Content uploaded by Anna Sulimowicz
Author content
All content in this area was uploaded by Anna Sulimowicz on Feb 19, 2019
Content may be subject to copyright.
Bitik
Almanach Karaimski
5 2016
Rada redakcyjna
Mariola Abkowicz (Poznań), Selim Chazbijewicz (Olsztyn),
Karina Firkavičiutė (Vilnius), Petr Kaleta (Praha), Artur Konopacki (Białystok),
Michał Németh (Kraków/Mainz), Kamil Stachowski (Kraków),
Anna Sulimowicz (Warszawa)
Recenzenci artykułów
Selim Chazbijewicz, Tülay Çulha, Stefan Gąsiorowski, Marzena Godzińska,
Grzegorz Hryciuk, Henryk Jankowski, Grzegorz Janusz,
Agnieszka Ayşen Kaim, Artur Konopacki, Tadeusz Majda, Michał Németh,
Mariusz Pawelec, Szymon Pilecki, Dorota Smętek, Kamil Stachowski,
Rafał Witkowski, Jakub Wojtkowiak, Urszula Wróblewska, Grażyna Zając
Redaktorzy językowi
Jason Lowther (angielski), Tatjana Maškevič (rosyjski)
Druk
Paper & Tinta
www.papertinta.home.pl
Zrealizowano przy udziale wsparcia inansowego
Ministra Spraw Wewnętrznych i Administracji.
Przedruk i reprodukcja w jakiejkolwiek postaci całości lub części książki
bez pisemnej zgody wydawcy zabronione.
Wersją pierwotną czasopisma jest wersja papierowa.
p-ISSN 2300-8164, e-ISSN 2353-5466
Bitik
Copyright © 2016 by Bitik
Oicyna Wydawnicza Związku Karaimów Polskich
ul. Powstańców Śląskich 116/54, 53-333 Wrocław
www.karaimi.orginfo@karaimi.org
Redaktor naczelny
Mariusz Pawelec
Projekt graczny
Kamil Stachowski
Redaktor tomu
Anna Sulimowicz
Skład
Michał Németh
Spis treści
Artykuły
Mariola Abkowicz, Anna Sulimowicz, Nowe dane o biograii karaimskiego
poety Szymona Kobeckiego .......................................................................... 7
Gulayhan Aqtay, Edycja krytyczna krymskokaraimskiego przekładu Tanachu.
Rękopis z Cambridge. Zawartość tomu I i IV ............................................... 35
Petr Kaleta, Izaak Duwan-Torcow i praska grupa MChT (MChAT) w Republice
Czechosłowackiej w okresie międzywojennym ............................................. 47
Michał Németh, Rękopisy i druki karaimskie w polskich zbiorach prywatnych.
Nowe perspektywy badań karaimoznawczych ............................................ 61
Mariusz Pawelec, Muzułmańskie echa wizyty Hadży Seraji Szapszała w Jugo-
sławii w 1936 roku ....................................................................................... 103
Tomasz Resler, Prawne aspekty funkcjonowania społeczności karaimskiej
w II Rzeczypospolitej .................................................................................... 119
Dorota Smętek, Młody Dawid. Postać pretendenta do tronu ukazana na tle
konliktu ze starym królem w krymskokaraimskim tłumaczeniu maskilskiego
dramatu....................................................................................................... 137
Kamila Barbara Stanek, ‘Rozum’ w przysłowiach karaimskich ze zbioru W. I. Fi-
lonienki Аталар созы przepisanego przez Josifa Kefelego ......................... 147
Anna Sulimowicz, A record of living Karaim folklore in 1960s Crimea. The copy-
books of Yosif Kefeli .................................................................................... 159
Polemiki i kontrowersje
Александр Азарьевич Бабаджан, Ильяш Караимович, Тимош Хмельниц-
кий и М. Кизилов ...................................................................................... 177
Materiały źródłowe
Anna Sulimowicz, XIX-wieczny rękopis z polskich archiwów prywatnych
zawierający dwa dokumenty dotyczące Karaimów trockich .......................... 189
Almanach Karaimski
Maria Emilia Zajączkowska-Łopatto, Listy Włodzimierza Zajączkowskiego
do Hadży Seraji Szapszała ........................................................................... 207
Recenzje
Grzegorz Pełczyński, rec.: Urszula Wróblewska, Działalność kulturalno-
-oświatowa Karaimów w Drugiej Rzeczypospolitej ..................................... 241
Sprawozdania i komunikaty
Marzena Godzińska, IV Międzynarodowy Kongres Turkologiczny Turkic Peoples
Through the Ages and Lands, Warszawa, 21–23 września 2016 r. .............. 245
Elżbieta Jabłońska, Prace konserwatorsko-restauratorskie nad karaimskimi
rękopisami i starodrukami przeprowadzone w 2016 r. ................................. 249
Piotr Nykiel, VIII Ogólnopolska Konferencja Turkologiczna organizowana
w Krakowie w dniach 27–28 kwietnia 2017 roku ........................................... 255
Małgorzata Pronobis-Gajdzis, Zachować dla przyszłości. Sprawozdanie z prac
konserwatorsko-restauratorskich prowadzonych przy dwóch rękopisach kara-
imskich w roku 2016 ...................................................................................... 257
Informacje o autorach ..................................................................................... 263
Informacje dla autorów .................................................................................... 269
Almanach Karaimski
Almanach Karai mski 5 2016 str. 159–174
A record of living Karaim folklore
in 1960s Crimea.
