The Russian Review's 20 years

WHEN we went to talk with Prof. Dimitri S. von Mohrenschildt about The Russian Review, which he founded and which observed its twentieth anniversary in November, we found him busily engaged in preparations for his forthcoming trip to India and Lebanon during the winter term. Von Mohrenschildt not only founded but is also editor of The Russian Review, a scholarly and widely influential quarterly which, because of its impartial efforts to report on Russian historical and cultural trends, has been attacked in the past by the Soviet press (including The DailyWorker) as "non conformist" and "bourgeois."

A native of Russia, Professor von Mohrenschildt came to this country in 1920 at the age of 18, was graduated from Yale, and later received an M.A. from Yale and a Ph.D. from Columbia. From 1931 through 1941 he did freelance editorial and research work for New York publications and in 1941, one year before coming to Dartmouth, he founded The Russian Review.

This past fall the Review, in commemoration of its twentieth anniversary, published a comprehensive cumulative index to the contents of its twenty volumes, listing the authors of all articles and the subjects. It is noteworthy that three of the six editors currently listed were on the original masthead of Volume 1, Number 1, which appeared in November 1941. These three are Dimitri S. von Mohrenschildt, Professor of Russian History and Literature at Dartmouth as editor; William Henry Chamberlin, distinguished foreign correspondent and author of well-known books on the Soviet Union, who was formerly editor of TheRussian Review and who now serves as an associate editor; and Alexis Wiren, also an associate editor and the founder and executive director of the Russian Student Fund. These three along with the late Michael Karpovich, distinguished Professor of Russian History and chairman of the Department of Slavic Languages and Literature at Harvard University for many years, are among the major contributors to the Review through the first twenty years of publication.

"Our main objective from the very beginning," said Professor von Mohrenschildt, "was to promote a better understanding of the Russian people and culture among Americans. We placed great emphasis in our articles on Russian-American relationships, both past and present. You know," he mused as he leafed through the pages of one of the earlier volumes of the Review, "you can pretty well trace the changing situations in the Soviet Union and the shift in U.S. attitudes toward the U.S.S.R. over the past twenty years just by reading these articles."

For the first seven years (14 issues) The Russian Review appeared semi-annually and then began its quarterly publication in January 1949. In the foreword to the first issue Editor William Henry Chamberlin stated that the Review was intended to provide "a broad survey of the Russian scene — political, historical, economic and cultural; it was to be a free forum giving the contributors full freedom of expression, while at the same time avoiding propaganda from either the left or right . . . and addressed ... to a broad group of Americans who are seriously and intelligently interested in Russian affairs."

The Russian Review started with a circulation of just under 400 which has now grown to over 1,000. About three-quarters of the total circulation is mailed to addresses within the United States, many to libraries, colleges, universities and governmental agencies, including the State Department and U.S. Information Agencies. The U.S. Information Service has frequently reprinted articles for overseas distribution and used them for broadcasting over the Voice of America.

The majority of articles contributed to the Review in the past twenty years have been by Russian emigres - statesmen, scholars, men of letters — many of whom have had a part in the events they describe. These include Alexander Kerensky, Countess Alexandra Tolstoy, Basil Maklakov, Irakli Tseretelli, Sir Peter Bark, and Mark Aldanov. The Review has also published articles of a broadly interpretive nature on Russian life and history by such notables as Nicholas Berdyaev, Feodor Stepun, and George Fedotov. Current trends in Soviet-U.S. relationships and policy have been recorded by George Kennan, William H. Chamberlin, Michael Karpovich, von Mohrenschildt, and other American authorities. Biographical sketches of outstanding Russian political and literary figures, plus periodic surveys of the status of Russian studies and research in the U.S., have been regular features. Each issue also contains an extensive book review section on American and important foreign books dealing with Russia.

After twenty years at the helm of The Russian Review, Professor von Mohrenschildt is still as excited about each issue as he was with the first one. "If Soviet-U.S. relations continue to improve, we may be able to get some Russian writers to do articles for us, he said hopefully. "We now are beginning to get contributions from a whole crop of U.S. scholars who were trained under Michael Karpovich at Harvard. And then the new cultural exchange program between Russia and the United States may help."

We inquired about the possibilities for increased circulation.

"Well, we're operating at about a break-even point now, although we do get annual support through grants from the Russian Student Fund and the Humanities Fund," Professor von Mohrenschildt said. "I would like to increase our circulation, but it's such a specialized field and it costs money to promote subscriptions. Most of my time is spent getting articles, having many of them translated, and editing and publishing the Review. Then I have my teaching here at Dartmouth and now this coming trip to India and Lebanon." He shrugged slightly and turned back to his desk and a waiting manuscript as we left his Dartmouth Hall office.

Outside snow was drifting down on the Hanover plain and workmen were busy at the center of campus erecting the College's towering Christmas tree. We wondered if it was snowing in Moscow, then wondered if twenty years from now The Russian Review still would be going strong. We guessed it would.

Prof. Dimitri von Mohrenschildt, founderand present editor of the influentialjournal dealing with Russian affairs.