«Each Happy Family…»

This paper throws new light on the period of Prokofiev’s life during his residence abroad by presenting almost unknown up to the present moment stratum of the composer’s «underground». The biographies of his near relatives, members of the Raevsky family, are reconstructed on the basis of the unique archive materials, which also make it clear that Prokofiev was very well aware of the repressive machinery and cruel political censorship functioning in the country where he at last returned. The composer’s relatives lived in desperate poverty and were subjects to repression. Prokofiev’s permanent care of them, his tireless efforts to his cousin Alexander Raevsky’s release from prison display his personality in a new way and also represent a picture of connections of the free artist and the totalitarian regime.