e copybooks of Yosif Kefeli
Anna Sulimowicz
Uniwersytet Warszawski, Wydział Orientalistyczny
Zakład Turkologii i Ludów Azji Środkowej
Summary: Following the annexation o Crimea by the Bolsheviks, tradi-
tional Karaim folklore found itsel endangered by the ongoing process o
Sovietisation which intensiied after WWII and the deportations o the
Crimean Tatars. In response to a request from Józe Sulimowicz, a Pol-
ish collector o Caraimica, in the early s, Yosi Kefeli (–),
a Karaim from Simferopol, started to write down or copy various works
o Crimean Karaim popular literature. He illed a few copybooks with
popular songs, poems and proverbs as well as with t heatre plays penned
by Karaim dramatists such as A.O. Levi and A.I. Katyk. Written in the
Cyrillic alphabet, Kefeli’s copybooks today constitute a part o Sulimo-
wicz’s collection o Karaim manuscripts. The present article provides
a review o the content o these manuscripts, with particular attention
paid to those works, which may be regarded as manifestations o the
Karaim folklore that was still alive at the time.
Keywords: Karaims, Karaim l iterature, Crimean Karaim folklore, Karaim
thea tre, Yo si Kefeli
Mejumas, handwritten collections o folk songs, poems, stories, riddles and say-
ings, become very popular among Crimean Karaims in the
th
Century and
were still in use at the beginning o the
th
Century. Almost every Karaim
family had such a manuscript or manuscripts in their possession (Šapšal : ;
160 Anna Sulimowicz
Kokenaj : ). After World War I and the Russian Revolution they were no
longer produced. Being closely related to the folklore o the Crimean Tatars, with
which it shared not only a language, but to some extent, also roots in the same
literary and musical tradition, traditional Karaim folklore became endangered
by the ongoing process o Sovietisation which intensiied dramatically after
the deportations o the Tatars in and the repressions that followed them.
Traditional popular literature ceased to be transferred to the younger generation.
It continued, however, to survive in oral form while its bearers, men and women
o the older generation, remained alive.
One o these individuals was Yosi Kefeli from Simferopol. Born on th
August , he grew up in a traditional Karaim family. His parents were Abra-
ham (Abramaka) and Esther (nicknamed Karamates Sterta = Aunt Esther, the
Queen o Spades). His mother knew many popular stories, legends and songs
which she passed on to her son. She also practiced popular medicine, preparing
various concoctions for her relatives and friends (letter No. ). Yosi Kefeli
attended midrash, a Karaim religious school at the Simferopol prayer house.
Boris Saadievich Elyashevich was his teacher and young Yosi sung in the irst
Karaim religious choir, which was founded by Elyashevich in (Šaytan ).
In KrymOKO, an association representing the interests o Karaim com-
munities, was established in Simferopol. This organization, whose aim was
to strengthen national identity and awareness o Karaim culture and popular
traditions, attracted many young Karaims interested in reviving interest in
the social life o their communities (Kušul ). One o them was Yosi Kefeli.
