CaioMar 15, 2025
Continuing my investigation into Simon Morrison's The People's Artist. The main evidence he provides for "Prokofiev being lured" into the USSR is a 1925 official letter from Nadezhda Bryusova stating that Prokofiev would be free to travel, should he choose to return to the USSR. Prokofiev lost his travel rights on 1938, but this doesn't mean he was lied to. This evidence is invalid! Let’s break it down. 🧵 #Prokofiev #SovietMusic
Show threadCaio
The same letter was sent to Stravinsky, Borovsky and Prokofiev (leading Russian musicians living abroad). Prokofiev was the only one of the three to accept the invitation. He traveled in and out of the USSR multiple times between 1927 and 1938 while maintaining an international career. There’s zero evidence that the Soviet government secretly planned to revoke this right later.
Mar 15, 2025 at 5:47pmFedilab
Show threadCaioMar 15, 2025
In 1938, he exchanged his external passport for an internal Soviet passport. Morrison tries to make a big deal out of it, but this was completely standard. A Soviet decree from April 22, 1931 disallowed dual citizenship. Another from 1932 required Soviet citizens to to obtain an internal passport. Prokofiev and his wife, Lina, would just have to abide by the same rules as any Soviet citizen.
Show threadCaioMar 15, 2025
Since 1936, Prokofiev had chosen to settle in the USSR permanently, meaning he became a Soviet citizen. Prokofiev knew since at least 1926 that he’d have to give up his "Nansen" passport (a passport issued by the League of Nations to stateless refugees). His diary entry from January 20, 1926 confirms this.
Show threadCaioMar 15, 2025
Morrison claims Soviet authorities "invented excuses" to explain his status change from allowed to travel to disallowed, but he provides no evidence, except for an anecdote of Lina sarcastically complaining about waiting in line for bureaucratic matters in Moscow. But so what?
Show threadCaioMar 15, 2025
More context: 1938 was the height of the Yezhovshchina—the mass purges led by Yezhov’s NKVD. If Prokofiev’s travel status changed, it may have been due to shifting security policies rather than a long-term plot to "trap" him. Morrison provides no evidence to the contrary. By 1940, Prokofiev’s planned U.S. tour was canceled because he couldn’t obtain a travel permit. By 1941, Prokofiev was evacuated to the Caucasus, like many other artists.
Show threadCaioMar 15, 2025

In summary:

âś“ Prokofiev was allowed to travel for over a decade.
âś“ He chose to become a Soviet citizen, subjecting himself to its laws.
âś“ His passport exchange was not unusual.
âś“ His travel status change was not unexpected, given the political situation of 1938

No evidence supports claims that he was "trapped" by a long-term Soviet plan.

Show threadCaioMar 15, 2025
Morrison provides no documented proof that Prokofiev’s travel restrictions were part of a grand deception. Like many other "scholarly" works, The People's Artist is anti-communist propaganda with footnotes — not serious historical analysis. #Prokofiev #SovietMusic #History