Metadata: S. L. Tsinberg
Collection
- Country:
- Russia
- Holding institution:
- Institute of Oriental Manuscripts of the Russian Academy of Sciences
- Holding institution (official language):
- Институт восточных рукописей Российской Академии наук
- Postal address:
- 191186, St. Petersburg, Dvortsovaia nab., d. 18
- Phone number:
- (812) 315-87-28
- Web address:
- http://www.orientalstudies.ru
- Email:
- iom@orientaistudies.ru
- Reference number:
- F. 86
- Title:
- S. L. Tsinberg
- Title (official language):
- Цинберг С. Л.
- Creator/accumulator:
- Tsinberg, Sergei Lazarevich
- Date(s):
- early 19th c./1938
- Language:
- Yiddish
- Hebrew
- Russian
- German
- Polish
- Extent:
- 632 archival storage units
- Type of material:
- Textual material
- Physical condition:
- Good
- Scope and content:
-
The fonds contains a significant set of materials (in each of the three series) pertaining to Jewish history and culture; these may be provisionally divided into the following thematic groups:
1) Biographical and personal materials of S. L. Tsinberg (1907-34), including manuscripts of his autobiographical statements (one of them with the heading “Lecturer of the Jewish University”); a certificate regarding S. L. Tsinberg’s residence, with his family, until 1915 in the town of Lanovtsy (Kremenets county, Volhynia province), with signatures of witnesses and a Polish stamp (1921); various certificates, documents, and membership cards, in particular, a ticket to the All-Russian Congress of Zionists (1907-17) and his membership card for the Leningrad Regional Researchers’ Section (SNR) (1934); a list of S. L. Tsinberg’s scholarly works and studies (1934); etc.
2) Works by S. L. Tsinberg, including a partially published manuscript of his primary study A History of Jewish Literature, with preparatory materials (1919-37); manuscripts of studies, notes, excerpts, and printed and typewritten texts proofed by S. L. Tsinberg on the history of Jewish literature from the Middle Ages to modern times; several versions of articles on the struggle between mystics and rationalist philosophers during the Age of Enlightenment, Jewish ritual folklore and folk literature, the Haskalah movement in Russia, Russian-Jewish literature and journalism and biographical sketches of Jewish writers, in particular, “From an Unpublished Diwan of Solomon ibn Gabirol”, “On Ahad Ha-Am”, “A Half-Forgotten Chronicler of Everyday Life” on the maskil Ayzik Meyer Dik, as well as of Mikhah Yosef Berdyczewski (Berdichevsky), Mendele Moykher-Sforim, Sholem Aleichem, and others; reports on Immanuel of Rome, on medieval Jewish writers, etc. (1900s-20s); articles, notes, drafts, and bibliographies on the history and culture of Russian Jewry, including fragments of the monograph The History of Jews in Russia (c. 1914), etc.; historical works and critical essays on the Yiddish theatre and articles on prominent Jewish actors; articles and overviews on the political, economic, and everyday life of Jews (1904-20); encyclopaedia materials, in particular, an inventory of the literary legacy of S. An-skii (Rappoport), which includes historical, ethnographic and folkloric materials, documents on the Beilis case, materials of Jewish historical-ethnographic expeditions, information on S. An-skii’s activities during the First World War, lists and copies of his letters, fragments of autobiographical statements, credentials and identification papers, etc. (1880-1917).
3) S. L. Tsinberg’s correspondence with Jewish political, scholarly, public, educational and charitable organisations, including the Jewish Democratic Association in Petrograd (1917), the Society for the Promotion of Culture among the Jews of Russia (OPE) (1896-1924), the Jewish Historical-Ethnographic Commission (1902-14), the Jewish Literary Society (1910), the Jewish Society for Education and Schooling (1913-16), the Institute of Jewish Culture of the All-Ukrainian Academy of Sciences in Kiev (1931), the Jewish National and University Library in Jerusalem (1932), the Jewish Literary Circle in Warsaw (1925-30), the Jewish Union in Vienna (1910-11), the Institute for Jewish Research in Vil’na (YIVO) and the Association of Friends of the Institute (1926-37), the Lithuanian Ministry