He was a member o a theatre group led by Eim Davidovich Pandul, an actor
from the Crimean Tatar theatre. The group performed comedies and dramas
penned by Karaim playwrights, such as Aaron Ospovich Levi (“Akhyr zeman”)
and Aaron Ilich Katyk (“Kto prav”, “Yaddes”, “Achlyk”, “Poezd”). Kefeli also sung
in the KrymOKO choir.
On nd Sept. , he married Anna Abramovna Dubinska (–), the
daughter o Abraam Sima-Isaakovich Dubinski, also known as “smotritel’ Kale”,
a guard o the ancient kenassas in the Djufut Kale. They had one son, Alexander
(–).
Yosi Kefeli made a name for himsel by organising konushmas, i.e. evening
parties at which he was the life and the soul. Karaim ladies prepared national
dishes and drinks, and up to participants would gather at a house o one o
the members o the Simferopol community. Yosi Kefeli, accompanied by his
childhood friend, Beniamin (Misha) Isaakovich Telal on piano, sang and played
gemane (violin) and dare (drum). He knew numerous popular Karaim, Tatar and
A record o living Karaim folklore in 1960s Crimea… 161
Krymchak songs and performed them during the konushmas. The purpose o
organizing such gatherings was not only to strengthen the ties between the
Karaims and keep customs alive, but also to bring people together to help them
ind a match within the community – Kefeli was also a passionate match-maker
and his konushmas were likewise very popular among younger generations o
Karaims (Šaytan, ). As a performer o traditional Karaim and Tatar music
he was involved in recordings o popular songs, conducted with the assistance
o the composer Abram M. Ayvaz (–).
Kefeli maintained close contacts with the Karaims o Trakai and Vilni-
us, where relatives o his wife lived. He often visited Halicz, from where his
daughter-in-law Lena (Lina) Szulimowicz (–) originated. She was the
daughter o Mojżesz (Monio) Szulimowicz (–), the shamash o the Hal-
icz kenessa in the interwar period and acting hazzan after the death o Zarach
Zarachowicz in . Kefeli collected money from the Karaim communities in
Crimea to build a wire mesh fence around the Karaim cemetery in the village
o Zalukva near Halicz. The fence provided basic protection for the ancient
burial place o the Halicz Karaims until a new concrete one was erected by the
National Historical Reserve “Davniy Galych” in the early s.
Yosi Kefeli died on rd Nov. in Simferopol.
•
Józe Sulimowicz, a Polish Karaim and a passionate collector o Karaim manu-
scripts and antiquities, visited Crimea for the irst time in . He returned
there ive years later, in the summer o . It is dificult to say whether it was
during his irst or second stay that he met Yosi Kefeli personally. It is also not
clear how they came into contact with each other. Perhaps, Irena (Lipa) Szysz-
man and her children, Michal and Tamara, a Crimean Karaim family living in
Warsaw and who often visited Crimea, served as an intermediary. Or possibly
they were introduced to each other via Kefeli ’s daughter-in-law’s father, Mojżesz
Szulimowicz, who was also a relative o Sulimowicz.
In the s Sulimowicz was a student o the Turcological Seminary at War-
saw University. After graduating he was due to work in the Karaim Museum,
The mother and siblings o the Karaim historian and author Simon Szyszman
(–). For more on the Szyszman family, see: M. Abkowicz, A. Sulimowicz Ka-
raj jołłary – Karaimskie drogi. Karaimi w dawnej fotograii, Wrocław : –.
162 Anna Sulimowicz
which S. Shapshal was preparing to open in Trakai
. All these plans were ruined
by the outbreak o WWII. However, Sulimowicz, who eventually became an
oficer and gave up his studies, apparently intended to pursue idea o establishing
a Karaim museum or at least ensure that a part o the permanent exhibition in
the Ethnographic Museum in Warsaw would be dedicated to the history and
culture o the Karaims. He continued the search for all possible artefacts both
in Poland and abroad, i.e. in Halicz and in Crimea. As we learn from letters they
exchanged, he was helped by Kefeli, who convinced owners o old books, vari-
ous vessels and textiles to donate them to Sulimowicz (letters no. , , et a.).
