YMCA-Press is a

publishing house Publishing is the activities of making information, literature, music, software, and other content, physical or digital, available to the public for sale or free of charge. Traditionally, the term publishing refers to the creation and distribu ...

originally established by the

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organisation based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It has nearly 90,000 staff, some 920,000 volunteers and 12,000 branches w ...

and located in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, also known as Librairie des Editeurs Réunis (bookstore) or Centre culturel Alexandre Soljenitsyne (cultural centre). It has published many great Russian authors throughout its history, such as

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn. (11 December 1918 – 3 August 2008) was a Soviet and Russian author and Soviet dissidents, dissident who helped to raise global awareness of political repression in the Soviet Union, especially the Gulag pris ...

Mikhail Bulgakov Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov ( ; rus, links=no, Михаил Афанасьевич Булгаков, p=mʲɪxɐˈil ɐfɐˈnasʲjɪvʲɪdʑ bʊlˈɡakəf; – 10 March 1940) was a Russian and Soviet novelist and playwright. His novel ''The M ...

Anna Akhmatova Anna Andreyevna Gorenko rus, А́нна Андре́евна Горе́нко, p=ˈanːə ɐnˈdrʲe(j)ɪvnə ɡɐˈrʲɛnkə, a=Anna Andreyevna Gorenko.ru.oga, links=yes; , . ( – 5 March 1966), better known by the pen name Anna Akhmatova,. ...

Marina Tsvetaeva Marina Ivanovna Tsvetaeva ( rus, Марина Ивановна Цветаева, p=mɐˈrʲinə ɪˈvanəvnə tsvʲɪˈta(j)ɪvə, links=yes; 31 August 1941) was a Russian poet. Her work is some of the most well-known in twentieth-century Russ ...

Ivan Bunin Ivan Alekseyevich Bunin ( or ; rus, Ива́н Алексе́евич Бу́нин, p=ɪˈvan ɐlʲɪkˈsʲejɪvʲɪdʑ ˈbunʲɪn, a=Ivan Alyeksyeyevich Bunin.ru.vorb.oga; – 8 November 1953)Osip Mandelstam Osip Emilyevich Mandelstam (, ; – 27 December 1938) was a Russian and Soviet poet. He was one of the foremost members of the Acmeist school. Osip Mandelstam was arrested during the repressions of the 1930s and sent into internal exile wi ...

. The YMCA had originally formed itself in Russia in 1900 in order to provide "education, religious and philanthropic programs" through Bible classes and the provision of a new

gym A gym, short for gymnasium (: gymnasiums or gymnasia), is an indoor venue for exercise and sports. The word is derived from the ancient Greek term " gymnasion". They are commonly found in athletic and fitness centres, and as activity and learn ...

. YMCA-Press moved to Paris in 1925. Since the 60's, headquarters of the publishing house and the bookstore are located in 11 rue de la Montagne Sainte-Geneviève 75005

. A cultural centre by the name of

Aleksander Solzhenitsyn Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn. (11 December 1918 – 3 August 2008) was a Soviet and Russian author and dissident who helped to raise global awareness of political repression in the Soviet Union, especially the Gulag prison system. He was a ...

was founded in 2016 by YMCA-Press and the author's widow. It organizes various exhibitions and conferences on Russian literary heritage.

History

First years

The original function of the YMCA Press was to provide

textbooks A textbook is a book containing a comprehensive compilation of content in a branch of study with the intention of explaining it. Textbooks are produced to meet the needs of educators, usually at educational institutions, but also of learners ( ...

and other literature (often on religious subjects) for

prisoners of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war for a ...

in Europe, amongst whom it was felt there was a thirst for education. The increase of Russian immigration into the continent after the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution, social change in Russian Empire, Russia, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia Dissolution of the Russian Empire, abolish its mona ...

appeared to create a market for reproducing similar texts that Russians would easily have found at home, particularly technical and scientific works. However, this plan has been described by one modern commentator as "too grandly conceived and poorly administered" to succeed, whilst the original strategy of concentrating on selling textbooks failed to make an entry into the new market as the émigrés "did not buy that kind of literature." Further, hopes of the YMCA Press entering the Russian domestic market itself were dashed when their production of Russian-language versions of Göschen's until then ever-popular series of scientific pamphlets failed to make an impact in the 1920s. Likewise, the press found itself financially encumbered by its large stock of unsold textbooks.

