Lev Nussimbaum
Encyclopedia
Lev Nussimbaum (Kiev
, 1905 – Positano
, 1942) was a writer and journalist, a Jew
, born in Kiev
, who spent his childhood in Baku
before fleeing the Bolshevik
s in 1920 at the age of 14. 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, Russian Empire, Bolshevik Revolution newly discovered oil, and Islam. 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. 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 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. That year no books appeared in German - only two novellas in Polish.
, 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. However, Essad Bey's fingerprints 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.
and the Kiev Synagogue
state that Lev Nussimbaum was born in Kiev. 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. His mother Basya Davidovna Nussimbaum, according to her marriage certificate, was a Jew from Belarus. She committed suicide on February 16, 1911 in Baku when Nussimbaum was five years old. Apparently, she had embraced left-wing politics
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.
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. 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. 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."
Then they managed to board a ship to Constantinople
to where thousands of refugees had fled. Later, Nussimbaum eventually settled in Berlin (1921–1933), 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.
Nussimbaum writes that his experiences as a youth were formative, enchanting experiences. Later in Berlin, he obtained a certificate "proving" that he had converted to Islam
in August 1922. 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. . A close examination of those articles reveals that Azerbaijan was only slightly mentioned in three articles. 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.
His political stance was on the monarchist 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.
In 1932, Essad Bey married Erika Loewendahl—daughter of shoe magnate Walter Loewendahl. The marriage failed, ending in scandal. 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.
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
, not Raynaud's Disease as some claim.
ministry
included his works on their list of "excellent books for German minds". 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.
Kiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....
, 1905 – Positano
Positano
Positano is a village and comune on the Amalfi Coast , in Campania, Italy. The main part of the city sits in an enclave in the hills leading down to the coast.-History:...
, 1942) was a writer and journalist, a Jew
Jews
The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
, born in Kiev
Kiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....
, who spent his childhood in Baku
Baku
Baku , sometimes spelled as Baki or Bakou, is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. It is located on the southern shore of the Absheron Peninsula, which projects into the Caspian Sea. The city consists of two principal...
before fleeing the Bolshevik
Bolshevik
The Bolsheviks, originally also Bolshevists , derived from bol'shinstvo, "majority") were a faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party which split apart from the Menshevik faction at the Second Party Congress in 1903....
s in 1920 at the age of 14. 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, Russian Empire, Bolshevik Revolution newly discovered oil, and Islam. He wrote under the name of Essad Bey in German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
.
Historians and literary critics, who knew these subjects well, discredited Essad Bey as a reliable source. 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 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. That year no books appeared in German - only two novellas in Polish.
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 literatureAzerbaijani literature
Azerbaijani literature refers to the literature written in Azerbaijani, which currently is the official state language of the Republic of Azerbaijan and is widely spoken in northwestern Iran and eastern Turkey...
, but recent careful analysis of the diaries and political essays, short stories and novels of Yusif Vazir Chamanzaminli
Yusif Vazir Chamanzaminli
Yusif Vazir Chamanzaminli, , sometimes spelled Chemenzeminli, born Yusif Mirbaba oghlu Vazirov Russia.Chamanzaminli was an Azerbaijani writer and statesman remembered for his novels, short stories, essays, and diaries...
point to Chamanzaminli as the core author of this important work. However, Essad Bey's fingerprints 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.
Life
Lev Nussimbaum was born in October 1905, according to himself in a train, though documents in the Kiev State ArchivesVernadsky National Library of Ukraine
The Vernadsky National Library of Ukraine is the main academic library and main scientific information centre in Ukraine, one of the world's largest national libraries. It is located in the capital of the country – Kiev. The library contains about 15 million items...
and the Kiev Synagogue
Great Choral Synagogue
The Great Choral Synagogue of Kiev, also known as the Podil Synagogue, is situated in Kiev, Ukraine.-History:The synagogue was built 1895 and reconstructed in 1915. Gabriel Jakob Rozenberg and Wladimir Gorazjewitsch Ginzburg, two merchants, financed the building. It was built in an Aesopian style....
state that Lev Nussimbaum was born in Kiev. Lev's birth was originally registered in the Kyiv Synagogue.
His father, Abraam Leybusovich Nussimbaum, was a Jew and citizen of Tiflis
Tbilisi
Tbilisi is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Mt'k'vari River. The name is derived from an early Georgian form T'pilisi and it was officially known as Tiflis until 1936...
, Georgia
Georgia (country)
Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...
, born in 1875, who later migrated to Baku and invested in oil. His mother Basya Davidovna Nussimbaum, according to her marriage certificate, was a Jew from Belarus. She committed suicide on February 16, 1911 in Baku when Nussimbaum was five years old. Apparently, she had embraced left-wing politics
Left-wing politics
In politics, Left, left-wing and leftist generally refer to support for social change to create a more egalitarian society...
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.