Sulimowicz was also interested in Crimean Karaim popular literature, and with
the assistance o Kefeli he managed to collect a few medjumas. However, some
original manuscripts and rare prints could not be obtained. Thus, on Sulimo-
wicz’s request Kefeli took on the task o copying them. He also wrote down songs
and proverbs he knew or had recorded in his private notes. In November he
wrote: “В настоящее время я Вам пишу песни наши любимые Караимами
и пословицы и другие как Вы пишите. Я пишу русским шрифтом, как
говорят и поют Караимы, и буду писать древним Караимским шрифтом”
(“At present I am writing our songs, much-loved by Karaims, and proverbs and
other things as you wrote me [to do]. I use Russian script, [I write] the way
the Karaims say and sing, and I am going to write in old Karaim script”. Letter
No. ). Kefeli only partly completed this ambitious undertaking, since he used
the Cyrillic alphabet almost exclusively in his copybooks, with the one exception
o a few riddles he wrote down in Hebrew script in JSul.I...
Sulimowicz’s collection includes copybooks produced by Kefeli that range
in size from to folios. Their content varies considerably (see: Appendix).
In two o them we ind proverbs and sayings that Kefeli copied from two printed
collections: one edited in by Filonenko and another published in
by R. S. Kefeli. Six copybooks contain the scripts o theatre plays penned by
For more on the biography o J. Sulimowicz see: A. Dubiński. Józe Sulimowicz
(–), Przegląd Orientalistyczny , (), pp. -; A. Sulimowicz. Polscy
turkolodz y Karaimi. Karaimi. Warszawa , pp. –; eadem, Mieczek i Siunek.
Awazymyz , (), pp. –.
V. I. Filonenko. Atalar sozy – karaimskie poslovicy i pogovorki. Izvestiâ Tavričeskogo
obŝestva istorii, archeologii i etnograii. Simferopol’ , , pp. –.
The copybook bears the title “Atalar sëz’. karaimskich poslovic izdano litogra-
ičeskim sposobom godu s perevodom na russkij jazyk”. However, Walish and
Kizilov in Bibliographia Caraitica give a different title: Atalar sozy and add St. Pe-
tersburg as the place o its publication (Walish, Kizilov : , p. ).
A record o living Karaim folklore in 1960s Crimea… 163
Karaim dramatists. They include A.O. Levi’s “Ahyr zeman” which was published
in Petersburg in , three unpublished plays by A.I. Katyk, namely “Mattan-
asyz”, written in Eupatoria in , “Alyšmagan baška kalpak yarašmaz” and
the author’s inal work, “Sanki proletar” penned in Moscow in . We also
also ind here “Alimnyn kobasy”, a two-act play whose author is unknown, and
“Alym krimskiy razbojnik”, a translation (or adaptation?) o a ive-act play by
the Russian playwright Vladimir Karpov-Krimskij aka Proskurenko. Both o
them represent stage adaptations o a popular Crimean legend. We can presume
that these manuscripts are copies o materials remaining in Kefeli’s possession
and are connected with his aforementioned activity in the KrymOKO theatre
group. The four remaining copybooks contain popular literature and various
materials o ethnographic character. Their content will be presented later.
With the exception o A.O. Levi’s play and two collections o proverbs that
Kefeli copied from their print editions, we have no information on the original
sources o the materials that had been copied/written down. The copyist does
not provide us with this information either in the manuscripts themselves or in
the letters he sent to Sulimowicz. However, based on the letters we can estimate
when the manuscripts were produced. In his letter o th November Kefeli
mentions that “в настоящее время собираю и записываю, верней хочу доба-
вить те песни которые не вошли в Вашу тетрадь” (“At present I am collecting
them and writing them down. I mean I want to add the songs that have not been
included to your copybook yet”. Letter No. ). It appears that the irst copybook
was written in and given to Sulimowicz during his stay in Crimea in the
summer o – most probably this manuscript bears the inventory number
JSul.I... Kefeli continued to write after that, illing the next copybook with
material not included in the irst – in his letter o
th
July he enumerates the
titles o songs he was going to write down (letter No. ). In December , he
was still writing (letter No. ). We ind most o the listed songs in manuscript
No. JSul.I.., which was probably completed at the beginning o .
See: Čaduk-ben-Šimon. Ахыр земан. К араимская жизнь. Москва , , pp. –.
See: Šaytan, I. А. Vydaûŝij pisatel’ i pedagog. Karaimskie vesti (); idem, Ego
znali ne tol’ko karaimy. Krymskie izvestiâ, . . .
