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COLLECTION Identifier: MS Russ 111

Genrietta Levitina-Dombrovskaia papers concerning Dmitrii Shostakovich

Overview

Letters and music scores by Dmitrii Shostakovich and letters from members of the Shostakovich's family addressed to Genrietta Levitina-Dombrovskaia and her family, and Levitina's other papers related to Shostakovich.

Dates

  • Creation: 1934-1973
  • Creation: Majority of material found within 1946-1960

Language of Materials

Collection materials are in Russian.

Conditions Governing Access

There are no restrictions on physical access to this material.

Conditions Governing Use

Publication of the entire corpus of the Dmitrii Shostakovich letters in the Levitina-Dombrovskaia papers is subject to the review of the Curator of Modern Books and Manuscripts and the Chair of the Music Department, Harvard University.

Extent

1 linear feet (2 boxes)

Includes letters to Genrietta Levitina and her son Viacheslav Dombrovskii from the composer Dmitrii Shostakovich, Maria Shostakovich (his sister), Sof'ia Shostakovich (his mother), and Zinaida Gaiamova (his secretary). Also includes letters to Levitina from the playwright Evgenii Shvarts, poet Samuil Marshak, scientist Pelageia Kochina, pianist Galina Ustvol'skaia, and wife and daughter of poet Nikolai Zabolotskii, Ekaterina and Natal'ia Zabolotskie. Also includes letters from Dmitrii Shostakovich to Genrietta Levitina's son Viacheslav Dombrovskii [Viatcheslav Dombrovski].

Notes by Genrietta Levitina, photographs, a sketch of Shostakovich by Gerta Nemenova, printed music scores of Shostakovich's compositions and programs.

Biographical / Historical

Genrietta Davydovna Levitina-Dombrovskaia, 1903-1961 [Генриетта Давыдовна Левитина-Домбровская] worked as a secretary in the Russian children's book department of the Leningrad State Publisher (GIZ) where she formed close friendships with many writers and poets. She was married to Viacheslav Romual'dovich Dombrovskii, (Вячеслав Ромуальдович Домбровский), a member of the OGPU, State Political Directorate. In 1937 Dombrovskii was arrested and shortly thereafter executed as an "enemy of the people." He was rehabilitated in 1956. Genrietta Levitina-Dombrovskaia was arrested in the same year and spend several years in the labor camp in Kazakhstan. She was released in 1945, but was not permitted to return to Leningrad until 1955.

Viacheslav Dombrovskii knew the composer Dmitrii Shostakovich through his family; upon Dombrovskii's marriage, Shostakovich became a friend of the Dombrovskii family.

Arrangement

Arranged into the following series:

  1. I. Correspondence
  2. II. Scores and other material

Physical Location

b [shelved as MS]

Immediate Source of Acquisition

2010M-71. Gift of Viacheslav Dombrovskii [Viatcheslav Dombrovski]; received: 2011 March 8.

Processing Information

Processed by: Irina Klyagin

Title
Levitina-Dombrovskaia, Genrietta Davydovna, 1903-1961. Genrietta Levitina-Dombrovskaia papers concerning Dmitrii Shostakovich, 1934-1973: Guide.
Author
Houghton Library, Harvard College Library
Description rules
dacs
Language of description
und
EAD ID
hou02158

Repository Details

Part of the Houghton Library Repository

Houghton Library is Harvard College's principal repository for rare books and manuscripts, archives, and more. Houghton Library's collections represent the scope of human experience from ancient Egypt to twenty-first century Cambridge. With strengths primarily in North American and European history, literature, and culture, collections range in media from printed books and handwritten manuscripts to maps, drawings and paintings, prints, posters, photographs, film and audio recordings, and digital media, as well as costumes, theater props, and a wide range of other objects. Houghton Library has historically focused on collecting the written record of European and Eurocentric North American culture, yet it holds a large and diverse number of primary sources valuable for research on the languages, culture and history of indigenous peoples of the Americas, Africa, Asia and Oceania.

Houghton Library’s Reading Room is free and open to all who wish to use the library’s collections.

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