Lev Nussimbaum

Lev Nussimbaum (Mohammad Essad Bey)
Born October 5, 1905
Kiev, Russian Empire
Died August 27, 1942
Positano, near Naples, Italy

Lev Nussimbaum (Mohammad Essad Bey) (Kiev, 1905 – Positano, 1942) was a writer and journalist, born in Kiev to a Jewish family,[1] who spent his childhood in Baku before fleeing the Bolsheviks in 1920 at the age of 14. In 1922 he converted to Islam in the presence of the imam of the Turkish embassy in Berlin. [2] He created for himself a niche in the competitive European literary world by writing about topics that Westerners, in general, knew little about - the Caucasus,[3] Russian Empire,[4] Bolshevik Revolution[5] newly discovered oil,[6] and Islam.[7] He wrote under the name of Essad Bey in German.

Historians and literary critics, who knew these subjects well, discredited Essad Bey as a reliable source.[8] Today, historians disregard books published under his name and rarely quote him, though the topics Essad Bey chose to write about are still critically relevant. Furthermore, the fact that Essad Bey was so prolific calls into question the authorship of these books[9] and whether Essad Bey was primarily operating as a broker and doctoring manuscripts and marketing them under his name, which by then had become famous. In 1934, his agent Werner Schendell warned him to slow down and take a year off between books so that he would not appear to be so prolific.[10] That year no books appeared in German - only two novellas in Polish.[11]

Contents

Ali and Nino: Was Nussimbaum the Core Author?

A celebrated 1937 novel "Ali and Nino: A Love Story," which some people attribute to him, has become a classic of Azerbaijani literature, but recent careful analysis of the diaries and political essays, short stories and novels of Yusif Vazir Chamanzaminli point to Chamanzaminli as the core author of this important work.[12] However, Essad Bey's fingerprints[13] are evident in the novel, especially in folkloric and legendary passages in the text, many examples of which contain significant errors and can be traced to the same mistakes in Essad Bey's earlier works. His knowledge of the Caucasus was quite limited as he had left the region when he was only 14 years old.[14]

Life

Lev Nussimbaum was born in October 1905, according to himself in a train,[15] though documents in the Kiev State Archives and the Kiev Synagogue state that Lev Nussimbaum was born in Kiev.[16] Lev's birth was originally registered in the Kyiv Synagogue.

His father, Abraam Leybusovich Nussimbaum, was a Jew and citizen of Tiflis, Georgia, born in 1875, who later migrated to Baku and invested in oil.[17] His mother Basya Davidovna Nussimbaum, according to her marriage certificate,[18] was a Jew from Belarus. She committed suicide on February 16, 1911 in Baku when Nussimbaum was five years old.[19] Apparently, she had embraced left-wing politics[20] and was possibly involved in the underground Communist movement. Nussimbaum's father then hired Alice Schulte, a woman of German ethnicity to be his son's governess.[21]

In 1918, Lev and his father fled Baku because of the massacres that were taking place in the streets. According to Essad Bey's first book which historians do not consider to be very reliable, the two travelled through Turkestan and Persia. However, of this adventurous journey there is no record except in Nussimbaum's own writings.[22] Nussimbaum and his father returned to Baku but when the Bolsheviks took Baku in the spring of 1920, they fled to Georgia where they stayed until the Bolsheviks took Tiflis and Batumi.

Lev Nussimbaum, 24, as Essad Bey, wrote his first book "Oel und Blut im Orient," in German (Blood and Oil in the Orient) in 1929. Although he claims that his account was autobiographical, distinguished historians in Azerbaijan and Georgia refute the possibility as there are so many major factual errors in the historical description.[23] Essad Bey describes how as a child, aged 14, his delight in leaving Azerbaijan. In the final passage of the book, he writes: "At that moment, Europe began for me. The Old East was dead."[24]

Then they managed to board a ship to Constantinople to where thousands of refugees had fled. Later, Nussimbaum eventually settled in Berlin (1921–1933),[20] where he enrolled simultaneously in high school and in Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität. He did not graduate from either of them but went around telling people that he had a Cand. Phil.[25]

In 1926, he began writing under the pen name of Essad Bey for the prestigious literary journal Die literarische Welt (The Literary World). At least 120 articles were published under his name. .[26] A close examination of those articles reveals that Azerbaijan was only slightly mentioned in three articles.[27] The first article about popular media in Azerbaijan has serious errors and omissions and shows that he didn't know the topic. The other two articles include Azerbaijan in a casual listing of countries.

