Literay Fact Literay Fact 2541-8297 2542-2421 IWL RAS https://doi.org/10.22455/2541-8297-2021-20-31-81 Articles “A curious fellow”: Letters of Z.N. Gippius and D.S. Merezhkovsky to K.I. Chukovsky (1907–1920) Fedotova Svetlana V. editor@litfact.ru 2021 D.S. Merezhkovsky Z.N. Gippius K.I. Chukovsky V. Bryusov D.V. Philosophov “Vesy” “Rech” literary criticism feuilleton diaries epistolary Copyright © 2026, IWL RAS 2026   Acknowledgements: This research has been supported by the Russian Scientific Foundation (RSF), no № 20–18–00003. The corpus of letters of D.S. Merezhkovsky and Z.N. Gippius to K.I. Chukovsky is published for the first time, which allow us to reconstruct the little-known story of the relationship between the writers-Godseekers and the critic- feuilletonist. Even in the absence of reciprocal letters, the epistolary is of great historical and literary interest, especially its first part, which documents the initial stage of Merezhkovsky’s personal communication during his first Parisian emigration with the young Chukovsky, as well as the circumstances and conditions for the emergence of their friendly interaction. The second part confirms the factual accuracy of Chukovsky's revolutionary diaries and is of great importance for the reconstruction of the biography of Merezhkovsky pre-emigration period. 1. Bakst, L. Moia dusha otkryta. Kn. 2: Pis'ma [ My Soul is Open. Book 2: Letters]. Moscow, Iskusstvo — XXI vek Publ., 2012. 766 p. (In Russ.) 2. Bogomolov, N.A. Viacheslav Ivanov v 1903–1907 godakh. Dokumental'nye khroniki [Vyacheslav Ivanov in 1903–1907. Documentary Chronicles]. Moscow, Izdatel'stvo Kulaginoi — Intrada Publ., 2009. 286 p. (In Russ.) 3. Gekhtman, M.V. Bibliografiia prizhiznennykh izdanii i publikatsii Z.N. Gippius [Z.N. 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