language):
- Üliõpilaskonvent Korporatsioon Limuvia
- Creator/accumulator:
- Limuvia Fraternity
- Date(s):
- 1923/1933
- Language:
- Estonian
- Extent:
- 357 images
- Type of material:
- Photographic images
- Physical condition:
- good
- Scope and content:
-
The collection comprises 357 photographs connected with the Limuvia fraternity of the University of Tartu. The collection comprises photographs of the fraternity’s members and meetings in the 1920s and 1930s during the period when the fraternity was officially active in independent Estonia.
The inventory dates every photograph (from 1923 to 1933); only two images are not dated. Most of the photographs in the collection were taken between 1927 and 1930 (about 50 photographs for each year, 221 photographs out of 357). Some of the photographs also appear with full dates and 33 photographs note the name of the photographer. On 165 photographs, fraternity members or alumni have been identified with their names and/or surnames.
Most of the images (255) in the collection are group photographs of Limuvia fraternity members, including 20 photographs of Limuvia’s board members. There are also photographs taken during festivities and trips (26 and 14 respectively), photographs of Limuvia’s alumni (24) as well as photographs taken during celebrations of the fraternity’s anniversaries (the earliest refer to the 44th anniversary in 1927, the latest belong to the 49th anniversary in 1932).
Some of the images are photographic portraits of the fraternity’s members (49 images, including 18 photographs of the senior members of Limuvia fraternity). There are also 7 photographs of the buildings and rooms as well as 6 photographs depicting the fraternity’s coat of arms, flags, rapiers and drinking horns.
The vast majority of the photographs were taken in Tartu (307), though there are some photographs taken during trips in Estonia (Tallinn – 13, Pärnu – 3, Rakvere – 1). Particularly interesting are the photographs taken in Riga (Latvia) since they depict relations between the Limuvia fraternity of the University of Tartu and the Vetulia fraternity located in Riga. There are seven photographs of Limuvia members visiting Vetulia in Riga (1924-1927), as well as photographs of Vetulia’s seniors and members (3 photographs). There is also one photograph of members of the Kaunas fraternity Vetaria (Lithuania) visiting the Limuvia fraternity in Tartu in 1928.
- Archival history:
- The Limuvia fraternity was liquidated in 1940 alongside other Jewish organisations; the fraternity’s belongings were transferred to the Estonian State Archives. During the Soviet occupation, the archives were governed by Moscow. Currently, the collection is held at the Film Archive of the National Archives of Estonia. The collection’s inventory was added to the Estonian Archival Information system (AIS) in 2002. The collection has been fully digitised and is now available on the National Archives Photo Database (www.ra.ee/fotis/) where some additional technical data about the photographs were added.
- Administrative/biographical history:
- The Limuvia fraternity (it can also be spelled as Limuwia) was registered in 1925 at the University of Tartu, soon after Estonia gained its independence. The present collection presents the fraternity’s activities during the period when Limuvia was officially active as a student fraternity (predecessors of Limuvia fraternity were active in the University of Tartu from the end of the 19th century; the independent Estonia Jewish Student society was registered initially in 1922, and in 1925 it was officially reorganised as a Limuvia fraternity or “corporation”). The fraternity was active until April 1940, the official reason for its closure was insufficient membership (see: “Korp. Limuvia likvideerub.” Postimees, 4 April 1940 (nr. 87), p. 8).
- Subject terms:
- Education--Student organisations
- Photographs
- System of arrangement:
- The collection consists of one inventory which is arranged chronologically.
- Finding aids:
-
The archival materials from the fraternity are gathered in the fonds ERA.2292. Tartu Ülikooli Üliõpilaskonvent Korporatsioon Limuvia; there is a separate collection containing the materials from the Limuvia Fraternity Alumni Association: ERA.2291. Korporatsiooni Limuvia Vilistlaskogu. Additional materials connected to the fraternity can be found in: University of Tartu Library Archive, f. 55. 2. 553. Limuvia, Korporatsioon; EAA.2100.19.197. Limuvia Akadeemiline Juuditeaduslik Selts, põhikiri ja kirjavahetus selle kinnitamise asjus; EFA.238. Üliõpilaskonvent Korporatsioon Limuvia.
See also an article about the Jewish student organisations in Tartu: Hiio, Toomas. “Jewish Students and Jewish Student Organisations at the University of Tartu.” Tartu University History Museum: Annual Report 1998, 1999, p. 119-72.
- Yerusha Network member:
- Central Archives for the History of the Jewish People
- Author of the description:
- Antonina Martynenko