[Russian-Americana] Velikaia Stalingradskaia Marfa (The Great Martha of Stalingrad) [An Association Copy]

Niu Iork (New York): Colonial Printing and Publishing Co., 1943. First Edition. Very good. First edition; 8 1/4 x 5 3/4; pp. [2], 5-95, [1]; textured red wraps, printed in black; light fading to margins; a few small cuts to edges; short, closed split to tail of spine; overall in very good condition. Signed, inscribed, and dated by the author on a tipped-in square on ffep to Russian-American aviation pioneer Igor Sikorsky (1889 - 1972): "1943. VII. 1 / To my gracious neighbor Igor Ivanovich Sikorsky, in memory of enlightenment, from the sinful and humble Iliodor. / New York." Also included is an unused, laid-in sheet of Sikorsky's personal stationary.Hieromonk Iliodor, nee Sergei Trufanov (1880 - 1952) was a highly-controversial figure of the Russian Orthodox Church, a lapsed priest, an ardent panslavist, and actor. Founding the Holy Spirit Monastery in 1909, Iliodor would repeatedly shock and outrage the Russian aristocracy and the Holy Synod by verbally insulting the authority of Tsar Nicholas, although the latter, together with Grigorii Rasputin, for the longest time defended and supported him. Iliodor would later have a great falling-out with Rasputin and would write a semi-autobiographical book about him, in English "The Mad Monk of Russia, Iliodor" and in Russian - "The Holy Devil." He would mount a slandering campaign against Rasputin, going as far as accusing him of being a lover of Tsarina Alexandra. He would also be known for attacking revolutionaries, Jews, the Union of the Russian People, and the Tsar's ministers, among others. By 1912, Iliodor renounced the Orthodox Church and in turn - the Church defrocked him. After a failed attempt on Rasputin's life, for which Iliodor was blaimed, the latter was prosecuted and imprisoned, later escaping Russia through Finland, Sweden, and Norway and reaching New York in 1916. Only a year later, he starred as himself in the silent film "The Fall of the Romanoffs." In the US, Iliodor became a baptist and often preached at eh New York RUssian Baptist Church. The Blessed Martha of Stalingrad, about whom the book was written, was Martha Tsaritsynskaia, nee Medvedskaia (1880 - 1925). Born in a wealthy family, with the support of John of Kronstadt and against her parents' will, she became a preacher - healing the sick, predicting future events, and collecting funds for temples and churches. It was said she intentionally dressed and carried herself, as if mentally challenged, in order to remind people of "the power of God." Allegedly, she foretold the beginning of the First World War, the deaths of the Romanov family, and her own demise. Legend said that Iliodor himself had brought Tsarina Alexandra to Martha for the divination. Researchers speculate that Iliodor's current book, seemingly dedicated to memorializing Martha's divine predictions, was in fact a way to earn money, while in the US, as throughout the entire book he talked about his life in his early years in America.