“Working at full speed here”: The Department of Classical Philology at the Leningrad State University in evacuation to Saratov (1942–1944)

Abstract

The history of classical philology in the USSR during the Great Patriotic War is not yet adequately covered in science. Despite domestic and material difficulties, breakdown of communication and lack of access to literature, the pursuit of science and the training of young people continued. This article reveals how the staff of the LSU Department of Classical Philology, which was evacuated to Saratov, adapted to wartime conditions in terms of scholarly organization and research (1942–1944) based on fragmentary archival data and personal sources. With a staff of five, headed by I. M. Tronsky, the department was able to teach Latin and Ancient Literature at the Faculty of History and Philology, as well as to train a small number of “classical” students using pre-revolutionary manuals that had survived in Saratov. The research work of the department’s scholars ran counter to the general theme of the department: “Literature and War”. The titles of the papers by I. M. Tronsky, J. M. Borovsky and G. A. Stratanovsky testify to the desire to continue, as far as the book fund allowed, the themes initiated before the war, or to develop the subjects of the reception of the ancient heritage. In the beginning of 1944, under the supervision of I. M. Tronski, T. N. Chikalina presented a traditional dissertation on the syntax of the “Laws of the Twelve Tables”. The wish not to interrupt the genuinely scientific philological research and to be in the course of world science is also proved by the theme chosen for the department in 1944 — “Lucretius” — to commemorate the 2000th anniversary of the poet’s death.