Emile Dillon, an English-Russian researcher, and his archive in the USA

Abstract

This article is devoted to individual episodes of the life of Emile Dillon, unique in his talents and versatile of activity. He was an Englishman who lived in Russia for many years and considered it his second homeland. Dillon was an orientalist, polyglot, journalist, writer, who always found himself at the most interesting moment in many of the world’s hotspots at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, receiving the title of academic at the end of his life in the UK. He was the first English translator for “Kreutzer Sonata” by L. N. Tolstoy, with whom he was in friendly relations. Having come to Russia in 1877, he left it only in 1917. Educated in France, Germany, and Russia, he became a unique man whose talents were successfully used by the intelligence of many countries. The period of teaching at Kharkov University was brief and after receiving the positi on of a St. Petersburg correspondent for “The Daily Telegraph”, the best English newspaper of the time, his bright career as a journalist started. He carried out the most incredible errands of English, Russian and possibly other governments and government officials. It is no coincidence that S. Yu. Witte called him a faithful man and “the first among the publicists of his time”. The findings in the archives of the Stanford University Library revealed his secret mission to the rebellious Crete in 1897, where he, along with two other war correspondents from England, carried out the assignments of the commanders of the international squadron of the four patron states of Greece — England, Russia, France and Italy (the latter occupied the island). His correspondence and notes give a unique picture of the relationship on the island of two irreconcilable parties — the insurgents (Christians) and the Muslims. The Dillon Archive in the United States is rich in other materials that may be of interest to Slavists.