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About the André Savine Collection



The André Savine Collection is composed of several large sub-collections documenting the lives of Russian exiles. The most distinguished of these, named by Savine “Militaria,” documents the life of the Russian White Army in Gallipoli and beyond. After suffering defeat in the Battle of Perekop in November 1920, some 100,000 demoralized White Army troops and 50,000 civilians were evacuated from the Crimean peninsula and transported by ship to Constantinople. General Petr Nikolaevich Vrangel (1878–1928), Chief Commander of the White Army in Crimea, settled the fully armed regiments in the Gallipoli camp and in other places in Turkey, Yugoslavia, and the island of Lemnos. The “Militaria” collection contains hand-written and illustrated journals of various regiments, memoirs and other documents of soldiers and officers, General Vrangel's orders, pictorial materials, and many other priceless documents.

A second sub-collection contains more than 10,000 books: poetry, fiction, history, memoirs, philosophy, religious studies, politics and children's literature. In addition to the émigré publications, the sub-collection includes rare pre-revolutionary and Soviet editions. Also in this group is the unpublished ten-volume diary of Nikanor V. Savich (1869-1942), member of the State Duma and prominent politician in pre-revolutionary Russia and in emigration. His handwritten diaries cover his life in exile from 1930 to 1942 when he lived in Paris.

Archival materials represent yet another large sub-collection. Among them are the archives of Russian émigré book publishers, booksellers and libraries around the world, including publishing house correspondence, book catalogs, invoices, library publications, vendors' catalogs, etc. Another large archive is that of the Union of Russian Taxi Drivers in Paris, which includes membership cards and dossiers, and much of the organization's official documents. The collection also includes the archives of The Paris Union of Russian Nurses and of various dioceses of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad. The collection also contains hundreds of photographs, postcards, and numismatic items, as well as original artwork and other significant archival materials.

Savine sub-collection codes and descriptions can be searched in the online catalog.