Chukovsky3

[Judson Rosengrant]

Allow me to try that again with all the typos removed:

Regarding акушерка.  It does mean midwife and in its primary sense is not
necessary pejorative (see Dahl, 3rd ed.).  But in the usage of Chukovsky and
his circle, it appears to stand for a kind of severe, smug, semi-educated,
matronly type [cf. prison matron], a person of little imagination or
generosity of spirit, of which Krupskaya may have been the Bolshevik
epitome.  The following diary entry for 10 April 1920 is a fine example of
the usage and may indeed be the one that prompted the question.  In any
case, the context is, with its rather sinister historical undertone, a vivid
definer of the meaning:

Кругом немолодые еврейки, акушерского вида, с портфелями.  Открылось
заседание.  На нас накинулись со всех сторон. . .   Особенно горячо говорила
одна акушерка--повелительным голосом.  Оказалось, что это тов. Лилина,
жена Зиновьева. . .

JR


Judson Rosengrant, PhD
PO Box 551 
Portland, OR 97207

503.880.9521 mobile
jrosengrant at earthlink.net

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