RUSSIAN ÉMIGRÉ LITERATURE AND THE “RUSSIAN HELP ACTION” OF THE CZECHOSLOVAK GOVERNMENT

The article is devoted to the features of the phenomenon that was formed in the early 1920s in Prague, the Russian émigré literary centre. It is emphasised that thanks to the government support provided within the framework of “The Russian Help Action” dozens of émigré institutions and organisations were founded, which considered their main task to satisfy the cultural, including literary, needs of the exiles. The exile work of writers, critics, historians and publicists was directly connected with Prague, as their heritage had made the important contribution not only to Russian but also to the world culture. Many writers settled there and the significant part of them remained in Czechoslovakia until the end of their lives. Among them were Arkady Averchenko, Alfred Bem, Valentin Bulgakov, Boris Yevreinov, Daniil Ratgauz, Pyotr Kozhevnikov, Vasily Nemirovich-Danchenko, Marina Tsvetaeva, Evgeny Chirikov, Konstantin Chkheidze, Roman Jacobson. Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk, being an expert on Fyodor Dostoevsky’s creative activity, had no doubt that Soviet power would become a thing of the past, therefore in his opinion it was necessary to preserve Russian intelligentsia in exile, which he considered the main bearer and propagator of democratic ideas.