Scope and Content Note
The Igor Stravinsky Family Correspondence consists of letters, telegrams, postcards, and visiting cards from Igor Stravinsky to his immediate family. The collection spans the years 1930, then 1939 through 1965, with the bulk dating from 1945 to 1952. Most of the correspondence is from Igor Stravinsky to his second son, Soulima, a concert pianist, composer, and musicologist. Soulima studied with Nadia Boulanger, specialized in his father's music, and frequently accompained violinist Roman Totenberg. Soulima and his family moved to the United States in 1948 from Paris. While in Paris, he took care of some of his father's business with publishers and performed his music. Igor often addressd Soulima by a pet name, "Nini," though letters and telegrams were addressed with Soulima's formal first name, Sviatoslav. Some of the correspondence is for Soulima's wife Françoise, or their son John. There are also two letters to Théodore, Stravinsky's oldest child, along with several letters to contacts outside the family, including Nadejda Dimitrievna Couchonnet, Stravinsky's agent in Paris, and Janin, Stravinksy's publisher in Paris. Correspondence is primarily in French, with some in English and Russian. English translations, provided by the manuscript dealer, are included.