A family stands in a field. The woman has flowers in her hair and a revolver in her hand. The man stands proudly with a rifle beside him, while their son stands beside his mother with a rake.

On October 15, 2018, Bogdan Horbal became the full-time Slavic curator at the New York Public Library. He holds a Ph.D. in history from University of Wrocław in Poland and an MLS from Queens College. Before his appointment, he was head of Technical Processing at the Science, Industry and Business Library. In this post, Susan Smith-Peter interviews Dr. Horbal, who now takes charge of a fantastic collection with much to offer scholars in Slavic Studies and adjacent fields. 

When I saw the Sheen Center’s new Pushkin play (which runs until August 25), I came aware of both the reverence I should have felt were I Russian and the complex feelings I actually have for him. I found a tightly written and incredibly well acted play that portrayed Pushkin in the last years of his life (1834-37).