From the epistolary legacy of V.F. Minorsky: His three letters to the military orientalist K.N. Smirnov

Abstract

The article is devoted to the study of three unknown letters of the outstanding Russian Imperial Orientalist and diplomat Vladimir Fedorovich Minorsky to his colleague, Soltan Ahmad Shah Qajar's tutor Staff-Captain K.N. Smirnov. As it is known, V.F. Minorsky left behind a rich epistolary legacy of great cultural and scholar value. V.F. Minorsky's above-mentioned letters reveal many details of his diplomatic activities related to Qajar Iran. V.F. Minorsky's letters make it possible not only to judge about the Russian Imperial policy in that country, but also to have an idea of him as a person with a wide circle of friends and colleagues with whom he often corresponded. Among those people who were part of the closest circle of colleagues and friends of the venerable scholar was a military Orientalist, who during years served with V.F. Minorsky at the Russian diplomatic mission in Tehran, Konstantin Nikolaevich Smirnov. The following three letters from V.F. Minorsky to K.N. Smirnov, discovered by us at the end of XX c. in the personal archives of K.N. Smirnov, kept at the National Center of Georgian Manuscripts, in Tbilisi, attest to their close, friendly ties, so close that V.F. Minorsky confides in his friend even the details of the personal life of the Russian mission staff. These letters of V.F. Minorsky are dated 1909 and sent from St.-Petersburg and Tashkent. Despite private character, they nevertheless give some idea of the activities of the Russian diplomatic mission in this country, as well as of individual historical figures. The content of V.F. Minorsky's letters will be of considerable interest to researchers, as well as to the public, interested in his epistolary legacy. © 2021 International Network Center for Fundamental and Applied Research. All rights reserved.