«The long sobs // Of Violins // In autumn // Wound my heart…» Once this season comes, I recall Paul Verlaine’s Chanson d’Automne. Since ancient times, autumn has provoked a feeling of sadness in Russian people, wherever in the Northern Hemisphere the fate throws them. So, it seems to me… However, I don’t rule out that this is just a game of my mind, «a tribute to personal emotions”, as a psychologist would say.
Autumn traditionally delights us with literary masterpieces. For creative people, especially poets, it is the most fruitful time of the year. Once I even came across such an expression in a literary publication: «Autumn starfall» in reference to the masterpieces created by writers during autumn.
The Russian Mind‘s new issue is about the autumn starfall of a slightly different nature: about the Russian writers in whose biographies important anniversaries fall on the beginning and middle of autumn. The materials are dedicated to the 155th anniversary of the birth of Ivan Bunin and Alexander Kuprin, the 145th anniversary of the birth of Andrei Bely, the 130th anniversary of the birth of Sergei Yesenin…
We will also remember the pioneer of colour photography in Russia Sergei Prokudin-Gorsky, the author of the unique Russian Empire through Colour Photos collection in the early twentieth century. We will also talk with Nikita Lobanov-Rostovsky about his many years of interacting with global auction houses. As always, we will offer our readers a material by Augustine Sokolowski, a PhD in Theology, as well as publications in History rubric: Andrei Burovsky’s essay on the fall of the Roman Empire and Lyudmila Tretyakova’s Three Days of Borodino, dedicated to the thirtieth anniversary of the establishment of the Day of the Battle of Borodino. By tradition, we publish literary works: poems and a short story. And those who love French songs will be able to test themselves by singing along to the characters of the essay on the history of real chanson. We offer part 1 of this series.
«A sobbing autumn, like a poor widow // All coloured black, today is hazing hearts…»How can we not recall Anna Akhmatova!
Alas, autumn is also a time of losses for our editorial staff. Prince Alexander Trubetskoy, a long-time member of the editorial board of the Russian Mind magazine, has passed away. Memory rubric is dedicated to him. Eternal memory to him!
By Kirill Privalov
