Papers by Anna Sulimowicz-Keruth
Cmentarz jako przedmiot transdyscyplinarnych badań naukowych, 2024
„Peace for the ashes, the paradise for the soul”. Karaim epitaphs on contemporary tombstones in t... more „Peace for the ashes, the paradise for the soul”. Karaim epitaphs on contemporary tombstones in the Karaite Cemetery in Warsaw
The article explores the closing formulas in the Karaim language found on tombstones in the Karaite Cemetery in Warsaw. These phrases, part of sepulchral inscriptions, commonly address the soul, mortal remains (ashes), the memory of the deceased, paradise, peace, and serenity. References to God are unexpectedly rare, with only one case featuring a paraphrase of a biblical quotation. The repetitive and standardised nature of these formulas, coupled with the gradual disappearance of the Karaim
language, suggests that these inscriptions no longer primarily convey additional information or express emotions about the deceased. Instead, they serve as a sign of community belonging. As the Polish-Lithuanian
Karaites lack a distinct religious symbol, Karaim inscriptions have become
a substitute, allowing the Karaite minority to signify the distinctiveness of their confession and ethnicity.
Karaim is a severely endangered language belonging to the Turkic language family and its only sur... more Karaim is a severely endangered language belonging to the Turkic language family and its only surviving dialect is Northwest Karaim with speakers in Lithuania and Poland. In the past few years numerous Karaim translations of the Bible have been discovered. Some of these are among the oldest texts written in this language. The authors present some of the oldest Karaim texts known today as well as recently discovered Karaim translations of the entire Tanakh. It is shown how these recent research results have broadened our knowledge regarding the Karaim written heritage. Furthermore, some preliminary conclusions are drawn on the relationships among the manuscripts and the biographies of the copyists
and translators involved in their creation. Textual similarities between sources created separately in communities located far from one another in the regions of Crimea, Lithuania, Volhynia, and Galicia suggest that a common Karaim tradition of Bible translation must once have existed. Moreover, the textual complexity and the use of sophisticated translation techniques in the oldest known texts support the claim that they were based on older texts or on a well-established oral tradition of translation.
Journal of the American Oriental Society, 2023
Karaim is a severely endangered language belonging to the Turkic language family and its only sur... more Karaim is a severely endangered language belonging to the Turkic language family and its only surviving dialect is Northwest Karaim with speakers in Lithuania and Poland. In the past few years, numerous Karaim translations of the Bible have been discovered. Some of these are among the oldest texts written in this language. The authors present some of the oldest Karaim texts known today as well as recently discovered Karaim translations of the entire Tanakh. It is shown how these recent research results have broadened our knowledge regarding the Karaim written heritage. Furthermore, some preliminary conclusions are drawn on the relationships among the manuscripts and the biographies of the copyists and translators involved in their creation. Textual similarities between sources created separately in communities located far from one another in the regions of Crimea, Lithuania, Volhynia, and Galicia suggest that a common Karaim tradition of Bible translation must once have existed. Moreover, the textual complexity and the use of sophisticated translation techniques in the oldest known texts support the claim that they were based on older texts or on a well-established oral tradition of translation.
Almanach Karaimski, 2022
The paper presents the original content accompanied by a translation into Polish of 13 letters wr... more The paper presents the original content accompanied by a translation into Polish of 13 letters written between 1933 and 1937 by Zarach Zarachowicz of Halicz to well-known social activist, writer and publisher Aleksander Mardkowicz of Łuck. The epistles shed light on personal contacts between members of the Karaite communities of Łuck and Halicz, providing information, albeit to a limited degree, on their views and considerations regarding the identity of Karaites and the preservation of the Karaim language. Written entirely in SouthWestern Karaim, the letters are also a valuable source of linguistic material. In the introduction, Zarachowicz's life and publications are presented, as well as additional data regarding the hitherto unknown origins of his family.
