In March, 2012, Dr Svetlana I. Marakhonova worked at Cambridge, Massachusets, the USA, studying documents linked to the life and work of a preeminent Japanologist Prof Serge G. Elisseeff (1889-1975), and kept at the archives of Harvard University and the Harvard-Yenching Institute.

Prof Elisseeff worked at Harvard during 23 years, from 1934 to 1957, so many interesting archival discoveries coukd be well expected. Thus, Dr Marakhonova had a chance to read Prof Elisseeff's correspondence with his colleagues from Harvard on various administrative issues such as educational programs, examinations, editions of academic works and textbooks, his correspondence with the director of Harvard University Libraries, Mr K.D. Metcalf, on acquisition of new books, etc., his personal correspondence with Prof W.E. Hoсking, California, and Prof A.Stein, the UK, on various academic papers, academic expeditions, etc. The protocols of academic meetings at the Harvard-Yenching Institute are also of much interest, especially the one on the election of Prof Elisseeff the first director of the Institute. Some photos of the scholar are also kept at the archives.

The edition of these materials could help reconstructing the biography of Prof S. Elisseef, particularly in respect of his fruitful Harvard period.