There has arisen in Chicago a new Russian Society the name of which is "Society of Russian Intellectuals in Chicago." The purpose of this Society is to become a unifying center for all those Russians who are earning their living by intellectual work or who have been doing such work in Russia, and, owing to the events of the past few years, have been forced to do manual labor.

The Russian intellectuals who have come to America live so scattered and meet other Russians so seldom that they involuntarily lose contact with Russian culture and civilization. Everybody knows that a refined, literary Russian language is apt to be forgotten not only by old immigrants who have come from Russia to America ten or more years ago, but even by persons who have come recently, who have been participating in the great war and have left Russia only some three or four years ago. Yet, in spite of that, these same immigrants of the old and new formations, are assimilated by the local American population only very slowly. Russians usually learn pretty quickly to talk English. But as a rule their pronunciation remains bad, and an American can recognize almost invariably a foreigner by his accent. This alone, i.e. the 2threat of forgetting one's native language without being able to acquire in its place a new language, is in itself a sufficiently serious motive for the formation of a special Society for Russian intellectuals who have come to America.

According to statistical data there reside in Chicago more than a hundred thousand Russian immigrants. Hence, the Chicago Russian colony can be compared, as to its size, with such Russian cities as Kiev, Kharkov, Kazan etc. The great majority of Russians in Chicago consists of factory workmen. These workmen need also to be put into contact with Russian culture; and it is the duty of that comparatively small group of people, called to do intellectual work, to establish such contact. Thus the duty of being of service to all the Russian colony of Chicago is another motive for creating an organization of intellectuals.

Finally, the interests of the Russian intelligentsia, as such, demand that there should exist an organ which would possess some authority not only 3among the Russians, but also among the Americans. If a Russian student wants to Join an American university, he needs a recommendation. Such a recommendation can be given to him by the Society of Russian Intellectuals. If a professor or a teacher wishes to get a position in America he has to show some recommendations. Until now such recommendations had a purely accidental character. A mathematician would ask a physician to give him a letter of introduction; a teacher would ask the same favor from a businessman, etc.

It is obvious that the existence of an authoritative Society of Intellectuals will considerably help those who want to find some position as specialists in America.

Thus the purposes of the Society can be as follows:

1) The Society must provide spiritual and intellectual food to its members.

2) The Society must give spiritual and intellectual food to all Russian immigrants in Chicago.

3) The Society must defend the interests of Russian immigrants in America.

The activities of the Society have to be directed in accordance with these three chief aims. In order to fulfil its first purpose the Society calls 4meetings for members and guests where papers on various subjects are read. It also arranges evening entertainments and banquets in order to give to Russian intellectuals the opportunity to become acquainted with each other and to pass together the evening; it organizes a library consisting of Russian books, magazines and newspapers which will be increased chiefly by the latest publications. Recently there has taken place the first evening entertainment arranged by the Society; well-known Russian artists participated in this entertainment. The Board of Directors of the Society intends to give such entertainments periodically, once a month, or once in two months.

In order to achieve its second purpose, the Society arranges public lectures for all those interested. The admittance to these lectures is either free of charge or, if tickets are sold, the charge is small. Among the members of the Society are many scientists and teachers. Such members will be invited to give lectures. The Society intends also to propose to Russian intellectuals who are in Chicago on a visit, to give free public lectures. One such lecture has already taken place on October 18 at the headquarters of the Society 5"Enlightenment" ("Prasvyeshchenie"), 1080 West 14th St. The lecturer was Mr. N. F. Bobrovnikov, ex-president of the Christian Students' Union in Prague. His theme was "Religion and Science".

In order to realize its third object, the Society proposes to work hand in hand with various American and Russian organizations in Chicago. The Society desires to remain on the most friendly terms with more professional organizations, such as the Academic Group, or the Students' Union. It also wishes to entertain friendly relations with the political groups existing among Russians.

Russian Herald, Oct. 28, 1924.

The purposes of the Society have nothing to do with politics. The Russian intelligentsia has much broader interests than those that can be crammed into the narrow programs of the various political parties. The Society does not want at all to advocate among its members political indifferentism; but it believes that the quality of being an intellectual can be a sufficient basis for unifying people. The creation of a strong organization consisting of intellectuals is equally important for the monarchist and for the revolutionist, for the Christian and for the Jew.

For this reason the Society has resolved not to mix in politics. At the same time it hopes to get the support of all those political groups which are interested in the preservation of Russian culture. The first meeting that was called by the Society showed that such a unification of people on the basis of "intellectuality" is both possible and necessary.

Almost all the Russian press in America has expressed its sympathy with the organization of the Society of Intellectuals. However there were also regret-able exceptions. One or two newspapers gave adverse reports about the Society and its initiators. Doubtlessly there is some misunderstanding at the bottom of this. The interests of the Society of Russian Intellectuals and those of the Russian press in America coincide, and the Society wishes to cooperate with the press, and not to carry on polemics.

Only those groups which on general principles do not desire that a class of intellectual workers should exist in Russia and which would like to prevent the development of free scientific thought have reasons for being inimical to the Society of Intellectuals. Such reactionary groups which want to profit by the services of the intellectuals, but do not wish to recognize the right of the latter to the free expression of their thoughts and their right 7to defend collectively their interests, cannot, of course, go hand in hand with the Society of Russian Intellectuals.

The Society of Russian Intellectuals is not a caste or class-organization, as it is represented to be by some inimical newspapers. Every Russian residing in Chicago and doing intellectual work who has been found acceptable by the General Assembly can become a member of the Society. Thus this organization has a somewhat professional character. But it is a much less exclusive organization than most of the purely professional unions. This can be seen from the fact that, according to the constitution of the Society persons interested in the objects of the Society can become members of it, provided they can be useful to the Society.

The beginning of the existence of the Society must be considered to be very successful. All the most prominent Russian intellectuals of Chicago joined it. Among them we find prof. A. A. Maximov and Mrs. Maximov, Col. Braghin, Gen. Yusefovich, Dr. Sahud, the artists Mr. Morozon and Miss Mirsky who have come recently from Russia, the artist Mr. Borovsky, Mr. Stepanov, assistent 8professor of the University of Chicago, and many others. Especially note-worthy is the interest in the Society that has been shown by some Americans, among whom a prominent place is occupied by prof. Samuel Harper who is teaching the Russian language and literature at the University of Chicago. It is also a pleasure to mention the fact that several prominent representatives of the Balkan Slavic countries have joined our Society. Among these we find Father Mordariy, bishop of the Serbian church; Mr. B. L. Purich, Serbian consul in Chicago, and also many representatives of countries bordering on Russia, most of whom are Lithuanians.

The first board of directors of the Society was elected in September, before the end of this year 1924. Dr. A. L. Struve was elected president.

Persons who are interested in the objects of the Society, but have not yet become members, are invited to get more circumstantial information from the Secretary, Mr. S. G. Prokopov (1080 West 14th street, Chicago). Telephone: Roosevelt 7928.

Signed: Sigma.