Serge Elisséeff
Encyclopedia
Sergei Grigorievich Elisséeff (January 13, 1889–April 13, 1975) was a Franco-American academic, an early Sinologist and Japanologist. He began studying Japanese at the University of Berlin, but he transferred to Tokyo Imperial University in 1912, making him the first Westerner to do so.
Elisséeff served in 1916 as Privat-Dozent at Petrograd Imperial University, and in 1917 as Professor in the Institute for the History of Foreign Affairs in Petrograd. Many years later, his émigrée memories of chaos and fear during the Russian Revolution were stirred by the effects of pernicious McCarthyism
at Harvard.
and Japanese
, Elisseeff was renowned as one of the foremost Japanologists of his time, both in the West
and in Japan
. He had close personal ties to many of the greatest literary names of the first half of the century and wrote occasional articles for the Asahi Shimbun.
From 1921 to 1929, Elisséeff was the interpreter in the Japanese Imperial Embassy in Paris.
He first came to Harvard in 1932 as lecturer on Chinese and Japanese. During the 1933-1934 academic year, he returned to Paris as Director of Studies in the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes. He returned to Cambridge in 1934 when Harvard offered him a professorship of Far Eastern Languages.
There was a small market for copies of Elisséeff's 1932 lecture on the occasion of the Swedish-Japanese Society's exhibition of Japanese art in Stockholm.
(HYI
), an independent, non-profit organization founded in 1928 to further the spread of knowledge and scholarship on East
and Southeast Asia
.
Under the auspices of the HYI, Elisséeff established the Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies
(HJAS) in 1936. The journal publishes monograph-length scholarly articles focused on Asian humanities. His wide range of knowledge came to be reflected in the diverse character of the journal during the twenty-one years he served as its editor (1936-1957).
In 1957, Elisséeff returned to Paris where he joined the faculty of the Sorbonne
. His son, Vadime Elisséeff (1918 - 2002), had been offered a position as chief conservator of the Musée Guimet in 1957.
.
To keep an unchallenged supremacy throughout Asia, Japan decided to bomb Pearl Harbor
December 7, 1941 by surprise. As soon as the U.S. entered the conflict, it was decided that all Japanese present on U.S. soil would be interned. The administration then discovered that the U.S. military did not have enough translators.
Serge Elisseeff was responsible for setting up an accelerated training in Japanese language.
On June 1st, 1945, proposals were made to President Harry Truman, Roosevelt
's successor, among these proposals, the use of a nuclear bomb against Japan as soon as possible, without warning, and settled on a target of military importance.
Five cities were designated: Kyōto
(ICEM), Hiroshima
(large military port and industrial city), Yokohama
(very large port), Kokura
(the main arsenal), Niigata
(port, steel mills and refineries).
Kyōto, while presenting an ideal site because of its hills nearby that would have amplified the impact, was rejected by the vigorous intervention of Serge Elisséeff, who had gained a reputation since 1941 to the White House
.
He highlighted the cultural richness of the city and said that this destruction would be a serious obstacle to a subsequent reconciliation with Japan
.
After his intervention, the list was : Hiroshima, Kokura, Niigata, Yokohama and Nagasaki
(port and military base). Kyōto was saved and Nagasaki was sacrificed.
Edwin O. Reischauer
, one of Elisséeff's students, gave a different explanation: "As has been amply proved by my friend Otis Cary of Doshisha in Kyoto, the only person deserving credit for preserving Kyoto from destruction is Henry L. Stimson
, the Secretary of War at the time, who had known and admired Kyoto ever since his honeymoon there several decades earlier."
/WorldCat
encompasses roughly 100+ works in 100+ publications in 10 languages and 1,500+ library holdings.
