20.06.2021

The album was created as part of the REM project – the winner of the Second Competition of Museum and Exhibition Grants of the Russian Jewish Congress for the development of projects in the field of Jewish culture. Arkady Danilovich Elkind (1869–1920), anthropologist and Doctor of Medicine, was born into a Jewish family, and graduated from the department of medicine, Imperial University of Moscow. In his years of study, he got interested in physical anthropology. In 1894–1896 he was twice sent on a mission trip to Vistula Land by the Imperial Society of Amateurs of Natural Science, Anthropology, and Ethnography to collect anthropological observations among the Jewish population. In 1897, Arkady Elkind asked his brother David (?) Elkind to make photographs of Jews in the city of Chełm, Lublin Province, which was done. The materials collected later formed the basis of the fundamental work The Jews” released in 1903. The book contained sketches from photographs made by D. D. Elkind. The work on the book completed, in 1902, Arkady Elkind donated the whole collection of photographs to the Rumyantsov Museum in Moscow. They are portraits of Jews (men, women, girls, and youths), 54 sheets in all, with two photos, en face and in profile, glued on each; indicated on the reverse of 40 cards are the name initials and the surname of persons portrayed (the shooting place is not indicated, but it became identifiable due to the captions in the book released). Presented in the portraits are members of three families: Baum (father – T.,45 y.o., son – Sh., 28 y.o. and his wife R.., 24 y.o.), Birnbaum (S., 18 y.o. and L..26 y.o.,), Goldberg (husband and wife – M., 36 y.o., and G., 33 y.o.), Orenstein (brothers? T. and B., 20 y.o.), Epelbaum (brothers – M., 20 y.o., E., 22 y.o., G., 30 y.o.). The rest are single representatives of various families: M. Binshtock, B. Borenshtein, 22 y.o., A. Birkan, 26 y.o., H. Borengshtein, 21 y.o., R. Farbengshtein, 18 y.o., S. Flaksman, 28 y.o.,. Ye. Kalmanovich, 16 y.o., Ts. Karpsh, 17 y.o.,M. Kraizel, 38 y.o., M. Krot, 19 y.o., S. Langfeld, 19 y.o., G. (?) Litvak, 22 y.o., Sh. Mitlinger, 19 y.o., Ye. Mushkat, 21 y.o., B. Nudel, 17 y.o., M. Papir, 32 y.o. Ya. Ribaizen17 y.o , Sh. Rapoport, 38 y.o., M. Rosenberg, 24 y.o. B. Schmutz, 52 y.o., A. Sheyer, 33 y.o., M. Shpiglyar, 21 y.o., A. Shpirman, 32 y.o.., M. Shteinwurtsel, 20 y.o., G. Tsverk, 31 y.o. N. Trager, 37 y.o., G. Veitz, 25 y.o., M. Zinger, 34 y.o. Most of this collection is published in this album.

Karina Solovyeva, Head of Photography Department, curator