“Little Man’s” Tragedy (To the 120th Anniversary of Isidor M. Lurie)

Abstract

In the coming year 2023, a round date is celebrated in Russian Oriental studies — 120 years since the birth of Isidor M. Lurie (1903–2023), a Leningrad Egyptologist, historian of law and public relations in ancient Egypt. In the article, based on materials from the archives of the Moscow Egyptologist Tatiana N. Savelyeva (Institute of Oriental Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences), the author reflects on the legacy and tragic fate of the scholar. The formation of Lurie as an academic began in the Leningrad Egyptological Circle. Subsequently, he went to work in the Hermitage, where he worked together with his wife Militsa E. Mathieu and prominent Soviet orientalists Nataliia D. Flitner, Igor M. Dyakonov, Boris B. Piotrovsky and others. Especially warm relations connected him with Moscow Egyptologists Tatiana N. Savelieva and Tatiana V. Stepugina. Lurie wrote many works on the problems of ancient Egyptian legislation, together with Militsa E. Mathieu, he published an anthology in ancient Egyptian cursive writing. Lurie openly argued with Vasily V. Struve, rejecting his theory of slavery in the ancient East, and took an active part in the publication of the first volume of World History (1955). The author dwells in detail on the last tragic stage of the scholar’s biography, when his monograph “Essays on Ancient Egyptian Law” was being prepared for publication. Circumstances developed in such a way that the Moscow Sector of the Institute of Oriental Studies became the supervising organization of said book. Lurie could not personally take part in the discussion, because at that time his health was seriously undermined. Nevertheless, by the beginning of June 1957, he managed to submit the final version of the manuscript. However, the sharply negative review received by his monograph crossed out the authors’ hopes and led to his premature death. In this regard, the author raises the question of the moral position of the scholar.