Archeaologia Hereditas 16, 2019
The vast majority of Karaite manuscripts in Poland remain in the hands of the Karaim Community. A... more The vast majority of Karaite manuscripts in Poland remain in the hands of the Karaim Community. Among these manuscripts, we can find mostly 18th–19th c. items in western Karaim (in its southern and northern dialect) or in Hebrew which was the language of liturgy and science. In the late 1950s, some of the Karaims living in Poland struck upon the idea of creating a Karaim museum or a Karaim exhibition in one of the existing ethnographical museums and started to collect items. The endeavours to gather in one place and preserve the Karaim cultural heritage continued in the 1960s. They were not, however, limited to products of Polish-Lithuanian Karaims. Józef Sulimowicz, a Turcologist and a Karaim activist from Warsaw, during his journeys to Crimea managed to gather with the help of members of the local Karaim community, a small collection of Crimean Karaim books, manuscripts and objects of material culture. Among items he brought to Poland, there were several mejumas, the handwritten collections of popular literature, containing products of both Crimean Karaim and Crimean Tatar origin, as well as examples of Balkan and Anatolian folk repertoire. The manuscripts of this kind constitute a rich and still insufficiently explored source for studies on Turkic popular literature. In recent years the Association of Polish Karaims has launched a project aiming to subject them to conservation-restoration works since although these objects do not belong to the cultural heritage of Polish-Lithuanian Karaims, the preservation of them and exploration of their content may be instrumental in strengthening national self-identity.
Przegląd Religioznawczy, 2022
The article is dedicated to onimic practices of Lutsk Karaites, with particular regard to the rel... more The article is dedicated to onimic practices of Lutsk Karaites, with particular regard to the relation between official (secular) and religious given names, based on onimic material excerpted from a copy of registrar records found in the archive of the Karaite community in Lutsk, covering the years 1871-1950, and a birth registrar of 1869 kept in the Vrublevskis Library of the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences in Vilnius. Hebrew names of biblical origin or, more rarely, non-biblical origin constitute the basic resource of the Lutsk Karaite anthroponymy, appearing in their original form or in Polish or Russian varieties, or as non-Hebrew fixed equivalents matched on the basis of phonetical resemblance. The article also includes a glossary of names and statistical tables of births in the Karaite community of Lutsk during the period in question.
Almanach Karaimski, 2021
The paper presents the contents of 18 letters written between 1933 and 1939 by four Karaites of P... more The paper presents the contents of 18 letters written between 1933 and 1939 by four Karaites of Panevėžys to well-known social activist, writer and publisher Aleksander Mardkowicz of Łuck. The epistles provide us with unique information on the contacts between Karaites of Poland and those living in the Republic of Lithuania in the period when there was no diplomatic relations and mail exchange between these two countries. They shed light on some unknown aspects of those contacts, and also on personal relations within the Panevėžys community, literary ambitions of its members, cooperation in publishing the “Onarmach” periodical etc. Five of these letters are written in Karaim which makes them valuable examples of the Northern Lithuanian variety of this language.
Awazymyz, 2021
The paper presents life and works of Zevulun Rojecki of Panevėžys, a hazzan, prolific copyist and... more The paper presents life and works of Zevulun Rojecki of Panevėžys, a hazzan, prolific copyist and Bible translator. It provides also some information on the Rojecki family and its scions.
Karaim z ulicy Marszałkowskiej. Warszawskie losy Szymona Chorczenki, 2020
Karaims in Warsaw before 1915. Awazymyz R 31 Nr 3-4 (68-9) (2020)
Almanach Karaimski, 2020
: In the 19th century a significant part of the Karaite population of Lutsk lived not in the town... more : In the 19th century a significant part of the Karaite population of Lutsk lived not in the town itself but in surrounding villages
and farmsteads. A document from 1824 found in the community’s
archive, namely a draft of a petition of two leaseholders from the
Mokowicze village, sheds some new light on the economic situation
of the Lutsk Karaites. It also makes possible to supplement the list
of villages where their presence has been documented.
Almanach Karaimski, 2019
A handwritten collection of Karaim proverbs and adages in
North-Western Karaim found in the archi... more A handwritten collection of Karaim proverbs and adages in
North-Western Karaim found in the archive of
Aleksander Mardkowicz
The private archive of Aleksander Mardkowicz (1875–
1944), a Łuck Karaite activist, writer and editor, includes a manuscript
written in the north-western dialect of Karaim, which contains
8 proverbs and a didactical-moralistic text copied from an unknown
source. It was drawn up most probably in the early 1930s by Rafał
Grygulewicz (1905–1992), a Karaite youth activist from Poniewież
(Panevežys) who in response to Mardkowicz’s call to collect Karaim
proverbs and sayings gathered some material and sent it to Lutsk.
