Юбилейное: Неизвестное немецкое письмо Вяч. Иванова [À propos of an Anniversary: An Unknown Letter by Viacheslav Ivanov]

Abstract

The present publication consists of the sole letter written from Viacheslav Ivanov to the German archaeologist Ludwig Curtius (1874—1954). Ivanov met Ludwig Curtius in 1935 through their mutual friend Ernst Robert Curtius (no relation). From 1928 to 1937 Ludwig Curtius was the head of the German Archaeological Institute in Rome, a place dear to Ivanov’s heart. After his dismissal by the Nazis in September of 1937, Curtius remained in Rome. In 1944, on the occasion of his seventieth birthday, an event in his honor was held at the Swedish Institute in Rome. It is not known whether Ivanov attended, but he did write a congratulatory letter, a copy of which remained in the family archive. In this letter, Ivanov emphasizes their common conception of humanism by citing Goethe, Schiller, and (most strikingly) Mommsen.