The play was staged by members o the amateur Karaim theatre group for the irst
time in Eupatoria on th Feb. , and it was performed successfully for several
years after that. It was directed by E. Chouy un, with E. Shammash appearing in t he
title role. See: Polkanov, Yu. Vekovaâ programma spektaklâ o narodnom geroe kryma
razbojnike Alime. Karai – artisty. http://kale.at.ua/publ/teatralnaja_zhizn_karai_ar-
tisty/--- [Access: ..].
164 Anna Sulimowicz
In , when sending greetings on the occasion o Purim Kefeli mentioned
that he intended to write down recipes o Karaim delicacies such as akalva (letter
No. ) – and indeed, manuscript No. JSul.I.. includes a number o recipes
o various Karaim dishes and desserts (in Russian). In JSul.I.. we ind the
exact date o a performance o a certain song:
th
November , which means
that this particular copy book could not have been completed earlier than in
the last months o . In November o that year Kefeli informed Sulimowicz
that he had managed to ind Filonienko’s Atalar sozy and mentions that this
publication contains different proverbs than those collected by R.S. Kefeli (letter
No. ). Accordingly, both copybooks with proverbs must have been written
at the end o and the beginning o . The plays o Levi and Katyk were
copied as the last in the collection – Kefeli mentions them in his letters o De-
cember and th July (letters Nos. and ). In a letter dated th May
he once again mentioned collecting materials – songs and sayings – and
writing them down (letter No. a). However, even i this last copybook had
been produced, it never reached Sulimowicz, who by the time was seriously ill
and died three years later.
•
Four copybooks containing popular songs, poems, riddles and other ethno-
graphic material produced in the irst hal o the s – a kind o contemporary
mejumas – constitute undoubtedly the most interesting part o Kefeli’s manu-
scripts. However, the fact that the scribe did not provide any information on
the origins o the material to a certain extent undermines its academic value.
Item No. JSul.I.. was written in / and is rather miscellaneous in
character, containing as it does rather heterogenous material. It includes a list o
Crimean Karaim family names in alphabetical order, together with their mean-
ing in Russian, a few proverbs and sayings with some o them also translated
into Russian, one riddle, a schedule o Karaim religious holidays and feasts
(Hebrew names) for the year (), an anecdote about students at a Karaim
religious school in the th century, the names o colours and ranks in a Karaim
card game called taburlet, a list o names o professions, and last but not least
popular songs, including two chants čyŋ, and a playful chant in the form o
a dialogue between a woman and a molla on a minaret. It also includes a Purim
song called an ahavat (another one is translated into Russian). In an accompany-
ing note, Kefeli explains that this particular ahavat was composed by himsel
and performed on that holiday for the relatives and friends o Seraya Shaphal
A record o living Karaim folklore in 1960s Crimea… 165
(Kefeli played violin and his friends drums). Another note refers to a well-known
tune called Port Artur
as being the favourite song o Shapshal. All this indicates
that at least this part o the manuscript must have been written after Shapshal’s
death in November , most probably in the early spring o .
Similarly to manuscript No. JSul.I.., No. JSul.I.. also contains a va-
riety o literary materials: the contemporary poems o I. I. Ayvaz in Russian,
a poem o Iosi Isaakovič Erak (–) in Turkish, recipes for numerous
traditional Crimean Karaim dishes (in Russian), two riddles, one tale, one saying
referring to the family name o Taymaz, and – once again – a large number o
songs ( to be precise). Among them we ind several soldier songs (such as the
aforementioned Port Artur or Варшава йиры, most probably a Tatar song from
the Polish-soviet war –) as well as two versions o the song Berkut writ-
ten in as an expression o gratitude to Simcha Babovich for his successful
efforts to exempt the Karaims from compulsory military service. Interestingly,
this particular copybook features material which obviously belongs to Western
Karaim: the names o seasons, a few salutations, and Karaim names o months.
The presence o these texts can be explained by Kefeli’s contacts with Karaim
communities in Lithuania, as is evidenced by an anecdote about Professor Kow-
alski that Kefeli wrote in Russian together with a note that it had been told to
him by doctor K. Lopatto o Vilnius (JSul.I.., loose-lea).
Copybook No. JSul.I.., which is next in chronological order after No.
