The Elena Kudian archive is an important collection of this famous musician in the past. At the same time Elena Kudian’s small archive taught us how to approach archives, and how to write women’s history, through a feminist perspective. We are very excited and at the same time very careful over how we keep and catalogue her archive.
Elena Siranoush Kudian was born in Bath, to a British father and an Armenian mother. She married Mischa Kudian, whose archive was donated to the Armenian Institute. Mischa Kudian was a well-known translator of Armenian prose and poetry in the United Kingdom, whose work I will cover in subsequent blogs. Until we unpacked Mischa Kudian’s archive we did not realise these boxes held the treasures of this famous woman pianist, of her times and of her life as part of the British Armenian community.
Elena and Mischa’s archives are embedded in each other. The effort they have made to archive their own work is quite astonishing. Mischa dedicated his life to translating Armenian literature and was well known across the English-speaking world. Both archives include details about the Mashtots Press in London and details about Mischa’s and Elena’s lives. They have photographs and details of their travels in Armenia, which provide another perspective on Soviet Armenia. As Mischa and Elena Kudian’s archival materials are integrated, the cataloguing of both will proceed in parallel. We completed the bundling process which helped us review and create ideas for our future events. Upcoming plans for the research process include trying to access other archives which might include Information about Elena Kudian’s life and career. Through limited research, we are able to suppose that Elena Kudian’s archive will not only highlight her artistic skill but will also provide insight into 1950s Britain’s classical music scene, through the life stories included in this important community archive. Meanwhile, we are still finding out about the details of her life by going to various archives in London as well as conducting interviews with people who can give more of an account of her life.
Even though Elena Kudian’s is a small archive, it is enough to surprise us about the past through her life. We are so happy to house her material and we will be happy to create access to a part of her life through these documents and the materials. Through our social media platforms and from this blog diaries, we will go on sharing updates about this unique and nice archive.
Elena Kudian’s archive also inspires us to contribute and reconstruct the history of Armenian cultural memory in Britain by focusing on lesser-known people's lives and to look at the community from gender and LGBTQ+ perspectives.
Dear friends, any sources you know or any acquaintance with Elena and Mischa Kudian, please drop us a line; we would be happy to hear from you and will appreciate your contribution. Any voluntary contribution to support our archives will also be greatly appreciated.
By Sahika Erkonan, the Armenian Institute deputy librarian and archivist