Shafarevich, Igor´ Rostislavovich (1923) Rusofobiia. München, Rossiiskoe Natsional´noe Ob'edinenie (RNO), 1989. 141 p., bibliography. €45,00
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8 vo, publisher´s covers with reproduction of author´s portrait. GOOD TO VERY GOOD.

FIRST EDITION/FIRST ISSUE.

Igor Rostislavovich Shafarevich is a Russian mathematician who has contributed to algebraic number theory and algebraic geometry. He has written books and articles which criticize socialism, and was an important dissident during the Soviet regime.

Shafarevich's essays titled Russophobia and 'Three thousand year old mystery' (Трехтысячелетняя загадка) resulted in accusations of antisemitism. He completed the Russophobia essay in 1982 and it was initially circulated in samizdat. In the USSR it was first published in 1989 shortly after München Russian edition.

In the Russophobia essay he argues that great nations experience periods in their history when reformist elitist groups ('small nations') that have values that differ fundamentally from the values of the majority of the people, gain upper hand in the society. In Shafarevich's opinion, the role of such a 'small nation' in Russia was played by a small group of intelligentsiya dominated by Jews. They were full of hatred against traditional Russian way of life, playing an active role in the terrorist regime of Vladimir Lenin and Joseph Stalin.

Its publication led to a request by the United States National Academy of Sciences (NAS) to Shafarevich to resign his membership, because the NAS charter prohibited stripping an existing membership. In an open letter to the NAS, Shafarevich denied that Russophobia is antisemitic. Shafarevich also noted that since NAS enlisted him without his request or knowledge, it is its internal matter to delist him as well. Nevertheless when the United States invaded Iraq, Shafarevich faxed his resignation.

Accusations of anti-semitism have continued, involving Shafarevich's other publications. Semen Reznik targets the Russophobia essay for its factual inaccuracies, that Shafarevich has misassigned Jewish ethnicity to a number of non-Jewish individuals involved in the execution, perpetuating the false assertion that there was graffiti in Yiddish at the murder site, and suggested that Shafarevich's phrase 'Nicholas II was shot specifically as the Tsar, and this ritual act drew a line under an epoch in Russian history' — may be read as blood libel. Aron Katsenelinboigen, on the other hand, stated that while there are anti-semitic claims in Shafarevich's writings, he stops short of claiming blood libel.]

More recently Shafarevich expanded on his views in his book 'Three thousand year old mystery'. This work was published in Russian in 2002; an introductory section explains the relationship with the Russophobia essay, explaining that the essay developed from an Appendix to an intended work of wider scope which he started writing in samizdat. [...]--Adapted from Wikipedia, English version.

See: Brun-Zejmis, Julia (1996), 'Who are the 'Enemies of Russia'? The Question of Russophobia in the Samizdat Debate before Glasnost’,' Nationalities Papers: The Journal of Nationalism and Ethnicity, Vol. 24, Issue 2; Dunlop, John B. (1994), 'The ‘Sad Case’ of Igor Shafarevich,' East European Jewish Affairs, Vol. 24, Issue 1; Laqueur, Walter (1990), 'From Russia, With Hate,' New Republic, February 5; Berglund, Krista (2012). The Vexing Case of Igor Shafarevich, a Russian Political Thinker.