NIKANDER STRELSKY
1893 - 1946
The faculty of Vassar College mourns the loss of its
beloved colleague, Nikander Strelsky, who died June
20, 1946.
He illustrates for us the fullness of life that is
possible for an exile. Out of his suffering caused
by the Revolution - the death of his father, the loss
of his family, his own exile and the break in his
engineering career - he grew in faith in the Russian
people. He came to see in perspective their possi-
bilities of long range achievement and to do his share
toward it with such love for his fellowmen that we
learned to know the meaning of the spirit of Tolstoy
and Dostoevsky, and how to accept the revolution of
our time. "To became a true Russian, to be a Russian
fully, means only to become the brother of all men,
to become, if you will, a universal man," said Dos-
toevsky in his Speech at the Unveiling of the Pushkin
Memorial.
Nikander Strelsky loved his adopted country, America,
and eagerly went out to understand it. He studied
Whitman; he farmed in Minnesota; he enjoyed the Ver-
mont tradition; he joined his fellow citizens in
Dutchess County in many activities. He sensed and
believed in the youthful vitality of the United States.
He was an incomparable friend. He liked people for
themselves. He saw the best that they were trying to
be and he was gifted in freeing them. He was bursting
with ideas that set his friends on fire. His house
was open and warm. Students, colleagues, refugees,
local citizens, scientists, engineers, members of
learned societies, all came to draw on his radiance.
His sympathy, his wit, his laughter, penetrated any
barriers or restraints in personal relations.
As a scholar he was helping to solve the great problem
of our generation, the relationship of the Union of
Soviet Socialist Republics and the United States of
America. He had been appointed by the American Council
of Learned Societies to prepare materials for further-
ing mutual understanding not only in literature but in
NIKANDER STRELSKY (Continued)
politics, science and other fields. He wrote and
collaborated in writing books and articles on Rus-
sian civilization. A recent article is about to be
translated and published in Brazil.
At Vassar College he laid the foundations for studies
in Russian, not as a linguistic discipline only, but
as the study of an entire civilization. He brought
a background of realistic training in scientific
agriculture, the rich artist's experience of heading
a dance troupe, and a Ph.D. in literature. He reached
out, therefore, to work with social scientists, art-
ists and others among his colleagues. During this
last spring he started on a trip to visit universities
and scholars, seeking the best experiences in develop-
ing Russian Studies in America.
All this he carried on under physical handicap. His
courage and unselfishness never flagged, nor did his
imagination. His work is still unfinished, but many
have received inspiration from him personally to go
on with it - students, colleagues, friends.
Genieve Lamson
Joseph Folsom
Helen Drusilla Lockwood
XII - 57-58