| Creator: | Eastman, Eliena Vassilyenva Krylenko, 1895-1956 |
| Creator: | Eastman, Max, 1883-1969 |
| Title: | Eastman, E. mss. |
| Collection No.: | LMC 1303 |
| Dates: | 1923-1958 |
| Quantity: |
Quantity: 1 Box Quantity: 1 standard |
| Abstract: | The Eastman, E. mss., 1923-1958, consists primarily of the correspondene and writings of Eliena Vassilyenva Krylenko Eastman, 1895-1956, artist, and Max Eastman, 1883-1969, author. |
| Location: | Lilly - Stacks |
| Language: | Materials are in Russian ; French ; German ; Spanish . |
| Repository: | Lilly Library 1200 E. Seventh St. Bloomington, Indiana 47405-5500 Business Number: 812-855-2452 liblilly@indiana.edu URL: https://libraries.indiana.edu/lilly-library |
Eliena Vassilyenva Krylenko Eastman, 1895-1956, was born in Lublin, Poland, the daughter of a Russian government official. Her brother, Nikolai, was a lawyer who joined the Bolshevik Party. In 1918, she graduated from the Leningrad University Law School but did not join the Party.
Max Eastman, 1883-1969, was an American writer on literature, philosophy and society, as well as a poet and prominent political activist.
Miss Krylenko was employed as a private secretary to Maxim Litvinov in spite of her non-Party status. She and Max Eastman met at the Genoa Conference in 1922, where Eastman was a special correspondent for the New York World . They renewed their acquaintance in Russia and were married in 1924. After a sojourn in Europe among other American ex-patriates, they returned to the United States to live in 1927.
Miss Krylenko was interested in teaching dancing to children on Martha's Vineyard Island; painting (she held several shows in New York and others in Paris and Boston); and writing poetry, which was published in The Freeman and Novy Zhurnal . In addition she taught for two years at the Walden School in New York and did translating work.
The Eastman, E. mss., 1923-1958, consists primarily of the correspondene and writings of Eliena Vassilyenva Krylenko Eastman, 1895-1956, artist, and Max Eastman, 1883-1969, author.
The correspondence was conducted during intervals in Russia, when Miss Krylenko commented on the death of Lenin, during Eastman's lecture tours in the United States, and during trips to Europe for Reader's Digest editorial projects, when Miss Krylenko heard Alcide de Gasperi give a campaign speech in 1951. In 1929, Eastman was in England to fulfill his obligations as guardian for the children of his sister, Crystal Eastman Fuller. At the same time, he furthered the gathering of pictures for his movie in preparation, entitled Tzar to Lenin , which Miss Krylenko assisted in editing, by traveling to Paris and Berlin.
Some of the letters are in Russian and a few telegrams are in French, German, and Spanish. Occasionally, drawings are appended to Miss Krylenko's letters: A dog, 1926, Mar. 20; Cats, 1920, Feb., and 1930; A woman and dog, 1942.
The writings consist chiefly of sketches derived from her personal experiences in Russia and a few poems. In 1958, Max Eastman reread the letters, made notes about them and about Eliena, and compiled a chronology of their stay in Europe for the period 1924-1927.
Folders of biographical material and of clippings related to dancing classes and art shows complete the collection.
Correspondents include Mary (Ritter) Beard, Josephine Bennett, Francis Biddle, Isabel Bishop, Charles Breck, Gina (Knee) Brook, Patricia (Taylor) Buckley, Witter Bynner, John Carroll, Amy Charak, Mady Christians, William Irving Clark, Edward Estlin Cummings, John Dewey, Pendleton Dudley, Daniel Eastman, Eliena Vassilyenva (Krylenko) Eastman, Max Eastman, Angna Enters, Ralph Erskine, Michael Farano, Lewis Stiles Gannett, Charles Bruce Gould, Charles Barney Harding, Eugene Higgins, Earl Francis Hofmann, Robert Sturgis Ingersoll, Hubert Renfro Knickerbocker, Isaac Don Levine, Samuel Morris Levitas, Diana B. Lewis, Jere Knight Lindtner, Mabel (Ganson) Dodge Luhan, Alexander Orlov, John Goldsmith Phillips, Frederick Bruce Robinson, Andrea Louise (Heinemann) Simon, Tess Slesinger, Boris Souvarine, Kay B. Stevens, Muriel Tourrenc, Irita (Brooks) Van Doren, Margit (Herzfeld) von Mises, DeWitt Wallace, Lila Belle (Acheson) Wallace, and William Zorach.
The contents of this collection are arranged chronologically.
This collection is open for research.
Many collections are housed offsite; retrieval requires advance notice. Please make an appointment a minimum of one week in advance of your visit.
Photography and digitization may be restricted for some collections. Copyright restrictions may apply. Before publishing, researchers are responsible for securing permission from all applicable rights holders, then filling out the Permission to Publish form.
[Item], Eastman, E. mss., Lilly Library, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana.
Purchase: 1972