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. 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. 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."
Then they managed to board a ship to Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
to where thousands of refugees had fled. Later, Nussimbaum eventually settled in Berlin (1921–1933), where he enrolled simultaneously in high school and in Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität
Humboldt University of Berlin
The Humboldt University of Berlin is Berlin's oldest university, founded in 1810 as the University of Berlin by the liberal Prussian educational reformer and linguist Wilhelm von Humboldt, whose university model has strongly influenced other European and Western universities...
. He did not graduate from either of them but went around telling people that he had a Cand. Phil.
Nussimbaum writes that his experiences as a youth were formative, enchanting experiences. Later in Berlin, he obtained a certificate "proving" that he had converted to Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
in August 1922. 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. . A close examination of those articles reveals that Azerbaijan was only slightly mentioned in three articles. 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
Western Europe
Western Europe is a loose term for the collection of countries in the western most region of the European continents, though this definition is context-dependent and carries cultural and political connotations. One definition describes Western Europe as a geographic entity—the region lying in the...
, writing mainly about contemporary historical and political issues.
His political stance was on the monarchist far right
Far right
Far-right, extreme right, hard right, radical right, and ultra-right are terms used to discuss the qualitative or quantitative position a group or person occupies within right-wing politics. Far-right politics may involve anti-immigration and anti-integration stances towards groups that are...
. In 1931, he joined the German-Russian League Against Bolshevism, the members of which, Daniel Lazare remarks, "for the most part either were Nazis
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
or soon would be". He also joined the Social Monarchist Party, which advocated restoration of Germany's Hohenzollern
House of Hohenzollern
The House of Hohenzollern is a noble family and royal dynasty of electors, kings and emperors of Prussia, Germany and Romania. It originated in the area around the town of Hechingen in Swabia during the 11th century. They took their name from their ancestral home, the Burg Hohenzollern castle near...
dynasty. He also had connections to the pre-fascistic
Fascism
Fascism is a radical authoritarian nationalist political ideology. Fascists seek to rejuvenate their nation based on commitment to the national community as an organic entity, in which individuals are bound together in national identity by suprapersonal connections of ancestry, culture, and blood...
Young Russian
Mladorossi
The Union of Mladorossi was a political group of Russian émigré monarchists who advocated a hybrid of Russian monarchy and the Soviet system, best evidenced by their motto "Tsar and the Soviets"....
movement, headed by Alexander Kazembek.
In 1932, Essad Bey married Erika Loewendahl—daughter of shoe magnate Walter Loewendahl. The marriage failed, ending in scandal. Erika ran off with Nussimbaum's colleague René Fülöp-Miller
René Fülöp-Miller
René Fülöp-Miller, born Philip Müller was an Austrian cultural historian and writer.-Works:* Rasputin : the holy devil, 1927...
in 1935. Erika's parents, who were wealthy, succeeded in getting the marriage to Lev Nussimbaum Essad Bey annulled in 1937.
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
Ashkenazi Jews
Ashkenazi Jews, also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim , are the Jews descended from the medieval Jewish communities along the Rhine in Germany from Alsace in the south to the Rhineland in the north. Ashkenaz is the medieval Hebrew name for this region and thus for Germany...
, which causes gangrene
Gangrene
Gangrene is a serious and potentially life-threatening condition that arises when a considerable mass of body tissue dies . This may occur after an injury or infection, or in people suffering from any chronic health problem affecting blood circulation. The primary cause of gangrene is reduced blood...
of the extremities. Most likely its was Buerger's disease
Buerger's disease
Thromboangiitis obliterans is a recurring progressive inflammation and thrombosis of small and medium arteries and veins of the hands and feet...
, not Raynaud's Disease as some claim.
Works
Despite Nussimbaum's being an ethnic Jew, his monarchist and anti-Socialist politics were such that, before his origins were discovered, the Nazi propagandaNazi propaganda
Propaganda, the coordinated attempt to influence public opinion through the use of media, was skillfully used by the NSDAP in the years leading up to and during Adolf Hitler's leadership of Germany...
ministry
Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda
The Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda was Nazi Germany's ministry that enforced Nazi Party ideology in Germany and regulated its culture and society. Founded on March 13, 1933, by Adolf Hitler's new National Socialist government, the Ministry was headed by Dr...
included his works on their list of "excellent books for German minds". Among the works credited to him are early biographies of Lenin
Vladimir Lenin
Vladimir Ilyich Lenin was a Russian Marxist revolutionary and communist politician who led the October Revolution of 1917. As leader of the Bolsheviks, he headed the Soviet state during its initial years , as it fought to establish control of Russia in the Russian Civil War and worked to create a...
, Stalin
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
and Czar Nicholas II
Nicholas II of Russia
Nicholas II was the last Emperor of Russia, Grand Prince of Finland, and titular King of Poland. His official short title was Nicholas II, Emperor and Autocrat of All the Russias and he is known as Saint Nicholas the Passion-Bearer by the Russian Orthodox Church.Nicholas II ruled from 1894 until...
