Narodniki
The Smirnov Archive
Valerian Nikolaevič Smirnov (1849-1900) was the closest collaborator of Petr Lavrov in editing Vpered!, the organ of the Russian revolutionary Populist movement in exile (Zürich 1873- Londen 1877). He was also secretary of the Russian library in Zürich. His archive contains documents relating to Vpered, as well as correspondence with well-known members of the international socialist movement from the 1870s and 1880s.
In 1936 the archive was acquired from his widow, N. Kolachevskaia, in Bern. The IISH annual report 1936 says: "De uiterst spaarzame gegevens omtrent deze beweging juist uit de periode 1870—1880 maken deze verzameling zeer waardevol". (The very little information about this movement, especially for the period 1870-1880, makes this collection very valuable).
The inventory of the Smirnov Archive can be found at www.iisg.nl/archives/en/files/s/10769249.php).
The archive contains a an eleven pages pamphlet from 1872 about press freedom and censorship, written by Smirnov, 'Protest russkich studentov protiv russkago pravitel'stva po povodu zakona o pečati'.