Mikhail Zinovievich Vinokurov: Yakut Emigrant, Librarian at the USA Library of Congress

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to reconstruct the personal history of Mikhail Zinovievich Vinokurov (1894-1983), one of the brightest representatives of the Russian intelligentsia of Yakutia, as a biographical narrative. The biography and heritage of M. Z. Vinokurov are considered in the historiography of the topic under study, publications of foreign and Russian researchers. The article reveals the American period of M. Vinokurov life in emigration, cites documents from his collection, transferred in 1983 to the State Library of Alaska (Alaska, USA), copies of which are stored in the National Library of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia). M. Z. Vinokurov was a writer and public figure who devoted his whole life to enlightenment and creative activity for the benefit of his motherland. While in exile, being a librarian of the US Library of Congress, he initiated and implemented a global project to form the Russian collection of books, ethnographic sources of Siberia, manuscripts, photographs, letters related to Russian America, the Orthodox Church and the literary heritage of the Russian emigration. In this work, he saw his patriot mission. Introduction of Mikhail Vinokurov’s biographical world to the scientific context dictates the need to turn to new archival, visual and personal sources. The article also presents materials on the perpetuation of the memory of M. Z. Vinokurov by the National Library of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) in the form of publishing documents from his collection. The plan-prospect of the collection of documents ”The Heritage of Mikhail Zinovievich Vinokurov” in 4 volumes was prepared and approved.The c ollection will become an important step in preserving and promoting the rich cultural heritage of Yakutia and Russia as a whole, as well as in further studying the history of Russian intelligentsia and culture.