JSul.I.. and, as we learn from Kefeli’s letter, constitutes a kind o supplement
to it, contains songs. This brings the total number o songs recorded in three
o Kefeli’s copybooks to . As has already been mentioned, the origin o the
materials copied by Kefeli remains unknown. However, it is clear that we are
dealing here with products o popular Crimean Karaim literature (e.g. Карай
кызы in JSul.I.. f. r
o
–r
o
, Ах караим, караим in JSul.I.. f. r
o
–v
o
),
as well as the literature o the Crimean Tatars (Молла минарете изан окуюр,
JSul.I.. f. ro–ro; Тан-и л дызы JSul.I.. f. ro–ro or Эмине JSul.I..
f. r
o
–v
o
). Motifs from literary traditions lying outside Crimea can also be
The song, which describes the Battle o Port-Arthur during t he Russo-Japanese war
in Manchuria in , was very popular among Karaims. It was irst published in
Karaimskaâ Žizn’ (, –: ) and later by A. Szyszman in Myśl Karaimska under
the title “Pieśń epicka o poruczniku Tapsaszarze” (, : –). We also ind
versions o it in Aqtay (: –) and Âlpačik (: ).
In actual fact, the poems were penned by Irina Valentinovna Ayvaz, née Isakovich,
the wife o the composer A. M. Ayvaz (S.I. Shaytan, personal communication, De-
cember ).
166 Anna Sulimowicz
found among Kefeli’s materials, for instance the Anatolian Turkish Караджа
оглан (JSul.I.. f. v
o
–r
o
), Лейля Меджнун (JSul.I.. f. v
o
–r
o
) and
Казанская песня “Пенджереми ачык куюб” (JSul.I.. f. ro–vo), which ap-
parently represents the folklore o the Kazan Tatars.
The last copybook, No. JSul.I.., contains just two items: an ahavat com-
posed by A.O. Levi in Ekaterinoslav and a collection o couplets under the title
Syčan, which were composed by Kefeli and performed during a konushma meeting
he organised. The latter may be regarded as a record o living Crimean Karaim
folklore. A brie description is required.
Syčan consists o humorous couplets preceded by a kind o introduction
in which Kefeli explains the circumstances surrounding the creation and per-
formance o the following couplets: “Этот сычан посвешчаю вечеру Быр
яшлыкта – быр картлыкта” (“I dedicate this Syčan to the evening entitled
Together when young, together when old”). The konushma took place on
th
Nov.
and was attended by Crimean Karaims whose names are listed in the
copybook. As we learn from couplet No. , Irena and Michał Szyszman from
Warsaw also were present. Hence, it is highly probable that they delivered the
manuscript to Sulimowicz. During the meeting, Kefeli played the gemane, Eim
Pandul the dare and Misha Telal the piano. Each couplet is dedicated to one per-
son mentioned by name and describes her/his arrival at the party or behaviour
during it. It is followed by a refrain which resembles the refrain o two Syčan
songs – from Kohen’s mejuma and the mejuma published by Radlof – recently
analysed by Smętek ():
Ах сычан вах сычан Oh, mouse, oh, mouse,
Эки козы кёр сычан Blind in both eyes mouse,
Ах сычан вах сычан Oh, mouse, oh, mouse,
[…] олмуш бу сычан [name] became the mouse.
Most o the couplets contain a narrative part in Crimean Karaim and state-
ments in Russian o the participants described in the couplet. It is noteworthy
that the collections o proverbs contain translations into Russian originally
provided by their authors. The remaining materials copied by Kefeli are not
O these individuals, Alik (Aleksandr) Firkovich (Simferopol), Dagmara Bakkal
(St. Petersburg) and Ella (Eleonora) Telal (Simferopol) are still alive (S.I. Shaytan,
personal communication, December ).
Literal translation. Smętek suggests that the meaning o this expression is similar
to Turkish gözü kör olası ‘damned, darned’ (: ).
A record o living Karaim folklore in 1960s Crimea… 167
accompanied by translations, with the exception o JSul.I.., in which Karaim
family names, as well as songs, sayings, proverbs and one anecdote have
been translated into Russian.
