Information about the author:
Alexey B. Mokrousov
Alexey B. Mokrousov, editor of “The Moscow Review of Books”, morebook.ru., Bochkova St., 8-16, 129085 Moscow, Russia.
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Acknowledgements:
The article was written with the financial support of the FMSH (Fondation Maison des sciences de l’homme).
Abstract:
The archives of the Prefecture of the Paris Police keep documents related to the surveillance of Vladimir Mayakovsky during his trips to Paris in the 1920s: records, briefs, notes, agents’ reports.
Thus, 6.12.1922 the French Minister of the Interior, who became aware of a banquet in Mayakovsky’s honour given by French artists on Montparnasse, notes in his order that the poet “is considered a Bolshevik” and demands urgent information about him.
The surveillance seemed indefinite. On 12.12.1922, the head of the Central Directorate of General Intelligence informs the Minister that the search for Mayakovsky has proved fruitless; there is no record of him in any of the prefectural services, nor is there any information about his contacts with the extremist milieu. The report concludes reassuringly: ‘Mayakovsky remains under observation.’
The report of 19.3.1928 gives information about Mayakovsky, in particular his trip to France on 30.10.1924 on a visa issued on 27.7.1924 by the consulate in Riga. On 16.12.1924 he obtained an identity card in Paris on the recommendation of Senator Anatole de Monzie. He lived at the Hotel Istria, and in November 1922 at 13, rue d’Alger. It is also noted here that M. Triole, named in the report as the poet’s mistress, also lived at the Hotel Istria until 7.2.1925. It is also noted that Lilya Brik’s co-operation with the Cheka has not been confirmed.
In a note from the Prefect of Police to the Minister of the Interior dated 7.4.1928, a list of members of the “women’s section of the Cheka in Paris” is given.
A list of Mayakovsky’s foreign visas is given.
