Tenth Life, or the Prague Heritage of Boris Grushin

Abstract

The article gives the first-ever specific examination of “the Prague Era” in the academic career and life of Boris Grushin, a Soviet and Russian sociologist, philosopher, journalist. The well-known facts are supplemented by the new evidence which includes the memoirs of his Czech contemporaries. Boris Grushin enriched Czechoslovak and Czech sociology and public life with two of his works: his book “Opinions of the World and the World of Opinions” translated into Czech in 1972 and his “In Pivo Veritas” beer folklore collection published in Czech in 1985. The personality of Boris Grushin, viewed in the context of two countries and eras, provides some new perspectives for the sociological imagination.

Acknowledgment. The author expresses gratitude to Alexander Bratersky for the impetus to write this paper. Thanks also go to Jiří  Šubrt, the founder and director of Department of Historical Sociology at Charles University (Prague), for his advice, support and useful contacts.