“The Wright Brothers” by Mikhail Zenkevich: Correspondence with Orville Wright and Other Contributors (1932–1933): New Archival Findings

As a result of the latest findings in the archives of Russia and the United States, the correspondence between Mikhail Zenkevich and Orville Wright is published for the first time (the originals in English are supplemented with the Russian translations). This correspondence was conducted between 1932–1933, which correlates to the time period Zenkevich was working on the first biography of the pioneer aviators in Russian, Brat’ia Rait (The Wright Brothers, 1933). Also included are excerpts from the letters of foreign literati and colleagues, such as Michael Gold, Harold Heslop, Maurice Becker, Helen Black, as well as domestic correspondents, K. K. Kuraev among them. The article deliberates upon the direct influence of the materials provided by O. Wright on the book. A review of the holdings on the theme of aviation in Zenkevich’s fund (IRLI Pushkinskii Dom) is provided. The examination of the little- known biographical details, as well as the parts of the poet’s epistolary legacy and his prosaic works, adds to the analysis. Taken together, this all has allowed for substantiation of certain presumptions about other possible sources of the book. The article interprets some literary features of Brat’ia Rait by tracing the development of the theme of aviation in the earlier poems by this former Acmeist, and by drawing parallels with some of his later short and long poems, such as “Al’timetr. Tragorel’ef” (Altimeter. Tragic Relief) and “Torzhestvo aviatsii” (The Triumph of Aviation), and a short novel “Na strezhen’” (On the River Bend) and fictional memoirs Muzhitskii Sfinks (The Peasant Sphinx). Finally, some intertextual parallels between “The Triumph of Aviation” and Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Raven,” translated by Zenkevich, are revealed. The conclusion is made that the materials received from O. Wright have subsequently influenced the long poem “The Triumph of Aviation” and other works by Zenkevich. The publication is equipped with detailed notes, commentaries and illustrations.