Elisséeff served in 1916 as Privat-Dozent at Petrograd Imperial University, and in 1917 as Professor in the Institute for the History of Foreign Affairs in Petrograd. Many years later, his émigrée memories of chaos and fear during the Russian Revolution were stirred by the effects of pernicious McCarthyism
McCarthyism
McCarthyism is the practice of making accusations of disloyalty, subversion, or treason without proper regard for evidence. The term has its origins in the period in the United States known as the Second Red Scare, lasting roughly from the late 1940s to the late 1950s and characterized by...
at Harvard.
Orientalist
Fluent in eight languages, including ChineseChinese language
The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
and Japanese
Japanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
, Elisseeff was renowned as one of the foremost Japanologists of his time, both in the West
Western world
The Western world, also known as the West and the Occident , is a term referring to the countries of Western Europe , the countries of the Americas, as well all countries of Northern and Central Europe, Australia and New Zealand...
and in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. He had close personal ties to many of the greatest literary names of the first half of the century and wrote occasional articles for the Asahi Shimbun.
From 1921 to 1929, Elisséeff was the interpreter in the Japanese Imperial Embassy in Paris.
He first came to Harvard in 1932 as lecturer on Chinese and Japanese. During the 1933-1934 academic year, he returned to Paris as Director of Studies in the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes. He returned to Cambridge in 1934 when Harvard offered him a professorship of Far Eastern Languages.
There was a small market for copies of Elisséeff's 1932 lecture on the occasion of the Swedish-Japanese Society's exhibition of Japanese art in Stockholm.
Harvard-Yenching Institute
Elisséeff was the first Director of the Harvard-Yenching InstituteHarvard-Yenching Institute
Harvard-Yenching Institute is an independent foundation dedicated to advancing higher education in Asia in the humanities and social sciences, with special attention to the study of Asian culture...
(HYI
Harvard-Yenching Institute
Harvard-Yenching Institute is an independent foundation dedicated to advancing higher education in Asia in the humanities and social sciences, with special attention to the study of Asian culture...
), an independent, non-profit organization founded in 1928 to further the spread of knowledge and scholarship on East
East Asia
East Asia or Eastern Asia is a subregion of Asia that can be defined in either geographical or cultural terms...
and Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...
.
Under the auspices of the HYI, Elisséeff established the Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies
Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies
The Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies is an English-language scholarly journal published by the Harvard-Yenching Institute. HJAS features articles and book reviews of current scholarship in East Asian Studies, focusing on Chinese, Japanese, and Korean history, literature and religion, with...
(HJAS) in 1936. The journal publishes monograph-length scholarly articles focused on Asian humanities. His wide range of knowledge came to be reflected in the diverse character of the journal during the twenty-one years he served as its editor (1936-1957).
Sorbonne
Elisséeff became a Professor of Japanese language at the Sorbonne in Paris between 1917 and 1930.In 1957, Elisséeff returned to Paris where he joined the faculty of the Sorbonne
Sorbonne
The Sorbonne is an edifice of the Latin Quarter, in Paris, France, which has been the historical house of the former University of Paris...
. His son, Vadime Elisséeff (1918 - 2002), had been offered a position as chief conservator of the Musée Guimet in 1957.
Action during World War II
Elisséeff has played an important role during World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
To keep an unchallenged supremacy throughout Asia, Japan decided to bomb Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor, known to Hawaiians as Puuloa, is a lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. Much of the harbor and surrounding lands is a United States Navy deep-water naval base. It is also the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet...
December 7, 1941 by surprise. As soon as the U.S. entered the conflict, it was decided that all Japanese present on U.S. soil would be interned. The administration then discovered that the U.S. military did not have enough translators.
Serge Elisseeff was responsible for setting up an accelerated training in Japanese language.
On June 1st, 1945, proposals were made to President Harry Truman, Roosevelt
Roosevelt
Roosevelt may refer to:* Franklin D. Roosevelt , the 32nd President of the United States* Theodore Roosevelt , the 26th President of the United States* Eleanor Roosevelt , wife of Franklin Delano Roosevelt and First Lady...
's successor, among these proposals, the use of a nuclear bomb against Japan as soon as possible, without warning, and settled on a target of military importance.
