Language Scholars

I enjoyed the report on the 1960s program but wish it had noted the labors of that sweet-tempered, dignified gentleman Piotr Eristov who, bound for a career in the Tsarist calvary when the Revolution broke out, eluded the Bolsheviks and made his way to Princeton. There he guided eight or 10 of us through basic Russian.

The report did mention Ludmilla Turkevich, who helped me on my senior thesis, faulting me correctly for reading some of the relevant Stalin-era novels in English translation. Still, I managed to acquire enough Russian to enjoy three assignments in Moscow as well as TDY assignments to Kabul and Prague to deal with potential Soviet defectors. Sadly, I never thanked my mentor personally, but years later, Piotr’s nephew, Class of 1944 and a deputy mayor under John Lindsay, provided the details of his escape at a luncheon he hosted.