Kaufmann

[lynn cates]

Tchitcherine

Hello All. Here is a link relating to Tchitcherine's incarceration at Brixton. Paragraph 6 is rather astonishing.

Dates of his "sightings of Tsarist spies" not given. Pity.

http://www.marxists.org/archive/maclean/works/1917-refugees.htm

Cheers.
LC

[lynn cates]

scooped

Hello All. I have stated elsewhere that I am not an original thinker. Here is a case in point. Seems this Tchitcherine chap (say that 10 times real fast) had a similar idea about the Okhrana.

Wish I could see his results.

(Snippet is from Lloyd's, December 12, 1917.)

Cheers.
LC

[lynn cates]

sundry

Hello Maria. That's not to mention diminutives, as "Mitya" for "Dmitri." And, yes, Dostoevski confuses the daylights out of mi estudiantes.

Thanks for the kind words, but, yes, the Okhrana archives are better left for Gareth. He could make short work of it.

I think Freud would say you need a break from the Ripper. (heh-heh)

Cheers.
LC

[mariab]

Hello Lynn.
Yes, I know about Russian patronyms. For people not acquainted with the Russian culture this can be very confusing, because if a clueless American youth reads Dostoyevski for the first time and there's a character named “Boris Andreyev“ and then he gets referred to in dialogue as “Boris Alexeyevitch“ (i.e., Boris Andreyev, son of Alexei Andreyev), then the clueless reader is pretty much lost. At least I've heard such complaints from students reading Russian lit for the very first time.
It would be cool if Fiona read Russian. If not, there's Gareth Williams. There's also my colleague at Oxford who's an experienced Tolstoi translator, and might know someone younger and cheap. I will be communicating with her fairly often in the spring, since she just invited me/accepted me at a conference. The only problem: location, Palo Alto.
I really don't understand your Stanford student's demeanor, esp. since she was payed. Perhaps she was working herself on this project and prefers to keep mum?
Lynn, let us see if there's any further relevant information in the rest of the boxes at the Archives Nationales in Paris. I'm supposed to be there all March/April (until shortly before Easter). Esp. the extra lone box located through the French book that Debra Arif provided to me appears as relevant, and the shelf mark appears genuine. This can be checked out in a few hours (on location).
As for learning Russian ŕ la va vite, Lynn, it might turn out as an interesting project for you, if you were willing to give it a few years, but it's not the script that's the problem, Lynn, it's the language. And the grammar's a total killer. It's much harder than German or Greek. Actually, my mom learned Russian (as a hobby) in 3 years, up to the point where she could read Pushkin poems and Tchechov short stories, but after 10 years of neglecting it, she's lost a lot of it. For someone as quick as you, I would predict that you can manage it in about 2 years.
Might I also confess that a few nights ago (I think it was before Xmas) I had this dream in my sleep where you had sent me to Saint Petersburg for “undercover research“ and I was learning Russian intensely and was illegally reading up the reports of my future Russian bosses (whom I was supposed to double-cross) stolen from some archives. At this point I should mention that I just bought Salt with Angelina Jolie recently, and we keep watching it a lot.

[lynn cates]

Russian

Hello Maria. Yes, it's a feminine ending. If I recall my Russian naming systems properly, the female cognomen always takes an "a." So Mrs. Alexeev becomes Alexeeva.

There is also a system with middle names. This was explained to me by a friend, a concert pianist (Alexandre Dossin). He informed me that, a Russian boy takes his father's first name, with modification, as his middle name. So his son's middle name would be "Alexandrovich." Likewise, a girl's middle name would be "Alexandrovna." (He and his wife were about to have their first child.)

Does Fiona read Russian? Not sure, but it would be lovely if she did.

My student produced nothing except a terse, "No. Nothing you would be interested in."

So, what are the chances that you will tackle the intricacies of Cyrillic script and Russian (heh-heh)?

Cheers.
LC

[mariab]

Apologies Lynn, the attachment in your post #197 confirms that “Rasputina“ is the feminine.

[mariab]

Lynn Cates wrote:
I wonder if it's possible that Le Queux, in his "Okhrana theory" accidentally misread "Raspoutina" for Rasputin?
Wow, Lynn, interesting thought! I'm probably wrong in this assumption, but is “Rasputina“ perhaps the genitive and not the feminine of “Rasputin“? Or maybe it's the femimine, after all? I seem to recall that Putin's wife is called “Putina“ – which generated lots of humor by the Italian journalists. After all, we know what “putana“ means in Italian/Spanish.
Any chance that Fiona reads Russian? That would be our luck!
Lynn, did the grad student at Stanford at least gave you a list of the contents of the things she went through? Also, your Rocker hasn't arrived yet (there are tons of flights cancelled due to the snow), but I'm keeping my eyes open. Plus, do you think that you'd consider emailing Mr Butterworth, perhaps at a later point? (I'd rather continue the discussion here than in the Modern Day BS/Stride thread, as it's most relevant here.)

[lynn cates]

Anna Raspoutina

Hello All. The following were generously provided by Simon Wood.

Cheers.
LC

[lynn cates]

Raspoutina?

Hello All. Does anyone know about Raspoutina?

The following is a snippet from the London Daily Mail, August 19, 1912. Azeff [sic] was a spy, in spite of his denial here. What intrigues me is that the person he informed against and was hanged is identified as "Raspoutina."

I wonder if it's possible that Le Queux, in his "Okhrana theory" accidentally misread "Raspoutina" for Rasputin?

Cheers.
LC

[lynn cates]

archives

Hello Fiona. I presume some has. Actually, the Okhrana collection is housed in Palo Alto California at the Hoover Institute attached to Stanford University.

Most archive collections are accessible. Wish Special Branch's were.

Cheers.
LC

[Fi Saint]

Thanks for enlightening me Lynn. Can you tell me, has any research been carried out in Moscow archives?

Fiona

[lynn cates]

baby/bathwater

Hello Fiona. Yes, indeed.

I, and most researchers, dismiss this story since:

1. Le Queux wrote some sensational things.

2. It seems unlikely that Rasputin, given his status, would know about the case.

3. The motivation is all wrong. The Okhrana sought good will with neighbouring police forces. They went out of their way to cooperate.

4. The mutilations, caeteris paribus, make no sense. Why not just kill?

On the other hand, we may have thrown out the baby with the bathwater. Given that their concerns about the proliferation of Russian Jewish Anarchists in East London prompted the Okhrana's Paris office to open a London branch, imagine their delight at finding a maniac who "had a foreign appearance" and who had killed 2 women.

But, alas, he is now safely caged in an asylum. Ah, but where there's a will there's a way!

Cheers.
LC

[Fi Saint]

Beg your pardon, was that a rhetorical question?

[Fi Saint]

Hello Lynn et al,

According to Wikipedia Le Queux saw a manuscript in French written by Rasputin stating that Jack the Ripper was a Russian doctor named Alexander Pedachenko who committed the murders to confuse and ridicule Scotland Yard

fiona

[lynn cates]

journalists working together

Hello All. This is from the Daily Mail February 2, 1920. The old boy is still active.

Why is the name William Le Queux ringing a bell?

Cheers.
LC