The shift towards orthodoxy and management by Russian emigrants

The Press moved its base to

in 1925, and began to concentrate on

philosophical Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

and religious works, as well as printing the journals of the

St. Sergius Orthodox Theological Institute The St. Sergius Orthodox Theological Institute ( French: ''Institut de théologie orthodoxe Saint-Serge'') in Paris, France, is a private university of higher education in Orthodox theology. Founded in 1925 by a group led by Metropolitan Eulogiu ...

, '' Pravoslavnaia mysl'' (''Orthodox Way'') and the Spiritual Philosophical Academy, ''Put'' (''The Way''). The latter became "an integral element" of the company's output. One of the first books to actually carry the imprint of the YMCA Press was 's

anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs, or related fiction/non-fiction excerpts by different authors. There are also thematic and g ...

of contemporary Russian religion, and this marked the first shift from publishing textbooks to religious pieces. A combination of entering the market for publishing

fiction Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying character (arts), individuals, events, or setting (narrative), places that are imagination, imaginary or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent ...

, as well as the

subsidy A subsidy, subvention or government incentive is a type of government expenditure for individuals and households, as well as businesses with the aim of stabilizing the economy. It ensures that individuals and households are viable by having acc ...

provided the press by its parent company, enabled it to establish itself as the primary source of intellectual literature for European Russians in the longer term. Indeed, many of the works published by the YMCA Press were written by members of the émigré community, which gave the Press a "sense of unity and coherence." As a result, it has been said, "Russian philosophy flourished in the émigré community for decades" after 1917. Although as a result of the revolution, the Press and its authors were hardly known in Russia at all, it was later described as being responsible for preserving the memories of the émigrés. During these first years, YMCA-Press published : Vasilij Zenkovsky, Nicolas Troubetskoï, Konstantin Motchulski,

Semyon Frank Semyon Lyudvigovich Frank (; 28 January 1877 – 10 December 1950) was a Russian philosopher. Born into a Jewish family, he became an Orthodox Christian in 1912. In 1922 he was expelled from Soviet Russia and lived in Berlin. In 1933 he was r ...

, Ivan Iljin,

Nikolay Lossky Nikolay Onufriyevich Lossky (; – 24 January 1965), also known as N. O. Lossky, was a Russian philosopher, representative of Russian idealism, intuitionist epistemology, personalism, libertarianism, ethics and axiology (value theory). He gave h ...

, Father Sergei Bulgakov,

Lev Karsavin Lev (Leo) Platonovich Karsavin (; ; 13 December 1882 – 17 or 20 July 1952) was a Russian religious philosopher, historian-medievalist, and poet. Biography Early years Lev Platonovich Karsavin was born into the family of Platon Konstant ...

, Gueorgy Fedotov ... Between 1900 and 1940 the YMCA Press was led by Julius Hecker, Paul B. Anderson, and

Nikolai Berdyaev Nikolai Alexandrovich Berdyaev (; ; – 24 March 1948) was a Russian Empire, Russian philosopher, theologian, and Christian existentialism, Christian existentialist who emphasized the existentialism, existential spiritual significance of Pe ...

; they were followed, at the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, by Donald Lowrie, Ivan Morozov and

Nikita Struve Nikita Alexeyevich Struve (; 16 February 1931 – 7 May 2016) was a French author and translator of Russian descent, specializing in the study of Russian émigrés. Biography Struve was born in Boulogne-Billancourt, a suburb of Paris, into the Str ...

