Turgenev Public Library in Paris as a cultural center of Russian emigration in late XIX - early XX centuries

Abstract

Turgenev Public Library history in late XIX - the first third of the XX centuries is represented. The reasons of the library popularity growth among the Russian emigrants after 1917 revolutions are revealed. It was found that since the establishment of Turgenev Public Library the Russian official authority in France had negative attitude towards it, therefore the most of readers were political emigrants and students. At the time the visitors did not have enough money for the library maintenance, this fact put it under constant threat of closure. After the revolutions of 1917 the library became the important cultural and scientific center of the Russian emigration. Memoirs of the library board members allowed us do such conclusion. Studying history of Turgenev Public Library let us to reveal and confirm differences of book culture significance at various stages of the Russian emigration in late XIX - early XX centuries.