Five cities were designated: Kyōto
Kyoto
is a city in the central part of the island of Honshū, Japan. It has a population close to 1.5 million. Formerly the imperial capital of Japan, it is now the capital of Kyoto Prefecture, as well as a major part of the Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto metropolitan area.-History:...
(ICEM), Hiroshima
Hiroshima
is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture, and the largest city in the Chūgoku region of western Honshu, the largest island of Japan. It became best known as the first city in history to be destroyed by a nuclear weapon when the United States Army Air Forces dropped an atomic bomb on it at 8:15 A.M...
(large military port and industrial city), Yokohama
Yokohama
is the capital city of Kanagawa Prefecture and the second largest city in Japan by population after Tokyo and most populous municipality of Japan. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of Tokyo, in the Kantō region of the main island of Honshu...
(very large port), Kokura
Kokura
is an ancient castle town and the center of Kitakyūshū, Japan, guarding, via its suburb Moji, the Straits of Shimonoseki between Honshū and Kyūshū. Kokura is also the name of the penultimate station on the southbound Sanyo Shinkansen line, which is owned by JR Kyūshū and an important part of the...
(the main arsenal), Niigata
Niigata
is a name of a place of Japan and the Chubu region.Niigata may refer to:* Niigata - a city in Japan and the capital of Niigata Prefecture* Niigata Prefecture - prefecture in Japan* Albirex Niigata - the city's professional football club...
(port, steel mills and refineries).
Kyōto, while presenting an ideal site because of its hills nearby that would have amplified the impact, was rejected by the vigorous intervention of Serge Elisséeff, who had gained a reputation since 1941 to the White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
.
He highlighted the cultural richness of the city and said that this destruction would be a serious obstacle to a subsequent reconciliation with Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
.
After his intervention, the list was : Hiroshima, Kokura, Niigata, Yokohama and Nagasaki
Nagasaki
is the capital and the largest city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. Nagasaki was founded by the Portuguese in the second half of the 16th century on the site of a small fishing village, formerly part of Nishisonogi District...
(port and military base). Kyōto was saved and Nagasaki was sacrificed.
Edwin O. Reischauer
Edwin O. Reischauer
Edwin Oldfather Reischauer was the leading U.S. educator and noted scholar of the history and culture of Japan, and of East Asia. From 1961–1966, he was the U.S. ambassador to Japan.-Education and academic life:...
, one of Elisséeff's students, gave a different explanation: "As has been amply proved by my friend Otis Cary of Doshisha in Kyoto, the only person deserving credit for preserving Kyoto from destruction is Henry L. Stimson
Henry L. Stimson
Henry Lewis Stimson was an American statesman, lawyer and Republican Party politician and spokesman on foreign policy. He twice served as Secretary of War 1911–1913 under Republican William Howard Taft and 1940–1945, under Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt. In the latter role he was a leading hawk...
, the Secretary of War at the time, who had known and admired Kyoto ever since his honeymoon there several decades earlier."
Selected works
In a statistical overview derived from writings by and about Serge Elisséeff, OCLCOCLC
OCLC Online Computer Library Center, Inc. is "a nonprofit, membership, computer library service and research organization dedicated to the public purposes of furthering access to the world’s information and reducing information costs"...
/WorldCat
WorldCat
WorldCat is a union catalog which itemizes the collections of 72,000 libraries in 170 countries and territories which participate in the Online Computer Library Center global cooperative...
encompasses roughly 100+ works in 100+ publications in 10 languages and 1,500+ library holdings.
- La peinture contemporaine au Japon (1923)
- Neuf nouvelles japonaises (1924)
- Le théatre Japonais (kabuki) (1932), with Alexandre Iacovleff
- Elementary Japanese for university students (1941)
- Elementary Japanese for college students (1944)
- Selected Japanese texts for university students (1944)
- Japan : frühe buddhistische Malereien (1959)
External links
- Japan: Ancient Buddhist Paintings (1959), with Takaaki Matsushita.