. The latter two weren't Americans, and did not, it has been suggested, "share the perspective and experience" of their predecessors. Moreover, they saw the religious-philiosophical strategy of the Press as "alien and irrelevant." As a result, Paul Anderson managed to transfer ownership of the Press into the hands of the Russian Student Christian Association. Before the Second World War, YMCA-Press also published exiled Russian writers such as Marc Aldanov,

Nina Berberova Nina Nikolayevna Berberova (; 26 July 1901 – 26 September 1993) was a Russian writer who chronicled the lives of anti-communist Russian refugees in Paris in her short stories and novels. She visited post-Soviet Russia. Her 1965 revision of ...

Ivan Bunin Ivan Alekseyevich Bunin ( or ; rus, Ива́н Алексе́евич Бу́нин, p=ɪˈvan ɐlʲɪkˈsʲejɪvʲɪdʑ ˈbunʲɪn, a=Ivan Alyeksyeyevich Bunin.ru.vorb.oga; – 8 November 1953)Vladislav Khodassevich,

Dmitry Merezhkovsky Dmitry Sergeyevich Merezhkovsky ( rus, Дми́трий Серге́евич Мережко́вский, p=ˈdmʲitrʲɪj sʲɪrˈɡʲejɪvʲɪtɕ mʲɪrʲɪˈʂkofskʲɪj; – December 9, 1941) was a Russian novelist, poet, religious think ...

Aleksey Remizov Aleksey Mikhailovich Remizov (; in Moscow – 26 November 1957 in Paris) was a Russian modernist writer whose creative imagination veered to the fantastic and bizarre. Apart from literary works, Remizov was an expert calligrapher who sought to ...

, Mikhaïl Ossorguine, Boris Zaytsev ...

Post-war years and soviet dissent

The YMCA Press now operated with a "different financial basis and with a more openly religious orientation." In the 60s, YMCA-Press published the authors banned or persecuted in the Soviet Union:

, Varlam Chalamov, Marina Tsetaeva,

Osip Mandelstam Osip Emilyevich Mandelstam (, ; – 27 December 1938) was a Russian and Soviet poet. He was one of the foremost members of the Acmeist school. Osip Mandelstam was arrested during the repressions of the 1930s and sent into internal exile wi ...

, Nadejda Mandelstam, Yury Dombrovsky,

Andrei Platonov Andrei Platonovich Platonov ( rus, Андрей Платонович Платонов, , ɐnˈdrʲej plɐˈtonəvʲɪtɕ plɐˈtonəf; []; – 5 January 1951) was a Soviet Russian people, Russian novelist, short story writer, philosopher, play ...

, Lydia Chukovskaya.

's famous " The Heart Of A Dog" will be published for the first time by YMCA-Press in Paris in 1969, with a cover by Yuri Annenkov, artist-painter who emigrated in 1924 to Paris, who will also make many other covers for the publishing house. The "Master and Margarita", his most famous novel, will also be published by YMCA-Press in 1967, 20 years before its publication in the Soviet Union.

The Gulag Archipelago

One of YMCA-Press most famous publications was in 1968. This was the first unabridged version of

's ''

Cancer Ward ''Cancer Ward'' () is a semi-autobiographical novel by Nobel Prize–winning Russian author Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. Completed in 1966, the novel was distributed in Russia that year in ''samizdat'', and banned there the following year.Joseph Pe ...

'', and was followed in 1973 (for which it received "worldwide attention") by his three-volume of

The Gulag Archipelago ''The Gulag Archipelago: An Experiment in Literary Investigation'' () is a three-volume nonfiction series written between 1958 and 1968 by Russian writer Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, a Soviet dissident. It was first published in 1973 by the Parisian ...

, ''1918–1956'', which sold 50,000 copies in its first few weeks of sale. Cover of the first edition of the Gulag Archipelago published by YMCA-Press

Back in 1971, Alexandre Solzhenitsyn, then behind the

Iron Curtain The Iron Curtain was the political and physical boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II in 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1991. On the east side of the Iron Curtain were countries connected to the So ...

