Who really said it? "Engineer of Human Souls"

[Mark Nuckols]

Dear Donals Loewen,

This isn't so timely, so I'm replying off-line. You may also be interested
in the novel of the same title (in English--the Czech title is actually
Příběh inženýra lidských duší, literally A tale of ...) by Josef
 kvorecký, Toronto: 68 Publishers, 1977. It's been translated into English
as well as reprinted in the Czech Republic in 1998.

Hope this info is of some use.

Best,

Mark Nuckols


>From: Donald Loewen <djloewen at BINGHAMTON.EDU>
>Reply-To: Slavic & East European Languages and Literature list
><SEELANGS at LISTSERV.CUNY.EDU>
>To: SEELANGS at LISTSERV.CUNY.EDU
>Subject: [SEELANGS] Who really said it?  "Engineer of Human Souls"
>Date: Mon, 13 Dec 2004 11:48:50 -0600
>
>Greetings.
>
>I'm trying to find the source of the expression about writers as the
>"engineers of human souls."   I can't remember if this was the quotation
>covered exhaustively in SEELANGS about a year ago -- if it was, I would be
>grateful if someone could tell me how it turned out.
>
>What I've found so far is that Stalin said it in 1932, but that it may have
>originated before that (a certain Gronskii who worked in the Writers'
>Union, or perhaps even earlier --
>(http://www.dialog-21.ru/archive_article.asp?param=7354&y=2002&vol=6077)
>_Moskovskii literator_ has a page that describes its use at the 1932
>writers' meeting (http://www.moslit.ru/nn/0417/5.htm).
>
>Does anyone have anything more specific, including specific information
>about Stalin's use of the phrase?
>Feel free to reply off-line, unless others are interested.
>
>With thanks and best wishes,
>Don Loewen
>
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