•
The aim o this paper was to provide a description o the Yosi Kefeli copy-
books together with the circumstances which led to their creation. Therefore,
there was no space to carry out a detailed analysis o the linguistic and literary
features o their rich content. Despite some o the shortcomings mentioned
above, this material with its highly heterogenous content should undoubtedly
be considered unique and valuable. In recent years, critical editions o two me-
jumas have been published
. Bearing in mind the fact that the oldest preserved
mejumas date back to the beginning o the th century and that the Kefeli
copybooks were produced in the s, the development o Crimean Karaim
folklore can be traced over a period o years. An in-depth analysis and
a comparison o the content o the manuscripts are still required.
Bibliography
Abkowicz, Mariola, Sulimowicz, Anna. . Karaj jołłary – Karaimskie drogi. Karaimi
w dawnej fotograii. Wrocław.
Âlpačik, G. S. . urok karaimskogo âzyka (krymskij dialekt). Melitopol (nd edition:
Simferopol’).
Aqtay, Gülayhan. . Eliyahu Ben Yosef Qılcı’s Anthology of Crimean Karaim and Turkish
Literature. Critical Edition with Introduction, Indexes and Facsimile. Volume I. İstanbul.
Dubiński, Aleksander. . Józe Sulimowicz (–). Przegląd Orientalistyczny ( ):
–.
Čaduk-ben-Šimon. . Ahyr zeman. Karaimskaâ žizn’ : –.
Filonenko ,V. I. . Atalar-sozy”. Karaimskie poslovicy i pogovorki. Izvestiâ Tavriče-
skogo obŝestva istorii, arheologii i ètnograii (): –.
Jankowski, Henryk. . The contents o Katyk’s mejuma. [In:] Ė. Tenišev (ed.). Tûrk-
skaâ i smežnaâ leksikologiâ i leksikograiâ. Sbornik k -letiû Kenesbaâ Musaeva. Rossij-
skaâ Akademiâ Nauk. Institut Âzykoznaniâ. Moskva: –.
Aqtay, Gülayhan. . Eliyahu Ben Yosef Qılcı’s Anthology of Crimean Karaim and
Turkish Literature. Critical Edition with Introduction, Indexes and Facsimile. vol. Istan-
bul; Çulha, Tülay. . Kırım Karaycasının Katık Mecuması. Metin – Sözlük – Dizin
(= Türk Dilleri Araştırmaları Dizisi ). İstanbul.
The second part o the Katyk mejuma is dated (Jankowski : ).
168 Anna Sulimowicz
Jankowski, Henryk. . Karaim Mejumas in Eupatoria. [In:] Tatiana Pang, Simone-
-Christiane Raschmann, Gerd Winkelhane (eds). Unknown Treasures of the Altaic World
in Libraries, Archives and Museums.
rd
Annual Meeting of the Permanent International
Altaistic Conference, Institute of Oriental Manuscripts, RAS St. Petersburg, July –, .
Berlin: –.
Kefeli, R. S. . Atalar sozy. Sankt-Peterburg.
Kušul’, S. I. . Obŝestvennaâ žizn’ karaimov v -h – -h godah. Krym mnogonacio-
nal’nyj (): –; http://turkology.tk/library/ [Access: ..]
Polkanov, Yu. Vekovaâ programma spektaklâ o narodnom geroe kryma razbojnike Alime.
Karai – artisty. http:// kale.at.ua/publ/teatralnaja_zhizn_karai_artisty/---
[Access: ..].
Port Artur”. . Karaimskaâ Žizn’ –: .
Šaytan, I. А. , Vydaûŝijsâ pisatel’ i pedagog. Karaimskie vesti .
Šaytan, I. А. . Ego znali ne tol’ko karaimy. Krymskie izvestiâ . . .
Šaytan, I. А. . Pamâti „glavnogo karaima”. Karaimskie vesti .
Smętek, Dorota. . Analiza porównawcza krymskokaraimskich piosenek ludowych.
Almanach Karaimski : –.
Smętek, Dorota. . The Question o the Existence o a Common Literary Language
o the Crimean Karaites in the Nineteenth Century. [In:] Henryk Jankowski (ed.).
Turkey, Kazakhstan and the Crimea. Ten years of Turkology in Poznań. Poznań: –.
Sulimowicz, Anna. . Polscy turkolodzy Karaimi. [In:] B. Machul-Telus (ed.). Karaimi.
Warszawa: –.
Sulimowicz, Anna. . Mieczek i Siunek. Awazymyz (): –.
Szyszman, A[braham]. . Pieśń epicka o poruczniku Tapsaszarze. Myśl Karaimska
: –.
