From the Cincinnati Reds to the Moscow Reds: The Memoirs of Irwin Weil

by Irwin Weil, Tony Brown (Editor)

Overview

This book brings together a lifetime of experiences told by a beloved member of the field of Slavic languages and literature - Irwin Weil. 

During the Soviet era, Irwin frequently visited and corresponded with outstanding Russian cultural figures, such as Vladimir Nabokov, Korney Chukovsky, and Dmitrii Shostakovich. His deep love of the Russian people and their culture has touched the lives of countless students, in particular at Northwestern University, where he has taught since 1966. It is these stories of an unassuming Jewish American from Cincinnati, Ohio who rubbed shoulders with some of the most prominent thinkers, writers, and musicians in the Soviet Union that are presented for the first time in this volume.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781618113962
Publisher:	Academic Studies Press
Publication date:	11/15/2015
Series:	Jews of Russia & Eastern Europe and Their Legacy
Pages:	244
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x (d)

About the Author

Irwin Weil was born in 1928 in Cincinnati, Ohio of German Jewish and Lithuanian Jewish immigrants. His father Sidney was a former owner of the Cincinnati Reds baseball team. Initially majoring in economics at the University of Chicago, he was drawn to Slavic studies after discovering Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov in a required literature course and being (in his words) knocked for a loop. He reports that he ran to a bookstore, picked up a copy of Crime and Punishment, read it in two days, and resolved to learn the language of such a great body of literature. Weil received his bachelor's degree from the University of Chicago in 1948 and his masters degree in Slavic Studies in 1951. After three years of working on a Soviet census for the U.S. Library of Congress, Weil began his Ph D at Harvard University, where he had received a Ford Foundation fellowship to work toward his doctorate in Slavic Studies. After receiving the degree in 1960, he taught at Brandeis University. While at Brandeis, Weil was a professor of Russian literature and linguistics. He was influential in the development and growth of the Slavic Studies program at Brandeis. Weils first major work a dissertation on the development of the writing style of Maksim Gorky was completed in 1958. His other works include Notes on the Contemporary Soviet Literary Scene and Literary Activities. Tony Brown is an Associate Professor of Russian at Brigham Young University where he has taught since 2004. Brown received his MA and Ph D degrees in Russian and Second Language Acquisition at Bryn Mawr College. His research interests include second language acquisition, language policy, and the cultural history of Russia. Brown also is the author/co-author of articles published in venues, such as Modern Language Journal, Foreign Language Annals, Slavic and East European Journal, Russian Language Journal, and Language Policy. He currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors for the American Council of Teachers of Russian.

Table of Contents

Preface ix

Acknowledgments xi

Editor's Nate xii

1 The Lives of Sidney and Florence Weil

Ancestry 1

Sidney Weil 2

Florence Levy 3

Joining the Army 6

After the War 7

The Roaring Twenties 7

Faith and Family 9

Great Depression 12

Baseball Players 13

The Move 14

Life Insurance 15

Raising Money 16

Zionists and Education 19

The Horrors of World War II and Life After 21

Baseball versus Academia 24

Rabbi Heller 25

Jewish Traditions 27

Dad's Greatest Pleasures 29

Later Years of Life 31

2 Early Years and Education of Irwin Weil

Introduction 37

Namesake 37

Growing Up 38

Early School Years 41

Vivian's Family Background 45

Musical Background 49

Adolescent Politics and Experiences 52

First Impressions of Russia 53

Flying 54

University of Cincinnati 56

University of Chicago 58

Experiences with Russian History and Literature 65

Life in the Theatre 69

Marriage to Vivian 75

Kulischer 76

Harvard 83

Brandeis 89

Northwestern 90

3 Entry into the Soviet Union

Going to the Soviet Union 96

A Welcome to Remember 97

KGB 99

Literary Endeavors 102

Trip to Leningrad 104

Malyshev and Alekseev 107

Jewish Father and Son in Leningrad 108

Firsthand Learning Experiences 110

Aunt Olga 111

Back in the United States 113

Days at Brandeis University 115

Returning to the Soviet Union-1963 118

Vitya, My Roommate and Advisor 121

Vie Search for Chukovsky 122

Meet big Chukovsky 123

Discussions in Chukovsky's House 128

Bialik 134

Additional Thoughts about Gorky 137

4 Social and Political Reform in the Soviet Union

Evtushenko 140

Not Discussing Politics 141

Khrushchev 144

Kennedy 145

Judge Not 146

Ovcharenko 149

Marina Rafailovna Kaul and Rosalia Scmyonovna Ginzburg 154

Being Cautious 155

American Association of Teachers of Slavic and East European Languages (AATSEEL) 158