By the early 1930s, Essad Bey had become a popular author throughout Western Europe, writing mainly about contemporary historical and political issues.[20]

His political stance was on the monarchist[28] far right. In 1931, he joined the German-Russian League Against Bolshevism, the members of which, Daniel Lazare remarks, "for the most part either were Nazis or soon would be". He also joined the Social Monarchist Party, which advocated restoration of Germany's Hohenzollern dynasty. He also had connections to the pre-fascistic Young Russian movement, headed by Alexander Kazembek.[20]

In 1932, Essad Bey married Erika Loewendahl—daughter of shoe magnate Walter Loewendahl. The marriage failed, ending in scandal.[29] Erika ran off with Nussimbaum's colleague René Fülöp-Miller in 1935. Erika's parents, who were wealthy, succeeded in getting the marriage to Lev Nussimbaum Essad Bey annulled in 1937.[30]

In 1938, when the Germans occupied Austria, Nussimbaum fled to Italy and settled in the seacoast town of Positano. He died there of a rare blood disorder known to afflict Ashkenazi Jews, which causes gangrene of the extremities. Most likely its was Buerger's disease,[31] not Raynaud's Disease as some claim.[32]

Islam

Nussimbaum had a romantic view of Islam, seeing it as part of the grand cultural heritage of "the East" (to which he felt connected by his Jewish heritage) and a bulwark against the evils of Western modernity and Bolshevism. Writing about his childhood in Azerbaijan, he writes about the emotional effect he received from looking at the old palaces in Baku: "I saw the broad expanse of the sandy Arabian desert, I saw the horsemen, their snow-white burnooses billowing in the wind, I saw the flocks of prophets praying towards Mecca and I wanted to be one with this wall, one with this desert, one with this incomprehensible, intricate script, one with the entire Islamic Orient, which in our Baku had been so ceremoniously carried to the grave, to the victorious drumbeats of European culture.... Throughout my entire childhood, I dreamed of the Arabic edifices every night... I do know that it was the most powerful, most formative feeling of my life."[33]

In Constantinople, and again in Berlin, he formally converted to Islam [34], obtaining a certificate to the effect in Berlin in August 1922.[35] In 1924 he helped found an Islamic student group in Berlin, Islamia, where he met other Muslims -- Arabs, Turks, Iranians, Afghanis and Indians as well as converts like himself -- and "spoke out about the wretched situation of Muslims in the colonial world."[36] However, some Muslims objected to the way Nussimbaum depicted Islam in his writings, accusing him of Orientalism and of not being a "real" Muslim. In 1930, Mohammed Hoffman, a member of Islamia and himself a convert to Islam, accused Nussmbaum of trying "to pass for a born Muslim" and suggesting that his conversion was merely a ploy.[37] As a result of this and similar accusations, he stopped attending Islamia meetings; however, he never renounced Islam or distanced himself from it. In 1934 the New York Herald Tribune ran a profile of "Essad Bey" which described him as an irreverent Muslim who "carries no prayer rug; he fails to salute Mecca when he prays... eats pigs and drinks wine; yet when he came to be married in Berlin he refused to abjure his creed."[38] Those who knew Nussimbaum in his last years in Positano reported that he read the Quran and kept a copy by his bed, and a local legend states that he asked to be buried with his feet facing Mecca.[39]

Works

Despite Nussimbaum's being an ethnic Jew, his monarchist and anti-Socialist politics were such that, before his origins were discovered, the Nazi propaganda ministry included his works on their list of "excellent books for German minds".[20] Among the works credited to him are early biographies of Lenin, Stalin and Czar Nicholas II, Mohammed, the Prophet and Reza Shah of Iran. All these "biographies" were allegedly written between 1932 and 1936. At one point, Nussimbaum was requested to write an official biography of Benito Mussolini.. Essad Bey's works, many of which he claimed were biographies, are discredited by historians and literary critics and rarely referenced today except to point out how unreliable they are.[40]

Bibliography

Under penname of Essad Bey

Under penname of Kurban Said

Essad Bey's role is highly disputed in "Ali and Nino" and "Girl from the Golden Horn". Evidence points to the fact that manuscripts were passed to him and then he embellished and polished them. See Azerbaijan International, Vol. 15:2-4 (2011), 364 pages. In English or in Azeri.