The paper contains a critical edition of the manuscript augmented
with a translation, glossary and facsimile. There is also biographical
information on the copyist provided.
Awazymyz, 2017
On the Lobanos family – a „dynasty” of Karaite shofetim of Trakai.
Awazymyz 2017, 2 (55) and 3 (... more On the Lobanos family – a „dynasty” of Karaite shofetim of Trakai.
Awazymyz 2017, 2 (55) and 3 (56). Awazymyz is a quarterly of the Polish Karaim Association.
A handwritten document from the 1830s containing a scheme of the distribution of seats in the Kar... more A handwritten document from the 1830s containing a scheme of the distribution of seats in the Karaite prayer house in Halicz provides us with information on the inner hierarchy among members of the local community. It appears that 150 years after two scholars from Derazhno in Volhynia, Yosef ben Shemuel and his brother Yeshu'a, arrived to Halicz in order to restore religious practices there, their descendants still occupied the highest positions in the community. The document, which apparently was related to the reconstruction of the kenesa after a destructive fire, provokes questions about the existence of a caste of priests among the Karaites in Poland and Lithuania.
The article provides a review of six versions of a song Sıçan (‘Mouse’) which can be found in the... more The article provides a review of six versions of a song Sıçan (‘Mouse’) which can be found in the mejumas, i.e. Crimean Karaim collections of popular literature, together with an edition of three hitherto unpublished versions. This humorous ditty describes the damage caused by a malicious rodent. The oldest version can be dated precisely to 1864, while the latest appeared in 1964. The many differences in the sequence of stanzas, motifs and their details indicate that the content of the mejumas was most probably not transcribed (copied from one manuscript to another), but rather constitutes a written record of an oral performance either heard directly or based on memory. Striking similarities between the Crimean Karaim variants and the Crimean Tatar ones, as well as variants found in the popular repertoire of Anatolia and Balkans, especially the version recorded by I. Kúnos in 1880s, suggests that this particular song originates from Turkey and it appears very likely that Karaims who maintained particularly close religious, economic and also family ties with their co-believers in Istanbul may have been responsible for “importing” it from Turkey to Crimea.
Among the various documents preserved in the community’s archives is a handwritten list containin... more Among the various documents preserved in the community’s archives is a handwritten list containing the names, properties and professions of the Lutsk Karaites. Compiled in 1854, it provides data about various economic and social aspects of the community’s life in the mid-19th century. It is also a valuable source of information on anthroponomy and genealogy. In the article, the content of the manuscript is presented, as well as additional information obtained through a comparison with other sources.
Irłar (“Songs”), a book containing Simon Kobecki’s collection of poetry published in Kiev in 1904... more Irłar (“Songs”), a book containing Simon Kobecki’s collection of poetry published in Kiev in 1904, is considered to be the first ever printed edition of secular Karaim literature. Kobecki’s poems, which enjoyed a level of popularity in Karaim communities, were often reprinted in Karaim magazines in the first half of the 20th century. They also appear nowadays in the journal “Awazymyz” and in collections of poetry published in Lithuania. The biographical information added to those publications was usually brief or even mutually contradictory. Until today, even basic biographical data, such as the dates of Kobecki’s birth and death, have not been accurately established. Recent archival queries have made it possible to finally determine his birth date and provide us with new data on his professional career.
This article presents the contents of two handwritten documents. The first document dates from ... more This article presents the contents of two handwritten documents. The first document dates from 1813 and concerns the power of attorney granted by the Troki community to Joachim Łabanos, the son of the last voyt (shofet) of the Troki Karaim so that the latter may represent the community before the courts and the authorities. It may be regarded as an attempt to restore to a certain extent the position of the voyt who after the partition of Poland had been deprived of those prerogatives granted to him by the Grand Dukes of Lithuania and the Kings of Poland. However, three years later the power of attorney was revoked and the blank pages of this document were reused to draw up a lawsuit filed by Łabanos against Judith and Joseph Firkowicz, Abraham Kobiecki and Joseph Kobiecki. Łabanos demanded compensation for expenditure he had incurred on his son Elias’ future marriage to Abraham Kobiecki’s daughter, Judith who instead of marrying the young Łabanos ran away with Joseph Firkowicz. These documents shed some light on the position of the Łabanos family after it lost its leading role in the Troki Karaim community.