, entrusted the publishing house YMCA-Press with the edition of his August 14, the first part of his monumental historical work The Red Wheel. The manuscript is sent in great secrecy to the West, thanks to an "invisible", Assia Durova, employee of the French Embassy in Moscow. The work carried out by the publishing house fully meets the author's requirements, who then decides to entrust the publishing house with an even more important and secretive work, his

Gulag Archipelago ''The Gulag Archipelago: An Experiment in Literary Investigation'' () is a three-volume nonfiction series written between 1958 and 1968 by Russian writer Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, a Soviet dissident. It was first published in 1973 by the Parisian p ...

. In great clandestineness, in Serge Béresniak's Yiddish and eastern-languages parisian printing press, the typographer Léonid Lifar, brother of the ballet dancer Serguei Lifar, composed the first volume of the book. By the end of 1973, the book is completed and published : it received "worldwide attention" and great historical impact. The YMCA-Press Russian version of the book is published in 50,000 copies, an impressive figure for a small publishing house of Russian emigration. The draw will quickly run out. The consequences for the author are not long in coming. Arrested in February 1974, he was expelled outside the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

and welcomed by

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

, where he settled in the city of

Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

, where he met his publisher

for the first time. It was there that he wrote the chapters devoted to

Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov ( 187021 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin, was a Russian revolutionary, politician and political theorist. He was the first head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 until Death and state funeral of ...

in The Red Wheel. In 1975, Solzhenitsyn visited the company's Parisian office, where he met the former head of YMCA-Press,

and the staff, received an invitation to the United States by Anderson, and presented the latter with a book. This Solzhenitsyn had inscribed, thanking Anderson for "how much he ha done for Russian culture." The

Nobel Laureate The Nobel Prizes (, ) are awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the Swedish Academy, the Karolinska Institutet, and the Norwegian Nobel Committee to individuals and organizations who make outstanding contributions in th ...

, in his

memoirs A memoir (; , ) is any nonfiction narrative writing based on the author's personal memories. The assertions made in the work are thus understood to be factual. While memoir has historically been defined as a subcategory of biography or autobio ...

later, described YMCA-Press as "selfless."

Post-Archipelago years

The years of forced exile were the fruitful years of collaboration between

Solzhenitsyn Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn. (11 December 1918 – 3 August 2008) was a Soviet and Russian author and dissident who helped to raise global awareness of political repression in the Soviet Union, especially the Gulag prison system. He was ...

and YMCA-Press. Solzhenitsyn not only publishes his new books there, but he also directs from

Vermont Vermont () is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, New York (state), New York to the west, and the Provinces and territories of Ca ...

, where he settles, two collections of books : * ИНРИ (Исследования новейшей русской истории) which offers unpublished works on contemporary

Russian history The history of Russia begins with the histories of the East Slavs. The traditional start date of specifically Russian history is the establishment of the Rus' people, Rus' state in the north in the year 862, ruled by Varangians. In 882, Prin ...

. * ВМБ (Всероссийская мемуарная библиотека) which includes unpublished memoirs on the period of the

and

Soviet Russia The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (Russian SFSR or RSFSR), previously known as the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and the Russian Soviet Republic, and unofficially as Soviet Russia,Declaration of Rights of the labo ...

Post Soviet Years

In the 1990s, as the

falls, YMCA-Press's editorial activity slowed down. Then began a period of transmission to Russia of the cultural heritage of

Russian emigration Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

. In 1990, a first exhibition of the YMCA-Press edition was held in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

, at the

Library of Foreign Literature A library is a collection of books, and possibly other materials and media, that is accessible for use by its members and members of allied institutions. Libraries provide physical (hard copies) or digital (soft copies) materials, and may be a p ...

. Muscovites can learn about the history of the publishing house and even acquire its books, delivered from

. This exhibition will then be presented in

Kyiv Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

and

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

. For ten years, thanks to the help of generous donors and the French Embassy in Moscow, YMCA-Press will crisscross Russia and endow a hundred cities with the complete collection of its editions, also organizing conferences and meetings with the former Soviet population long deprived of this Russian literary heritage by censorship. In 1991 Russkiy Put Publishing House was founded by YMCA-Press in Moscow, first as a Russian subsidiary, then as an independent company to take over the work of publishing and promoting Russian literary heritage, as if to symbolize the end of the