of Jewish Affairs (1922), the Carmel Music and Drama Society in Riga (1911), the Barkai Society in Jaffa (1910), the Society for Handicraft and Agricultural Work among the Jews (ORT) Association in Warsaw (1932-33), etc.; and the publishing houses Tomor, Brockhaus and Efron, the Jewish Encyclopedia, Kultur-lige, Moriya, etc. (1900s-30s); as well as with Jewish writers, scholars, and religious and public figures, in particular, M. Aizenshtadt (1918), S. U. Aizenshtadt (1912), S. An-skii (1908-12), S. I. Baron (1937), Sh. Ben-Tsion (1919), Mikhah Yosef Berdyczewski (Berdichevsky) (1909), R. Brainin (1905), A. I. Braudo (1911), S. Ia. Borov (1931), Iu. D. Brutskus (1907-17), I. L. Borukhovich (1909), Ḥayim Naḥman Bialik (1911-27), I. Vaisenberg (1909), M. Weinreich (1911-13), Morris Winchevsky (1909), M. L. Vishnitser (1922), M. Galperin (1909-11), Abraham Harkavy (1909), Iu. I. Gessen (1908-10), Saul Ginsburg (1907-09), Perets Hirshbeyn (1911-1912), David Hofshteyn (1923), L. P. Grosman (1923), S. Gurvich (undated), A. Gurshtein (1927-30), Yankev Dinezon (1907-10), I. Dobrushin (1930s), Simon Dubnow (1907-18), U. Ivask (1930s), Yosef Klausner (1910-32), G. M. Lerner (1898), S. G. Lozinskii (1908-10), D. G. Maggid (1911), Sh. N. Niger (1913-15), I. Nissel’baum (1911), I. M. Nusinov (1930), Yoysef Opatoshu (1937-38), Yitskhok Leybush Peretz (1911), D. Pinskii (1911), N. Prilutskii (1910-24), S. V. Pozner (1908), Ia. K. Rabinovich (1911), Z. Ratner (1922), A. Reizen (1907), Z. Reizen (1911-32), L. A. Sev (1907-10), M. Spektor (1912), M. Strashun (1931), G. Ia. Syrkin (1912), F. Frenkel’ (1912), A. Frumkin (1908), S. Charny (S. Niger) (1911-1921), E. Cherikover (1922-31), I. Shapiro (1909), Sholem Aleichem (1909), N. Shtif (1910-32), A. Z. Shteinberg (1921-23), I. Iashunskii (undated) and others.
4) Manuscripts of various authors, including short stories, essays, poems, and articles by S. Charny (S. Niger), Mortkhe Rivesman, T. Ts. Feiner, Avraham Ber Gottlober, A. Orez, M. Vitberg, and other (1900s-20s); journalistic, religious and historical works and memoirs, including “In Memory of Those Killed during the Pogrom in the city of Rudinai” by I. G. Aizenshtadt (undated); “Facts from the History of the Jews during the Polish Uprising of 1830” by Sh. Sheindin; “From the History of the Jews of Uman” by D. Kogan (undated); “A History of the Subbotniks” by M. Z. Kuz’min (circa 1914); “One Hundred Years of the Jewish Press in Russia” by A. Kirzhnits (1923); “Biographies of Jewish Political Figures (Latter Half of the 19th century)” by M. Galperin (undated); “Military Censorship and the Jewish Question” (author unknown, 1914-17); “An Open Letter from a Palestinian to a Palestinian” by V. L. Berman; “Bitter Wailing (Spiritual Teachings”) by A. V. Erlikh; “On the Name of G-d” by I. Zak; “On Hasidism” by P. Marek; “An Edifying Collection of Gersonides” by Kh. Luzhskoi (undated); memoirs by A. F. Perel’man (1930s); etc.; biographical notes (authors unknown) on the Jewish writers A. I. Amsterdam, R.-M. Abramovich, A. Marek (Arnsztejn) (undated); etc.
5) Materials on the activities of several Jewish public organisations (draft charters, records, minutes of meetings of governing bodies, business correspondence, etc.), in particular, the Society for the Promotion of Culture among the Jews of Russia (OPE) (1876-1917), the Society for the Protection of the Health of the Jewish Population (OZE) (1917), the Jewish Literary Society in St. Petersburg (1913) and the Petrograd Jewish University (1919-20).
6) Correspondence of various persons, including between M. Borokhov and V. Ia. Aizman (1883); G. Bogrov and L. O. Levanda (1878); and D. A. Khvol’son and Prince N. I. Sviatopolk-Mirskii (1899); letters to M. Vinaver from Nokhem Shtif (1916), S. M. Gol’dshtein (1915), Simon Dubnow (1910), etc.; to A. N. Rozenfel’d from Sholem Aleichem, I. Gal’perin, I. Ravnitskii, and others (1881-1915); letters from various correspondents to S. An-skii (1907-12), Iu. I. Gessen (1908-18), Saul Ginsburg (1909-15), Avraham Ber Gottlober (undated) and Simon Dubnow (1910); correspondence of members of the “Bilu” Society regarding the purchase of a plot of land in Jaffa in Palestine for a Zionist colony (1883-84); etc.
