‘On account of famine, the internment camp has been dissolved, and the countess is starving at home…’. Letters of Vladimir and Elena Nedzelsky to Vera Bunin from the years 1922–1924

Abstract

The Nedzelsky are telling Vera Bunina about Viktor, the son of their mutual friend, the writer A. Fyodorov: how he has just turned up in Kishinev, having escaped from the ‘red’ Odessa. The letters from Leeds Russian Archive offer an insight into Viktor’s life in Romania, as well as clues to decipher V. Kataev’s story Werther Has Already Been Written [Uzhe napisan Verter], inspired by the Fyodorovs’ tragic family history. Another theme is related to V. Nedzelsky’s confession of his secret passion for another woman and his desperate efforts to negotiate humanitarian aid (a Hoover food parcel) to save his starving beloved from death. This information can substantially enrich the biographies of the two remarkable Russian female scientists.