Tatyana Bakhmetyeva - Mother of the Church: Sofia Svechina, the Salon, and the Politics of Catholicism in Nineteenth-Century Russia and France

As with any book, this one not only took many years of research but was also shapedand re-shapedthrough many conversations with colleagues and friends; it went through multiple drafts generously read by yet more colleagues and friends who gave feedback and offered ideas; it was completed only because familyand yet more friendsprovided emotional support and created a stimulating and happy social environment. Now, thinking back, I feel that I should have kept a detailed diary, a travel log, in which I noted the name of everyone whom I encountered on this journey and who helped me to complete it. Alas, I kept no such record and have to rely on my memory. The journey has been a long onetoo long, in fact. Please forgive me if I fail to acknowledge your help or advice.

Several institutions and organizations provided financial assistance to this project. The University of Rochester History Departments travel and research grants, the John Tracy Ellis Dissertation Award from the American Catholic Historical Association, and travel grants and a Dissertation Award from the University of Rochesters Susan B. Anthony Institute for Gender, Sexuality, and Womens Studies all helped support several trips to archives in France and Russia. A grant from the Friends of the University of Rochester Libraries funded the purchase of several important sources, making it easier to work at home.

The staff of the University of Rochester Libraries and especially the Interlibrary Loan Department seemed to possess a magical ability to make books and materials appear almost at the moment I ordered them. Friends and colleagues at the University of Rochester History Department were, of course, an inspiration. Among them, I want to single out Jean Pedersen, whose incredibly detailed and helpful notes and suggestions left me in awe of her intellectual generosity.

Abroad, members of the Society of Jesus from the Center for Russian Studies/Slavic Library in Meudon, especially Father Ren Marichal, made my time working in the archives of the center unforgettable. Wonderful food, splendid conversations, and peaceful walks in the park that surrounded the archive gave me much needed respite from lonely hours in the library. Sister Natalie, former curator of the Slavic Library, helped me navigate through the maze of the archive. The monks of the Order of St. Benedict from the Solesmes Abbey shared not only their heavenly music and their enthusiasm for Sofia Svechina but also rare documents from their archives. Sandrine Lacombe from the Archives Nationales sought me out to inform me that the archives had purchased a new collection of documents related to Svechina and allowed me access to these documents even before they were cataloged and processed.

My dissertation advisers, Dorinda Outram and Brenda Meehan, readily and generously shared their truly inexhaustible knowledge, while their patience and support sustained me through the early stages of this journey. When failing health forced Brenda Meehan to step down as my adviser, she remained a true inspiration both professionally and personally until her untimely death. Dorinda Outram took over the advising of this project in its final dissertation stage and then continued to share her insights as I was working on the book.

My anonymous reviewers comments helped me to broaden the narrative both contextually and structurally and encouraged me to push my analysis farther. My editors, Amy Farranto and Nathan Holmes, readilyand patientlyoffered support and guidance. It was a pleasure to work with them and a privilege to publish this book with the Northern Illinois University Press.

Finally, I want to thank my family for their support and patience. My mother, Lyubov Bakhmetyeva, eased the pressure of parenting and running the household. My children, Daria and Sophia, grew up with this project, first getting familiar with it when it was a dissertation, then as it turned into a book. Having to compete with it for my attention, they came to see it as another sibling, and not a very pleasant one. I also want to thank my step-children, Henry and Cea, who readily welcomed me into their lives several years ago, turning what could have been a formidable challenge of building a new family into an easy transition that made the writing process much easier.

But most of all I want to thank my husband, Stewart Weaver, who is my daily inspiration in every aspect of life, including professional. His eloquent and graceful writing style is an ideal that I will never reach. But his love, support, and encouragement make me try nevertheless. His coming into my life enriched it in more ways than he can imagine. It is to him that this book is dedicated, with love.