On November 1, we celebrated the 115th anniversary of the birth of the poet and translator Evgenia Pflaumbaum (1908-1996), in whose honor the National Library created a new virtual section of the project “On the wave of time, in the flow of life". The resource was replenished with valuable materials from the funds of the Yakub Kolas Central Scientific Library of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus (CSL NAS of Belarus).
While working on the virtual section, we met Tatiana Komashilo, the granddaughter of the poet and translator Todor Klyashtorny (1903-1937), the heir of Evgenia Pfliumbaum. Tatiana Gennadievna gave permission to use separate archival documents of the poetess, included in the fund No. 17 “Maxim Luzhanin” (inventory 1) and stored in the Center for Research of Old Printed Publications and Manuscripts of the Central Library of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus. Thanks to such fruitful cooperation, copies of documents have been added to the photo gallery of the resource dedicated to Evgenia Ergardovna, and is now available to any user. (Please note that the spelling of the surnames of the persons in the photos is given according to the inventory data.)
Among the documents are family photos of the poetess with family and friends, which bring her personality and time closer to us. In the pictures next to Evgenia Pflyumbaum and her husband Maxim Luzhanin are their famous contemporaries and friends: Yakub Kolas, Kondrat Krapiva with his wife Elena Atrahovich, Maxim Tank, Mikhail Lynkov, etc. The images taken during the rest convey the happiness of the moment, high spirits, warmth and sincerity flow through them. Looking at the photos, everyone will remember similar photos of their relatives from old family albums.
Maxim Tank, Oksana Kuleshova (Vechar), Maxim Luzhanin, Sofya Lynkova, Evgenia Pflyaumbaum. Naroch, 1954
Attention is drawn to rare photos of mother, stepfather and brother of Evgenia Pflaumbaum.
Elena Kondratovna Sokolovskaya (Lagun), mother of Evgenia Pflaumbaum, 1930s.
Vladimir Rafailovich Sokolovsky, stepfather of Evgenia Pflaumbaum, 1930s.
The resource also presents documents, letters and notes of the poetess from the funds of the National Library of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus. The most informative materials are letters from Evgenia Pflaumbaum to her husband and brother. Through the lines, one feels the anxiety of the era, the gloomy 1930s and 1940s, family worries and worries for relatives. The letter from the poetess's mother, Elena Sokolovskaya, dated 1937 and addressed to her daughter is touching . It is known that Elena Kondratovna was illiterate and could not learn to read and write, so the letter was written by the hand of her husband, Vladimir Sokolovsky, Evgenia's stepfather. The letter of Ergard Pflaumbaum, the poetess' father, cannot but touch too. Due to certain circumstances, the happy family life of Zhenya's parents did not work out. In a letter dated 1957, the father apologizes to his already adult daughter and asks her to send a photo: "... now I would like to see your photo card, and then I can go to eternal rest. I'll be waiting for a letter and a card. Your father Ergard Pflaumbaum. I kiss you a thousand of times." At the end, he indicates his address, where to send the photo, but there is no answer of Evgenia among the documents of inventory No.1, and was it at all?
Fragment of a letter from Elena Sokolovskaya, Evgenia's mother. 1937
Fragment of a letter from Ergard Pflaumbaum, Evgenia's father. 09.07.1957
We express our gratitude to the venerable Tatiana Komashilo, as well as to the staff of the Center for Research of Old Printed Publications and Manuscripts of the National Library of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus for the opportunity to use the valuable documents of Evgenia Pflaumbaum. With the help of family archives, the time and circumstances of the life of our writers become even clearer.
The material was presented by the information and analytical department.
