No Time to Grieve: An Autobiographical Journey

By Hélène Iswolsky

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• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0870522043
• ISBN13: 9780870522048
• Release Date: January 1986
• Publisher: Hippocrene Books
• Length: 297 Pages
• Weight: 1.68 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Ecumenical Pioneer

Helene Iswolsky, daughter of a Russian diplomat, was born in Germany in 1896 but grew up in Japan, Denmark, Russia, and France. In 1911, her father became Russian ambassador to France. She returned to Russia for her debut in 1914, to be presented to the Tzarina Alexandra. While there she attended the wedding of Prince Felix Yusupov, who was to murder Rasputin three years later. After the Tsar was overthrown, her father was dismissed from his post as Russian ambassador. He retired to Biarritz and died there in 1919, leaving unpaid debts. Helene had to go to work, so she took up translating and writing. She had a religious awakening and became a Catholic. A sojourn in a Benedictine monastery left her changed, but she decided not to make the cloister her life. Instead, ecumenism was her vocation. She wanted to work for Christian unity. Returning to Paris to look for work, she was hired by Joseph Kessel (1898-1979), who was writing a novel about Rasputin's influence on the Russian court and his murder. In researching this novel for Kessel, she interviewed Prince Yusupov in his Paris apartment. "In conclusion, he showed me a ring he was wearing, with a bullet mounted in silver. He explained that this was the bullet that had killed Rasputin." Helene knew many notable people in the Paris area, especially writers, poets, critics, philosophers of the "new wave," Christian humanists, and Russian emigres. She attended the Sunday afternoon gatherings of Jacques Maritain and Nicholas Berdiaev, and worked on Emmanuel Mounier's journal "Esprit." When the Nazis occupied France, she escaped to America with her mother. Here she founded an ecumenical publication called "The Third Hour" and taught Russian at Fordham University and other schools. She was a close friend of Dorothy Day and the Catholic Worker. This book is well-written, action-packed, and rich in history. It is especially recommended to anyone interested in Christian humanism or ecumenism.