References

  1. ^ Abbas Abdulla, "Research" Nussimbaum is a Jew from Kyiv" in Adabiyyat Qazetti (Literature Qazette), No. 48:3643 (Baku: December 19, 2008), p.6 as quoted in "Frequently Asked Questions about the Authorship of Ali and Nino," FAQ No. 54: But was Lev Nussimbaum (Essad Bey) actually born in Baku?" in Azerbaijan International, Vol. 15:2-4 (2011), p. 65 and Endnote 119 on page 109.
  2. ^ Reiss, Tom. 'The Orientalist. Random House, 2005, p.199
  3. ^ Blood and Oil in the Orient (1929), Twelve Secrets of the Caucasus (1930), and The Caucasus (1931)
  4. ^ OGPU (1932), Nicholas II (1935)
  5. ^ Stalin (1931), OGPU (1932), Russia at the Crossroads (1933), Lenin (1935), End of Bolshevism (1936)
  6. ^ Blood and Oil in the Orient (1929), Liquid Oil (1933), Love and Oil (1934), God is Great (about Ibn Saud, 1936)
  7. ^ Mohammed (1932), God is Great (about resurgence of Islam and Ibn Saud, 1936)
  8. ^ <"Fact or Fiction? What Essad Bey's Contemporaries Said," in Azerbaijan International, Vol. 15:2-4, pp. 166-177.
  9. ^ "Was Essad Bey Too Prolific? Did he really write 16 books in 8 years?" Azerbaijan International, Vol. 15:2-4, pp. 162-163.
  10. ^ Literary agent Werner Schendell (1891-1961) cautioned Essad Bey to slow down, not to appear too prolific in correspondence, dated May 8, 1934. Dr. Gerhard Hopp, "Mohammed Essad Bey: Nur Orient Für Europäer?" in Asien Afrika Lateinamerika, Vol. 25:1 (1997), p. 86, Endnote 120.
  11. ^ "Love and Oil" and "Manuela"
  12. ^ 101 Reasons why Yusif Vazir Chamanzaminli is the Core Author of "Ali and Nino," Azerbaijan International, Vol. 15:2-4, pp. 262-333.
  13. ^ Cut and Paste' Author: Essad Bey's Fingerprints in 'Ali and Nino,'" Azerbaijan International, Vol. 15:2-4, pp. 230-251.
  14. ^ Betty Blair, "Folklore: What Essad Bey Didn't Know: Portrait of the Caucasus," in Azerbaijan International, Vol. 15-2-4 (2011), pp. 218-229.
  15. ^ Essad Bey claimed he was born on a train in an autobiographical essay published in Die literarische Welt (Berlin, 5/1929, No. 48, page 5) after German police traced his birth to Kiev. At that time he had already written two books (Blood and Oil in the Orient, and Twelve Secrets of the Caucasus) in which his publishers had promoted these books as being written by native-born Bakui. Thus, the non-descript location of his birth - "on a train" - in Die literarische Welt provides a slick cover for claims he had made earlier in which being "born in Baku" would have lent more credibility to his writing and, thus, made his books more profitable. This was a typical practice of Nussimbaum (Essad Bey). He was always trying to lay claim to the national identity of the topics and personalities about which he wrote. When he wrote about Stalin, he was Georgian. When he wrote about Nicolas II, he was Russian. When he wrote about Persian matters of divorce, he was Persian. When he wrote about Mohammed, he was Muslim. All very calculated efforts to convince readers that what he wrote was credible though it was often nonsense. See Betty Blair, No. 4 "Too Many Identities, Essad Bey as Core Author of Ali and Nino: Seven Reasons Why It Just Aint' So," in Azerbaijan International, Vol. 15:2-4 (2011), pp. 186-190.
  16. ^ Kyiv Central Historical Archives: Fund 1164, List 1, Case 473, Page 635, according to an official letter sent to Azerbaijani philologist Abdulla Ajaloghlu, dated November 4, 2008, signed by L.Y. Demchenko, Director of the Kyiv Archives and referenced in article: "Archives: What a Hoax! Vacca's Sensational Biographical Account of Essad Bey," in Azerbaijan International, Vol. 15:2-4 (2011), pp. 146-149.
  17. ^ The A.L. Nussimbaum & Binagadi Petroleum Pipeline Co. was sold to the Nobel Brothers Petroleum Company in 1914 for 131,500 rubles. Azerbaijan Republic State History Archives,Fund 392, List 1, Case 199, Page 1.
  18. ^ Marriage Certificate (October 26, 1904), Georgian Central State Historical Archives, No. 675, p. 10. The marriage of Lev Nussimbaum's parents was originally registered in the Tiflis (Tbilisi) Synagogue.
  19. ^ Azerbaijan Republic State History Archives, Fund 1044, List 1, Case 571, page 4.
