Contribution of Russian Emigration to the Work of Printing House “Saint Emperor Constantine” in the City of Nis (Kingdom of Yugoslavia)

Abstract

The article focuses on the publications of Russian émigrés, published in the first ecclesiastical printing house in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, which opened in 1925 in the city of Niš. The article describes the history of its foundation, as well as the reorganization of its activities during the economic crisis of the first half of the 1930s, which opened another “Russian episode” (besides the foundation itself) in the history of Niš printing house. At that time the main role belonged to the two Russian refugees living in Niš - Artem Bellubekov, who was appointed to the position of the head of the printing house, and Nikolay Makarenko, who worked as the main binder and graphic artist. The article also contains a review of publications by two authors - Alexander Petrovich Kurachinov and Elisaveta Glukhovtsova, whose books were published in the printing house “Saint Emperor Constantin” in the city of Niš in the 1940s. The authors hope that this article will play an important role in informing contemporary researchers of the Russian émigré́ about the creative work of A.P. Kurachinov and E. Glukhovtsova, which so far has not come to the attention of scholars. The collected material can be useful for further study of the role of Russian emigration in southeastern Serbia and its impact on the cultural development of this region. The material can also contribute to a deeper understanding of the specifics of activities of representatives of émigré́ movement in this territory, which were free of influence of large emigrant centers. The authors of the paper also pay attention to the fate of the printing house of the Pochaev Lavra, which continued its existence in the structure of the printing house “Saint Emperor Constantin” of the city of Niš.