by a timely grant from the Pushkin Legacy

On February 17, 2003, a devastating explosion occurred in the repository for valuable rare manuscripts at the renowned Pushkinsky Dom (Institute of Russian Literature) in St. Petersburg. The cause of the explosion was deemed to be a gas leak and the event was broadly covered in the press.

The initial explosion and ensuing fire and flood caused massive destruction to the venerable archival facility. The largest existing archive of the Russian fabulist Ivan Andreyevich Krylov was completely destroyed. Irreplaceable manuscripts of other famous writers and poets of the first half of the 19th century were seriously damaged as well.

However, in what some have called a miracle, the priceless manuscripts of Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin and books from his personal library, kept in the same storage, were not damaged at all. They were spared in their entirety due to the fact that just prior to the explosion, in the autumn of 2002, protective display cases and storage cabinets for Pushkin's original archives, were specifically designed and installed with funds granted from the Institutes longtime supporter and collaborator, the non-profit Pushkin Legacy.

* Pushkinsky Dom (the Institute of Russian Literature) was founded in St. Petersburg in 1905. It is the first and largest scientific and museum institution in Russia focused on Russia's rich literary history featuring an extraordinary collection of archival materials of Russian writers of the 18th - 20th centuries, including their manuscripts, personal belongings, drawings and books.

Kenneth Pushkin and Dr. Tatiana Krasnoborotko, Chief Curator of Pushkin Archives, in the viewing room at Pushkinsky Dom, 2001.

Below - Letter of gratitude for custom fireproof book cabinets and request for additional support to Kenneth from Dr. Krasnoborotko.