  20. ^ a b c d e Lazare, Daniel. "Jews Without Borders". The Nation. http://www.thenation.com/doc/20050328/lazare. Retrieved March 28, 2005.  However, note that both Lazare and Reiss are secondary sources for Lev Nussimbaum's biography, not primary sources.
  21. ^ Alice Schulte: "Biographie Essad-Bey," unpublished "biography," Rascher Archives at the Central Library, Zurich, Switzerland.
  22. ^ Essad Bey, "Əsəd Bəy, “Şərqdə neft və qan” (1929).
  23. ^ Dr. Zaza Aleksidze (Georgia): "I am sure that 'Blood and Oil in the Orient' is not an autobiography as Essad Bey claims. It is a fiction, full of tales and mistakes and no one should rely upon it as a source for reconstructing the biography of Essad Bey." Also Dr. Farid Alakbarli (Azerbaijan), "Correcting all of Essad Bey's errors in this book would be an endless job." Both in "Critics: Fact or Fiction? What Essad Bey's Contemporaries Said," in Azerbaijan International, Vol. 15:2-4 (2011), p. 169.
  24. ^ Essad Bey, "OIl and Blood in the Orient" (San Francisco: Aran Press, 1997), p. 317.
  25. ^ Gerhard Höpp, "Mohammed Essad Bey: Nur Orient Fur Europaäer?" (Orient for the Europeans) in Asien Afrika Lateinamerika 25:1 (Berlin: Akademie Verlag, 1997), p. 78.
  26. ^ Index for "Die literarische Welt 1925-1933, Vol. 1" (Nendeln: Kraus-Thomason Organization Ltd, 1976).
  27. ^ "Frequently Asked Questions about the Authorship of Ali and Nino," No. 69: What about Essad Bey's articles? What did he write about Azerbaijan? in Azerbaijan International, Vol. 15:2-4 (2011), p. 70.
  28. ^ Essad Bey boasted that he was a Monarchist in "The Story of My Life" (Die Gelchichte Meines Lebens) in Die literarische Welt, Berlin, Vol. 7:5 (January 30, 1931, pp. 3-4. This contradicts the main theme in the novel Ali and Nino which expresses deep resentment for the Russian Czar Nicholas II. Essad Bey also wrote a sympathetic "biography" about Nicholas II (1935).
  29. ^ Essad Bey had Erika arrested when she arrived by ship in New York. He notified authorities that she planned an assassination in the United States. It was a totally false allegation - totally imaginary, but gave Erika serious legal problems. “Gerichtssaal: Scheidungsprozess Gegen Den Schriftsteller Essad Bey / Courtroom: Divorce Proceedings Against the Writer Essad Bey.” Neues Wiener Journal 15, (1937), p. 33.
  30. ^ "Los Angeles Times," November 19, 1937, p. A12.
  31. ^ "The Lives of Two Writers - Yusif Vazir Chamanzaminli and Lev Nussimbaum." See Cause of death, Azerbaijan International, Vol. 15:2-4, p. 39, citing Dr. Wilifried Fuhrman, Essadbey.de
  32. ^ Tom Reiss in The Orientalist (New York: Random House, 2005), a book about Essad Bey, says that his illness was due to Raynaud's disease. But Raynaud's afflicts mostly women, not men. Buerger's Disease (thrombo-angitis obliterans) has symptoms similar to Raynaud's. Both result in gangrene and can lead to amputation of fingers or toes. Buerger's afflicts Ashkenazi Jewish males, especially heavy smokers. See "Frequently Asked Questions about the Authorship of Ali and Nino," in Azerbaijan International, Vol. 15:2-4 (2011). FAQ 137 (p. 88): Did Lev Nussimbaum (Essad Bey) die from Raynaud's disease? FAQ 138 (p. 88-89) "When did Essad Bey first become aware that he had this disease?"
  33. ^ Reiss, Tom. 'The Orientalist. Random House, 2005, p.34
  34. ^ Reiss, Tom. 'The Orientalist. Random House, 2005, p.34
  35. ^ Dr. Gerhard Hopp, "Mohammed Essad Bey: Nur Orient Für Europäer?" in Asien Afrika Lateinamerika, Vol. 25:1 (1997), p. 77.
  36. ^ Reiss, Tom. 'The Orientalist. Random House, 2005, p.34
  37. ^ Reiss, Tom. 'The Orientalist. Random House, 2005, p.34
  38. ^ Reiss, Tom. 'The Orientalist. Random House, 2005, p.274
  39. ^ Reiss, Tom. 'The Orientalist. Random House, 2005, p.332-333
  40. ^ "Fact or Fiction? What Essad Bey's Contemporaries Said," in Azerbaijan International, Vol. 15:2-4, pp. 166-177.
  41. ^ Best described, according to Dr. Wilifried Fuhrman (ESSADBEY.de) as "the wild fantasies of an Orientalist, a mixture of malice and slander as well as pathological hubris and arrogance," quoted in Azerbaijan International, Vol. 15:2-4, p. 345.

External links