Following the annexation of Crimea by the Bolsheviks, traditional Karaim folklore found itself en... more Following the annexation of Crimea by the Bolsheviks, traditional Karaim folklore found itself endangered by the ongoing process of Sovietisation which intensified after WWII and the deportations of the Crimean Tatars. In response to a request from Józef Sulimowicz, a Polish collector of Caraimica, in the early 1960s, Yosif Kefeli (1900–1976), a Karaim from Simferopol, started to write down or copy various works of Crimean Karaim popular literature. He filled a few copybooks with popular songs, poems and proverbs as well as with theatre plays penned by Karaim dramatists such as A.O. Levi and A.I. Katyk. Written in the Cyrillic alphabet, Kefeli’s copybooks today constitute a part of Sulimowicz’s collection of Karaim manuscripts. The present article provides a review of the content of these manuscripts, with particular attention paid to those works, which may be regarded as manifestations of the Karaim folklore that was still alive at the time.
The Karaite prayer house in Lutsk was first mentioned in a letter of Sigismund I dated 22 Decembe... more The Karaite prayer house in Lutsk was first mentioned in a letter of Sigismund I dated 22 December 1506. In the first half of the 17th century the Karaite community made efforts to obtain permission from Sigismund III Vasa to construct stone building in place of the existing wooden one. However, the Karaites were refused. In 1633 Sigismund III’s successor, Ladislaus IV acknowledged their right to possess a wooden prayer house. In the 18th century the building was at least twice devoured by fire. In 1915 this historical edifice was ransacked by Austrian troops. In the paper an attempt to establish the kind of its furnishings is made based on two relations of 1821 and 1908 and an inventory list of 1883.
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Papers by Anna Sulimowicz-Keruth
The article explores the closing formulas in the Karaim language found on tombstones in the Karaite Cemetery in Warsaw. These phrases, part of sepulchral inscriptions, commonly address the soul, mortal remains (ashes), the memory of the deceased, paradise, peace, and serenity. References to God are unexpectedly rare, with only one case featuring a paraphrase of a biblical quotation. The repetitive and standardised nature of these formulas, coupled with the gradual disappearance of the Karaim
language, suggests that these inscriptions no longer primarily convey additional information or express emotions about the deceased. Instead, they serve as a sign of community belonging. As the Polish-Lithuanian
Karaites lack a distinct religious symbol, Karaim inscriptions have become
a substitute, allowing the Karaite minority to signify the distinctiveness of their confession and ethnicity.
and translators involved in their creation. Textual similarities between sources created separately in communities located far from one another in the regions of Crimea, Lithuania, Volhynia, and Galicia suggest that a common Karaim tradition of Bible translation must once have existed. Moreover, the textual complexity and the use of sophisticated translation techniques in the oldest known texts support the claim that they were based on older texts or on a well-established oral tradition of translation.
and farmsteads. A document from 1824 found in the community’s
archive, namely a draft of a petition of two leaseholders from the
Mokowicze village, sheds some new light on the economic situation
of the Lutsk Karaites. It also makes possible to supplement the list
of villages where their presence has been documented.
North-Western Karaim found in the archive of
Aleksander Mardkowicz
The private archive of Aleksander Mardkowicz (1875–
1944), a Łuck Karaite activist, writer and editor, includes a manuscript
written in the north-western dialect of Karaim, which contains
8 proverbs and a didactical-moralistic text copied from an unknown
source. It was drawn up most probably in the early 1930s by Rafał
Grygulewicz (1905–1992), a Karaite youth activist from Poniewież
(Panevežys) who in response to Mardkowicz’s call to collect Karaim
proverbs and sayings gathered some material and sent it to Lutsk.
The paper contains a critical edition of the manuscript augmented
with a translation, glossary and facsimile. There is also biographical
information on the copyist provided.
Awazymyz 2017, 2 (55) and 3 (56). Awazymyz is a quarterly of the Polish Karaim Association.