7) Copies of materials on the history of Jews in Russia and Poland, which may be provisionally divided into four subgroups:
7.1) Copies of historical documents, including investigative materials pertaining to a case heard by the Synod with the heading “On the Burning of Voznitsin and Leibov” (1788); three documents concerning Jews from the Polish cities of Przhirov and Staro-Czentochowo (1795-1852); a report by Rabbi A. Khaimovich to Emperor Paul I regarding the Jewish sect of Hasidim, etc. (early 19th century); an extract from Jewish chronicles of the early 19th century made by S. Scheindlin in the town of Shkudy (Kovno province); excerpts from a letter from Rabbi M. G. Rebel’skii of the town of Bairamcha (Bessarabia) regarding pogroms against Jews (1881); printed copies of imperial decrees on issues pertaining to Jews (1822-59); a copy of an order establishing a Jewish congregation among lower ranks of the Tarutino regiment in Krasnostav (1904); materials of sessions of the State Duma’s Commission on Religious Affairs, including statements by Jewish deputies and a transcript of a speech by N. M. Fridman (1911); excerpts from army orders, circulars and other documents containing commentary on the attitude of the Russian military command toward Jews during the First World War, including descriptions of pogroms committed by Cossacks; police charge sheets pertaining to the rape and robbery of Jewish refugees (1914-15); a hectographic copy of a typewritten document titled “A Letter from Galicia” about the deplorable condition of the L’vov and other Galician Jewish communities as a result of the war, including a request for assistance from Petrograd Jews (circa 1914); etc.
7.2) Appeals, statements, declarations, and programs of Jewish political parties and associations, in particular, the Jewish People’s Group; the Jewish People’s Party (Di yidishe folkspartey); the Jewish People’s Union; the Union for the Achievement of the Equal Rights for the Jewish People in Russia; the Zionist Organisation; etc. (1900s-10s).
7.3) Reports, statements, resolutions, programs and minutes of meetings of school commissions regarding the state of Jewish education in Russia (1916-17); materials about the Jewish press, including correspondence with the Main Press Administration regarding publication of the journal Ha-Boker Or, including a letter from Avraham Ber Gottlober on this issue (1878-80), letters to the editorial office of the St. Petersburg newspaper Der Fraynd (1905) and copies of documents on the suspension of Jewish publications by order of the military authorities, including an appeal submitted by the Jewish Committee for the Relief of War Victims (EKOPO) in protest of this order (1915).
7.4) Copies and originals of various personal documents (identification papers, certificates, credentials, diplomas, applications, complaints, petitions, etc.), in particular, a master-weaver’s certificate issued by the magistrate of the city of Aleksandrov (Warsaw province) to a Jew named Pinzenskii (1858); a certificate issued by the office of the St. Petersburg chief of police to L. I. Mandel’shtam attesting to his good conduct during his studies in the capital (1860); a petition from the “learned Jew” I. Gershtein to the Kovno, Vil’na and Grodno governor-general requesting payment of his salary (1866); certificates, permits and other documents belonging to the Jewish educationist G. A. Vigdorchik (1866-1902); a certificate issued by the Minsk community rabbi to A. E. Krol’ permitting his son to marry (1866); the last will and testament of I. A. Blokh (1890); etc.
- Administrative/biographical history:
-
Sergei (Yisroel) Lazarevich Tsinberg (1873-1939) was a literary critic and author of the first general history of Jewish literature as well as a bibliographer, commentator and chemist. In 1891, he began studying in the chemistry department of the Karlsruhe Polytechnic Institute, from which he graduated in 1895; he also received the degree of doctor of philosophy at the University of Basel. He worked as an engineer at chemical plants in Germany. In 1898, he returned to Russia and settled in St. Petersburg. From 1899 to 1938, he worked in the chemical laboratory (from 1905 on, as its director) at the Putilov (from 1934, Kirov) Steel Mill and published several works in the field of chemical analysis of metallurgical production. He was one of the most prominent representatives of the Russian-Jewish intelligentsia, along with S. An-skii, Simon Dubnow, Saul Ginsburg, Iulii Brutskus and Iu. I. Gessen. He took part in operations of the Historical-Ethnographic Commission of the Society for the Promotion of Culture among the Jews of Russia (OPE) (from 1908, the Jewish Historical-Ethnographic Society) and lectured at this institution. Beginning in 1900, he published articles in the newspaper Voskhod [Sunrise] and the journal Books of Voskhod, and from October 1901 he had a column in this publication titled “A Survey of the Jewish Press”. In 1906, after publication of these periodicals ceased, he contributed surveys of the Jewish press to Rassvet [Dawn], Svoboda i ravenstvo [Freedom and Equality], Evreiskii mir [Jewish World], Evreiskaia starina [Jewish Antiquities], Evreiskoe obozrenie [The Jewish Review], Novyi voskhod [The New Sunrise], The Jewish Week, Ha-Melits and Ha-Zeman. He took part in the founding of the newspaper Der Fraynd (1903), the publishing house Di Naye Bibliotek (1903-05) and the monthly Di yudishe velt (1912) and drew up a plan for a universal encyclopaedia in Yiddish. During the First World War, he founded the publishing house Der Tog. In 1905-06, he was a member of the Folkspartey (People’s Party) and was involved in the publication of its press organ Dos Folksblat. In 1917 he took part in operations of the Jewish People’s Union (a block of the Folkspartey in conjunction with nonpartisans) and was editor of the historical collection Perezhitoe [The Past] (1910-13); he was also involved in this publication’s continuation, the Ha-Avar collection (1918). In 1912, he compiled a sample catalogue of books for adults in Hebrew and Yiddish for the OPE. He lectured on Jewish literature at the Oriental Studies Courses of Baron D. G. Gintsburg (subsequently the Petrograd Jewish University), and at the Jewish Literary Society and other organisations. From 1908 to 1913, he was a staff member and editor of the modern Jewish literature department for the Jewish Encyclopaedia, contributing over 300 articles to this publication. After the October Revolution, he continued to study Jewish history and culture. From 1919 to 1923, he served as research secretary of the Petrograd Jewish University and taught history of Jewish literature and of the Yiddish language. From 1922 to 1930, he contributed scholarly and commentary pieces to the journals and collections Evreiskii vestnik [Jewish Herald], Evreiskaia mysl’ [Jewish Thought], Evreiskaia letopis’ [Jewish Chronicle] and Evreiskaia starina [Jewish Antiquities] (of which he served as editor from 1928 to 1930). In 1923, he was elected vice-chair of the Jewish Historical-Ethnographic Society and from 1927 was its acting chair. In the 1920s-30s, his writings were also published in foreign publications and he corresponded with friends and colleagues outside the Soviet Union, and hosted guests from abroad, such as M. L. Vishnitser, Yoysef Opatoshu and David Pinsky. In December 1938, he was arrested by officers of the NKVD and sentenced to eight years in camps under article 58-10 of the RSFSR Criminal Code; he was sent to the Far East to serve this sentence. He died in 1939 in the Vladivostok transit camp. He was officially exonerated in 1956. His main works were: The Origin of Shylock (St. Petersburg, 1901), “Yiddish Literature and its Readers” (Books of Voskhod, 1903, no. 3, 4); Two Currents in Jewish Life (St. Petersburg, 1906); The First Socialist Entities in Jewish Literature (Perezhitoe, St. Petersburg, 1910, vol. 1); Yitsḥak Ber Levinzon and His Time (St. Petersburg, 1910) and “Der ‘Kol Mevaser’ un zain Zait” [Kol Mevaser and Its Times] (Di yudishe velt, 1913, no. I-IV); A History of the Jewish Press in Russia As Connected with Social Trends (Petrograd, 1915); A History of Jewish Literature of the European Period: The Middle Ages, book 1 (Kiev, 1919); Di geshikhte fun der literatur bay yidn [The History of Jewish Literature] (8 vols., Vilno, 1929-38); etc.
The Institute of Oriental Manuscripts of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IVR RAN) is a research institute in the Academy of Sciences system. Its operations are focused mainly on the comprehensive study of landmarks of the literature of the East, as well as of the ancient and medieval history of the countries of Asia and North Africa. The fonds of the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts currently contain a significant collection of Jewish materials reflecting both the rabbinical and Karaite traditions: approximately 50,000 printed books in Hebrew (including 66 incunabula and approximately 300 paleotypes); about 10,000 printed books in Yiddish; over 1,700 manuscripts (among them, 1,217 codices and 79 scrolls), not counting a great number of fragments; and about 5,000 copies of Jewish newspapers (published before 1917). The Hebrew fonds was formed during the 19th and 20th centuries from the private collections of L F Friedland, D A Khvol’son, D G Maggid, V V Radlov, E Ross, P K Kokovtsov and other collectors, mandatory copies of all books printed in the territory of the Russian Empire and books expropriated after the October Revolution from synagogues and Jewish schools. Some of the publications were acquired as ‘trophies’ of the Second World War.
- Access points: locations:
- Bairamcha
- Galicia
- Krasnostav
- L’vov
- Lanovtsy
- Russia
- Shkudy
- St Petersburg
- Uman
- Access points: persons/families:
- Hirshbeyn, Perets
- Riversman, M. S.
- Sholem Aleichem
- Winchevsky, Morris
- Subject terms:
- Beilis affair
- Correspondence
- Crime
- Education
- Historical research
- Jewish daily life and religious practices
- Jewish political activity
- Jewish press
- Jewish soldiers
- Legal matters
- Literature
- Literature--Writers, poets, and playwrights
- Manuscripts
- Personal records
- Pogroms
- Theatre
- Wills
- World War I
- Zionism
- Zionism--Zionist Congress
- System of arrangement:
- The fonds comprises three series arranged by structure, theme and alphabetically.
- Finding aids:
- Inventories are available.
- Yerusha Network member:
- Jewish Theological Seminary