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

parenthesis of exile and censorship. In 1995 the House of Russian Abroad was founded by YMCA-Press and Russkiy Put director

and

Viktor Moskvin Viktor Aleksandrovich Moskvin (; born 5 January 1955) is a Soviet and Russian historian, cultural figure and publisher. He holds the title Honored Worker of Culture of the Russian Federation (2006) and laureates of the State Prize of the Russian F ...

to preserve and promote archives from Russian diasporas and emigrations history. It is located in the

Tagansky district Tagansky District () is a administrative divisions of Moscow, district of Central Administrative Okrug of the federal cities of Russia, federal city of Moscow, Russia, located between the Moskva River, Moskva and Yauza Rivers near the mouth of th ...

in Moscow.

YMCA-Press today

YMCA-Press is still active in Paris, it acts as a bridge between Russian and French cultures and wishes to promote a certain approach to Russian culture faithful to the heritage of emigration. For this, a cultural center named after Alexandr Solzhenitsyn was created, it is located on the second floor of the Parisian headquarters. The bookstore still operates in the heart of the

Latin Quarter The Latin Quarter of Paris (, ) is an urban university campus in the 5th and the 6th arrondissements of Paris. It is situated on the left bank of the Seine, around the Sorbonne. Known for its student life, lively atmosphere, and bistros, t ...

and welcomes many students and scholars of

Russian literature Russian literature refers to the literature of Russia, its Russian diaspora, émigrés, and to Russian language, Russian-language literature. Major contributors to Russian literature, as well as English for instance, are authors of different e ...

. The publishing house, after a few years at half mast after the

fall of the Soviet Union The Soviet Union was formally dissolved as a sovereign state and subject of international law on 26 December 1991 by Declaration No. 142-N of the Soviet of Nationalities, Soviet of the Republics of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. :s: ...

, is now publishing again. Since 2016 and the relaunch of its publishing activities by

, Melanie Struve-Rakovitch, Victor Moskvin and Natalya Solzhenitsyna, YMCA-Press has published : * Les Douze - Alexandre Blok, translated and foreword by Georges Nivat, 2016, co-published with Russkyi Put'. * La vie de Tourgueniev - Boris Zaïtsev, translated by Anne Kichilov, foreword by Tatiana Victoroff, 2018. * Études & Miniatures - Alexandr Solzhenitsyn, foreword by Georges Nivat, 2019. *Anthologie de la poésie russe du début du XXIe siècle, foreword by Tatiana Victoroff, 2020. * Poèmes de Iouri Jivago -

Boris Pasternak Boris Leonidovich Pasternak (30 May 1960) was a Russian and Soviet poet, novelist, composer, and literary translator. Composed in 1917, Pasternak's first book of poems, ''My Sister, Life'', was published in Berlin in 1922 and soon became an imp ...

, translated by Hélène Péras, foreword by Hélène Henry, 2020. *Vivre pleinement -

Ivan Bunin Ivan Alekseyevich Bunin ( or ; rus, Ива́н Алексе́евич Бу́нин, p=ɪˈvan ɐlʲɪkˈsʲejɪvʲɪdʑ ˈbunʲɪn, a=Ivan Alyeksyeyevich Bunin.ru.vorb.oga; – 8 November 1953)Nikita Struve Nikita Alexeyevich Struve (; 16 February 1931 – 7 May 2016) was a French author and translator of Russian descent, specializing in the study of Russian émigrés. Biography Struve was born in Boulogne-Billancourt, a suburb of Paris, into the Str ...

, reprint in 2021. *Anthologie de la poésie russe, la renaissance du XXe siècle, by

, reprint in 2021 *Cinq essais sur Pouchkine -

, translation by Anne Kichilov, avertissement by Georges Nivat, posface of Father Ignace Krekchine, critical dossier by Jean-Louis Backès and Olga Sedakova, 2021 *Dostoïevski et la logique - Jean-Louis Backès, foreword by Michel Eltchaninoff, 2021

References

{{Authority control Publishing companies of Russia YMCA Russian diaspora Publishing companies of France