Boris Souvarine papers

The papers contain correspondence with colleagues and friends (very little from family), compositions, and source files containing printed matter concerning east-west relations. Generally, the original arrangement of materials has been retained. Consequently there is a large section entitled: Compositions arranged by subject. This section reflects Souvarine's original subject categories but the order within each category has been reorganized in the repository into: letters, compositions, and printed materials. Cross-references have been made to all relevant sections within the larger index. An alphabetical listing of the topical groups assembled in this section can be found at the end of the index in appendix 1.

The bulk of the letters date from 1940 to 1984, with some earlier and later. A large early section pertains to Souvarine's years as a communist and to his time spent as a member of the Comintern (see section IV-B, International correspondence). Much of this material, however, are copies that Souvarine gathered for his own research purposes. There are a very few letters from Boris Souvarine to others and those that do exist are mostly drafts. It should be noted that Souvarine's library (including both books and manuscripts) was pillaged by the Nazis during World War II and consequently scattered over Europe (see section IV-B, Nazi pillage). There is a noteworthy collection of letters and compositions by Simone Weil, as well as materials from countless other important figures of the French and Russian political and cultural scene during the twentieth century.

Over half of the collection can be classified as printed materials which consist of source files of clippings, pamphlets, books and offprints that Souvarine assembled for his own use.

The papers have been annotated by Souvarine's step-daughter, Genevieve (Ginette) de Bidart Merrill. Numerous penciled notes in her handwriting can be found throughout. These notes have mostly not been mentioned in the cataloging. Much of the identification of names could not have been made without her assistance.