Fond of Raissa Gourevich-Kroll-De Chirico-Calza (Raissa Lork) in the Library of Humanities, Siena

The article strives to describe the fond of Raissa Calza (1897–1979) in the Library of Humanities of Siena and documents in it. For this purpose, the author has carried out the following tasks: she has studied Russian and foreign historiography on the issue; she has analyzed sources on the issue; and drawing on these, she has studied the biography of Raisa Calza; she has reviewed the archival fond and analyzed its documents. Having reviewed the historiography, the author comes to the conclusion that the fate of Raisa Calza, her creativity, and scientific work has been poorly studied, especially by Russian historians. There are few articles dedicated to the Calza collection in the Library of Humanities. Studying the sources (personal and business letters, diary, notebooks, memoirs, photographs, scientific works) associated with Raisa and her connections allows to identify their nature and main features and to supplement, clarify, and flesh out the biography of Raissa Calza. These documents are sources on more than everyday life and microhistory. They can be used in studying the history of Russian emigration, of Russian-Italian cultural relations, of archeology. The fate of Raisa Calza is interesting in itself, as a fate of a woman, an individual, amidst historical events of the 20th century. The chronological frameworks of the study coincide with the chronology of Raisa Calza’s documents preserved in the Siena’s library (1900s-1970s). The article includes an overview of the creation of the archive in the Library of Humanities of Siena and that of the Raissa Calza fond, which came into existence when she donated her documents to the Library in 1970s. The article studies the structure of the Raissa Calza fond: boxes I, VI – letters, postcards, telegrams, dairy, history of Gourevitch, Tumarkin and Frenkley families; II-IV – ‘Ostia’ containing materials on the excavations of Antic Ostia; V – various documents, boxes of photos. The author concludes that these sources should be introduces into scientific use. The collection proves that documents on Russian history are available not only in central state archives and private collections, but also in universities. It challenges historians to start researching universities libraries and archives. The article also names other foreign archives containing documents of Raissa Calza.