Ana Siljak – författare

In 1924 the Russian Orthodox philosopher in exile Nikolai Berdyaev ended up in the environs of Paris, where he met and befriended the French Catholic philosopher Jacques Maritain. Coming from different faiths and disparate cultures, they shared a common desire to assert the essential dignity and rights of the human person in an era torn apart by extremism and conflict. They embarked on a joint endeavour to promote ecumenical dialogue and philosophical conversation in interwar Europe. Their collaboration was instrumental in developing a philosophy of Christian personalism and seminal in the emergence of existentialism.Newly translated into English, An Exceptional Dialogue, 1925–1948 reproduces the two thinkers’ correspondence, along with Bernard Hubert’s original introductory essay, his notes to the French edition, and a new introduction by Ana Siljak. An intimate and remarkable portrait emerges. The two men met and corresponded often during their two decades of friendship, their homes became spaces for conversations on religion and philosophy, and together they contributed to the development of a Christian humanism and personalism that inspired such disparate figures as Hannah Arendt and Martin Luther King Jr and that influenced Maritain’s work on the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights.An Exceptional Dialogue, 1925–1948 reveals the connectedness between Russian and European thought, explores the contributions of French-Russian personalism to the history of human dignity, and provides insight into a strain of philosophy often ignored in contemporary scholarship.

In 1924 the Russian Orthodox philosopher in exile Nikolai Berdyaev ended up in the environs of Paris, where he met and befriended the French Catholic philosopher Jacques Maritain. Coming from different faiths and disparate cultures, they shared a common desire to assert the essential dignity and rights of the human person in an era torn apart by extremism and conflict. They embarked on a joint endeavour to promote ecumenical dialogue and philosophical conversation in interwar Europe. Their collaboration was instrumental in developing a philosophy of Christian personalism and seminal in the emergence of existentialism.Newly translated into English, An Exceptional Dialogue, 1925–1948 reproduces the two thinkers’ correspondence, along with Bernard Hubert’s original introductory essay, his notes to the French edition, and a new introduction by Ana Siljak. An intimate and remarkable portrait emerges. The two men met and corresponded often during their two decades of friendship, their homes became spaces for conversations on religion and philosophy, and together they contributed to the development of a Christian humanism and personalism that inspired such disparate figures as Hannah Arendt and Martin Luther King Jr and that influenced Maritain’s work on the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights.An Exceptional Dialogue, 1925–1948 reveals the connectedness between Russian and European thought, explores the contributions of French-Russian personalism to the history of human dignity, and provides insight into a strain of philosophy often ignored in contemporary scholarship.

In the winter of 1878, Vera Zasulich shot the governor of St. Petersburg for his brutal treatment of a political prisoner. Her trial became Russia's first 'trial of the century' as the courtrooms filled with the cream of society. Vera was a celebrated martyr to all Russian social classes and a public face of the growing revolutionary fervour. Dostoyevsky, Tolstoy, and Bakunin all wrote in her support. Her astonishing acquittal was cheered, marking the changing face of Russia. Vera became Russia's most famous 'terroristka', inspiring a generation of revolutionaries to embrace violence and martyrdom, culminating in the assassination of Alexander II. In the story of Russia's most infamous terrorist, Ana Siljak captures Vera's extraordinary life story - from privileged nobility to revolutionary conspirator to assassin and then saint - all while offering a vivid window into the fiery political upheaval of Russia.

After World War II, some 12 million Germans, 3 million Poles and Ukrainians, and tens of thousands of Hungarians were expelled from their homes and forced to migrate to their supposed countries of origin. Using freshly available materials from Polish, Ukrainian, Russian, Czechoslovak, German, British, and American archives, the contributors to this book provide a sweeping, detailed account of the turmoil caused by the huge wave of forced migration during the nascent Cold War. The book also documents the deep and lasting political, social, and economic consequences of this traumatic time, raising difficult questions about the effect of forced migration on postwar reconstruction, the rise of Communism, and the growing tensions between Western Europe and the Eastern bloc. Those interested in European Cold-War history will find this book indispensable for understanding the profound—but hitherto little known—upheavals caused by the massive ethnic cleansing that took place from 1944 to 1948.

Religion and Secular Modernity in Russian Christianity, Judaism, and Atheism is a multifaceted account of the engagement between religion and the secular in Russia's Christian, Jewish, and atheist traditions. Ana Siljak brings together an interdisciplinary group of leading scholars to present unique perspectives on the secularization dynamic in Russia and the Soviet Union, telling stories about theologians, sects, churches, poets, and artists. From the Jewish Christian priest Alexander Men, to the cross-dressing poet Zinaida Gippius, to the Soviet promoter of Yiddish theater Solomon Mikhoels, Religion and Secular Modernity in Russian Christianity, Judaism, and Atheism gives a voice to a variety of actors who have grappled with the possibilities of faith and unbelief in an industrialized, modern, and seemingly secular world. Now more than ever, as one narrative of Russia's religious history dominates official Russian accounts, alternative perspectives of the relationship between Russian religion and secularism should be highlighted and emphasized.