Anna Alekseevna Turgeneva-Bugaeva

Анна Алексеевна Тургенева-Бугаева

Ася, Asya, Asja, Assya

Тургенева, Turgenev(a), Turgenieva, Turgenieff

Бугаева,  Bugaev, Bugaeva, Bugaeff

Anna Alekseevna Turgeneva. An artist, years long spiritual companion then wife to Andrei Bely, was more commonly known as Asya. “Asia is a very unusual diminutive of Anna.” It was also used, clearly under the influence of the novel, by Ivan Turgenev, Ася. Asia (Anna Alekseevna) Turgeneva (1890–1966). She was a second cousin twice removed of Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev and the first wife of the poet Andrei Bely.”

Asya recalls her own connection with Rudolf Steiner and Antrhposophy in her book: Reminiscences of Rudolf Steiner and Work on the First Goetheanum. “Assya Turgenieva, a colleague of  Rudolf Steiner,  answers many  questions in this first-hand account of her close relationship with Steiner from 1912 until his death in 1925. She recounts the burning of the Goetheanum, the period surrounding Steiner’s death, the early performances of his mystery plays, his lectures and travels, and the artistic work and performances at the Goetheanum.” isbn: 1902636406. Temple lodge $26.00 144 Pages

The relationship of Asya and Bely has been described, in particular the Berlin years in articles by Beyer and Malmstad. The most complete account of the complicated years from 1912 to 1916 in the company of Dr. Rudolf Steiner and in Dornach are described by Bely himself in his little read Material for an Autobiography (Intimate), a manuscript in the Russian Literary Archives  in Moscow and published with meticulous commentary by John malmstad in the journal, Minuvshee. A German translation appeared under the title Geheime Aufzeichnungen.

Asya is an extraordinary figure in her own right and deserves attention as an artist and creative spirit, as illustrator of Steiner’s Collected Works, for her work in glass for the Goetheanum and her paintings. She would devote her life to the center at Dornach and the teaching sof Doctor Steiner. She passed away in 1966 and was cremated.

A part of her archive landed in the hands of Valentina Rykova and ultimately was gifted to the Andrei Bely Museum Apartment in Moscow. Other materials remain in Dornach. But clearly a portion of the Swetlana Geier colelction can be trace to Asja, her sister Natasha Pozzo-Turgenev, her busband Aleksandr Pozzo, and to a close acquaintance in the teens of the last century, Maragarita Sabashnikov-Voloshin.