S. L. Frank in Holland: a contour of the philosopher’s intellectual and life path

Appendix: S. Frank. Vorwort (Zur holländischen Übersetzung “Fall des Kornetts Jelagin” von Bunin); S. Frank. Foreword. On the Dutch translation of “The Case of Cornet Elagin” by I. Bunin

Abstract

In this foreword to the archival publication of the German-language abstract of I.A. Bunin’s “Case of Cornet Elagin” written by S.L. Frank in 1934 for the Dutch edition of the book, the authors recreate the general contour of the intellectual life path of the Russian philosopher in Holland. We establish the reasons for Frank’s interest in the Dutch intellectual environment as well as the history of his Dutch lecture trips of the 1930s. One of the key figures who played an important role in making contacts with the Dutch intellectual community in the 1920s was a friend of Frank’s the Dutch physicist Paul Ehrenfest, who had worked at Leiden University since 1912. Frank met Ehrenfest in Saint Petersburg. The meeting was organized by Frank’s younger brother Michael. We emphasize the importance that Frank’s publications in Dutch in the 1930s had for him. Frank was unable to lead a full-fledged intellectual life in Germany during the National Socialist Party regime. We also discuss Frank’s publication plans in the 1930s that were mentioned by him and his correspondents in private letters and have not yet been discov­ered by researchers. In the end of the foreword, we give a general description of the archival material that is being published, indicate the discrepancies between the Dutch translation and the German original, as well as trace the relationship between this text and other archival materials and published papers.