American Council of Teachers of Russian (ACTR) 160

Changes in Soviet Politics 160

Cold War Rhetoric 162

Prejudices and Privileges 165

Favorable Aspects 168

News 169

Shostakovich 170

Prokofiev 177

Nabokov 179

Afanasyev 181

Change 182

5 Letters from the USSR

Tues. Sept. 6, 1960 184

Wed, Sept 7, 1960 189

Thurs. Sept. 8, 1960 200

Tues. Sept 13, 1960 214

Index 222

Editorial Reviews

Irwin Weil has written a vibrant, nostalgic, strikingly sweet account of a life deeply enmeshed in Jewish, American, and above all Russian culture. Anecdote after heartfelt anecdote, he offers portraits of exemplary incidents and famous people, from Renato Poggiolo and Philip Rahv to Kornei Chukovsky and Dmitri Shostakovich. When others engage in ideological quarrel, we watch Irv spread good will. By the sheer power of warmth and charm, he passes unscathed through morally fraught situations. For those in the field of Russian Studies, the memoir will powerfully evoke what it was like in decades gone by." —Gary Saul Morson, Frances Hooper Professor of the Arts and Humanities, Northwestern University

“Irv Weil’s congenial oral biography is a cameo of Midwestern Jewish-American life in the 20th century, in which baseball, theater, music, literary classics and the heroic achievements of Russian culture emerge as anchors in a displaced and increasingly globalized era. Its thumbnail sketches of famous émigrés and glimpses of Soviet life in the 1960s help explain why Weil has been so successful as a Russian-American mediator for so many decades, from strolls with Kornei Chukovsky outside Moscow to hosting Shostakovich and Lina Prokofieva at Northwestern. Weil’s distinctive mark on the Slavic field, personal and organizational, has been wonderfully captured.” —Caryl Emerson, Princeton University

From the Publisher

Irwin Weil has written a vibrant, nostalgic, strikingly sweet account of a life deeply enmeshed in Jewish, American, and above all Russian culture. Anecdote after heartfelt anecdote, he offers portraits of exemplary incidents and famous people, from Renato Poggiolo and Philip Rahv to Kornei Chukovsky and Dmitri Shostakovich. When others engage in ideological quarrel, we watch Irv spread good will. By the sheer power of warmth and charm, he passes unscathed through morally fraught situations. For those in the field of Russian Studies, the memoir will powerfully evoke what it was like in decades gone by." —Gary Saul Morson, Frances Hooper Professor of the Arts and Humanities, Northwestern University

Gary Saul Morson

Irv Weil’s congenial oral biography is a cameo of Midwestern Jewish-American life in the 20th century, in which baseball, theater, music, literary classics and the heroic achievements of Russian culture emerge as anchors in a displaced and increasingly globalized era. Its thumbnail sketches of famous émigrés and glimpses of Soviet life in the 1960s help explain why Weil has been so successful as a Russian-American mediator for so many decades, from strolls with Kornei Chukovsky outside Moscow to hosting Shostakovich and Lina Prokofieva at Northwestern. Weil’s distinctive mark on the Slavic field, personal and organizational, has been wonderfully captured.” —Caryl Emerson, Princeton University

Caryl Emerson

In an engaging and moving way, Irwin Weil reflects upon his almost ninety-year existence (including half a century as professor of Russian at Northwestern University). Indeed, the most salient feature of Weil’s memoirs is that when he talks about his personal and professional life, he speaks not only about himself but also about two generations of scholar-teachers who, like Weil, had no idea that they would fall under the sway of Mother Russia, or that they would spend their lives professing her charms. . . .In writing his recollections, Weil expresses the hope that he has affected “for the better” the lives of both Russians and Americans. As evidenced by From the Cincinnati Reds to the Moscow Reds, he has. Indeed, Weil’s examined life has been well worth living.” —Thomas Gaiton Marullo, University of Notre Dame, The Russian Review (April 2016, Vol. 75, No. 2)

Thomas Gaiton Marullo