, 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
Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism....
.. 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.
Under penname of Essad Bey
- Blood and Oil in the Orient (1929; reissued by Aran Press in English, 1997; reissued by Maurer in German, 2008, ISBN 978-3-929345-36-0)
- Twelve Secrets of the Caucasus (1930; reissued by Maurer in German, 2008, ISBN 978-3-929345-37-7)
- Stalin: The Career of a Fanatic (1931)
- The Caucasus" (1932), only in German, "Der Kaukasus" (not translated into English).
- Mohammed, the Prophet (1932)
- White Russia: People Without a Homeland (1932) (not translated into English).
- OGPU: The Plot Against the World (1932)
- Liquid Gold" (1933), (not translated into English)
- Russia at the Crossroads" (1933), (not translated into English).
- Love and Oil" (1934), novella, only in Polish (not translated into English).
- Manuela" (1934), novella, only in Polish (not translated into English).
- Nicholas II: The Prisoner in Purple (1935; reissued by Maurer in German, 2011, ISBN 978-3-929345-57-5)
- Lenin" 1935, Italian only
- Reza Shah," 1936
- Allah is Great: The Decline and Rise of the Islamic World (1936) (with Wolfgang von WeislWolfgang Von WeislBinyamin Ze'ev von Weisl was one of the founders of the Revisionist movement and a leader in the Zionist struggle for establishing a Jewish state. He was writer and a journalist, a physician and medical researcher, a military man and an original military strategist, an Austrian noble and a world...
) about the ascendancy of Saudi Arabian king Ibn Saud (1936) (not translated into English). - End of Bolshevism" (1936), which appeared only in Italian as Giustizia Rossa (Red Justice) (not translated into English).
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.- Ali and Nino: A Love StoryAli and Nino: A Love Story.Ali and Nino: A Love Story is a charming love story published under the pseudonym Kurban Said. The novel now has been or reprints. The book was first published in Vienna in the German language in 1937, by E.P. Tal Verlag...
(1937, reissued by Anchor, 2000, ISBN 0-385-72040-8). - Girl from the Golden Horn (1938, reissued by Overlook Press, 2001, ISBN 1-58567-173-8)
- The Man Who Knew Nothing About Love (Unpublished, but advertised in Annemarie Selinko's novel I Was an Ugly Girl, Vienna: Kirschner, 1937).
External links
- "Biography: The Lives of Two Writers: Yusif Vazir Chamanzaminli and Lev Nussimbaum / Essad Bey," in Azerbaijan International, Vol. 15:2-4 (2011), pp. 38–51.
- "Jewish Girl was Prototype for Nino in Novel Ali and Nino," Azerbaijan International, Vol. 15:2-4 (2011), pp. 254-261.
- Reiss, TomTom ReissTom Reiss is an American author and journalist who lives in New York City. He has written for The New Yorker, The Wall Street Journal, and The New York Times...
, The Orientalist: Solving the Mystery of a Strange and Dangerous Life, Random House, 2005, ISBN 1-4000-6265-9 (the promotional website for the book). - "Who wrote Azerbaijan's Most Famous Novel - Ali and Nino: The Business of Literature," Azerbaijan International, Vol. 15:2-4 (2011), 366 pages.
- "Frequently Asked Questions about the Authorship of Ali and Nino," in Azerbaijan International, Vol. 15:2-4 (2011), pp. 52–137. 158 Questions, 543 Endnotes.
- "Essad Bey as Core Author of Ali and Nino: Seven Reasons Why It Just Ain't So," Azerbaijan International, Vol. 15:2-4 (2011), pp. 180–217.
- "101 Reasons why Yusif Vazir Chamanzaminli is the Core Author of Ali and Nino," Azerbaijan International, Vol. 15:2-4 (2011), pp. 262-333.
- ABC Radio NationalRadio NationalABC Radio National is an Australia-wide non-commercial radio network run by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.Radio National broadcasts national programming in areas that include news and current affairs, the arts, social issues, science, drama and comedy...
Interview by Terry LaneTerry LaneTerry Lane is a radio broadcaster and newspaper columnist based in Melbourne, Australia.He was born in South Australia and educated at Gawler High School. After studying for the ministry at the Churches of Christ College of the Bible in Melbourne, Lane was a minister for six years before working in...
with Tom Reiss concentrating on the life and times of Lev Nussimbaum and the novel Ali and NinoAli and Nino: A Love Story.Ali and Nino: A Love Story is a charming love story published under the pseudonym Kurban Said. The novel now has been or reprints. The book was first published in Vienna in the German language in 1937, by E.P. Tal Verlag...
The National Interest - Wheatcroft, Geoffrey, "'The Orientalist': The Chic of Araby", New York Times, February 27, 2005.