L’émigration, une ouverture intellectuelle. Hélene Iswolsky et « la force des faibles »

FOLETTI, Karolina. L’émigration, une ouverture intellectuelle. Hélene Iswolsky et « la force des faibles » (Emigration as intellectual openness. Hélene Iswolsky and “the strength of the weak”). In 4èmes doctoriales en études russes. 2018.

Basic information

• Original name: L’émigration, une ouverture intellectuelle. Hélene Iswolsky et « la force des faibles »
• Name (in English): Emigration as intellectual openness. Hélene Iswolsky and “the strength of the weak”
• Authors: FOLETTI, Karolina.
• Edition: 4èmes doctoriales en études russes, 2018.

Other information

• Original language: French
• Type of outcome: Presentations at conferences
• Field of Study: 60101 History
• Country of publisher: France
• Confidentiality degree: is not subject to a state or trade secret
• Organization unit: Faculty of Arts
• Keywords in English: Helene Iswolsky; Russian emigration; Les rois aveugles; The Third Hour

Abstract

After the revolutions of 1917, Helen Iswolsky (1896–1975), the daughter of the Russian ambassador in Paris, became an émigré. Searching for the means of survival, she used her knowledge of languages to work as a journalist and writer presenting Russia’s history and presence to the western audience in her articles and novels. Sensitive to political problems and social issues, she joined western intellectuals (e.g. Jacques and Raisa Maritain, Dorothy Day) and other émigrés (Nicolas Berdiaev) in the reflection on the historical events and in the search for responsible attitudes to the situation at that time. Entering the Catholic Church in 1923, she became strongly involved in the promotion of ecumenical dialogs. Intellectual as well as religious aspects of Iswolsky’s work are closely connected with her initial situation of “weakness” – i.e. with her experience of exile. The latter is, however, transformed in “strength” in Iswolsky’s capacity to “cross the borders” between the Orthodox and Catholics, between Russian and western intellectuals, and also between the rich and poor.

Abstract (in English)

After the revolutions of 1917, Helen Iswolsky (1896–1975), the daughter of the Russian ambassador in Paris, became an émigré. Searching for the means of survival, she used her knowledge of languages to work as a journalist and writer presenting Russia’s history and presence to the western audience in her articles and novels. Sensitive to political problems and social issues, she joined western intellectuals (e.g. Jacques and Raisa Maritain, Dorothy Day) and other émigrés (Nicolas Berdiaev) in the reflection on the historical events and in the search for responsible attitudes to the situation at that time. Entering the Catholic Church in 1923, she became strongly involved in the promotion of ecumenical dialogs. Intellectual as well as religious aspects of Iswolsky’s work are closely connected with her initial situation of “weakness” – i.e. with her experience of exile. The latter is, however, transformed in “strength” in Iswolsky’s capacity to “cross the borders” between the Orthodox and Catholics, between Russian and western intellectuals, and also between the rich and poor.