Walish, Barry Dov, Kizilov, Mikhail. . Bibliographia Caraitica. An Annotated Biblio-
graphy of Karaites and Karaism. Leiden – Boston.
Yosif A. Kefeli’s letters to J. Sulimowicz:
Letter No. o th November
Letter No. o th November
Letter No. o th December
Letter No. o th July
Letter No. o th December
Letter No. o th February
Letter No. o th March
Letter No. o nd November
Letter No. , written in December
Letter No. o th July
Letter No. a o th May
A record o living Karaim folklore in 1960s Crimea… 169
Appendix
e Kefeli copybooks and their contents
Inventor y
No.
Creation
date Title C ontent
JSul.I.55.01 1965 1. Agavat; 2. Syčan
1. A Purim song;
2. Syčan couplets composed on the occasion o
a party held on 14th November, 1965
JSul.I.55.02 1964 Pesni 40 popular songs
JSul.I.55.03
1966/1967
Alimnyn kobasy A theatre play. Author unknown
JSul.I.55.04 Ahyr zeman A theatre play by A.O. Levi
JSul.I.55.05 [Mattanasyz] A theatre play by A.I. Katyk
JSul.I.55.06 Sanki proletar
/Lžyvyj proletarij/ A theatre play by A.I. Katyk
JSul.I.55.07 Alym krymskij
razbojnik
A theatre play by V.G. Karpov-Proskurenko.
Translator unknown
JSul.I.55.08 Alyšmagan baška
kalpak jarašmaz A theatre play by A.I. Katyk
JSul.I.55.09 1964 —
Miscel lanea (54 popula r songs, poems o I.I. Aj vaz,
cooking recipes in Russian, a poem o I.I. Erak
in Turkish, a tale, riddles etc.). Some material o
Western Karaim origin.
JSul.I.55.10
1961/1962
—
Miscellanea (a list o Crimean Karaim family
names; proverb s and sayings; a ridd le; a schedule
o Kara im religious holid ays and fasts for t he year
5723 (1962); an anecdote on 19
th
century students
at a Karaim religious school; the names o col-
ours and ranks in taburlet, a Karaim card game;
a list o names o professions; 20 popular songs
includi ng two chants čyŋ a nd a chant in the form
o a dialogue between a woman and a molla on
minaret; a Purim song).
JSul.I.55.11
1965/1966
R.S . Kefeli. Atala r sëz’.
500 karaimskih po-
slovic izdano litogra-
fskim sposobom 1910
godu. S perevod om na
russkij jazyk
Proverbs; a copy o Кефели, Р. С.
Аталар созы.
JSul.I.55.12
1965/1966
Atalar sozy. V.I. Filo-
nenko. 146 i drugih.
Karaimsk ie poslovicy
i pogovorki
Proverbs. A copy o Филоненко В. И. Ат лар
созы – караимские пословицы и поговорки;
4 proverbs added by Kefeli.
170 Anna Sulimowicz
Illustrations
Ill. 1.Young Yosi Kefeli in national
Karaim costume. s.
Ill. 2.Yosi Kefeli and his wife Anna
née Dubinska in the backyard o
their house in Simferopol, Ta-
vricheskaya street. s/s.
A record o living Karaim folklore in 1960s Crimea… 171
Ill. 3.The Kefeli-Szulimowicz family. From left to right: Anna Kefeli, Alexander Kefeli,
Lena Kefeli née Szulimowicz, Yosi Kefeli, Mojżesz Szulimowicz. Simferopol, s.
Ill. 4. Yosi Kefeli next to the fence o the Halicz Karaim cemetery. s.
172 Anna Sulimowicz
Ill. 5.Yosi Kefeli and Józe Sulimowicz, Tchufut-Kale, Crimea, .
Ill. 6.Yosi Kefeli playing gemane (violin) probably during a konushma.
A record o living Karaim folklore in 1960s Crimea… 173
Ill. 7.A page from JSul.I.. featuring the beginning o Syčan couplets.
174 Anna Sulimowicz
Ill. 8. The cover o JSul.I...
Acknowledgements
The author o this article beneited from the project entitled Karaim manuscripts
and old prints sponsored by the National Science Centre o Poland (Narodowe
Centrum Nauki), grant number DEC-//D/HS/.