Arthur Schlesinger Jr., '38, professor of History, plans to assist a world wide group of literary figures who are attempting to gain freedom for Mme. Vsevolodnaya Ivinskaya, a close friend and literary classic collaborator of the late Boris Pasternak.

Mme. Ivinskaya, who was the model for Larisa, the heroine in Pasternak's Dr. Zhivago, has reportedly been imprisoned by the Soviet government.

Moscow radio disclosed Saturday that Mme. Ivinskoya and her daughter, Irina, 23, had been imprisoned on charges of embezzling. They were convicted for taking the equivalent of $80,000.

Schlesinger explained that two or three days prior to the inauguration he was asked to sign a petition calling for the release of the Russian woman. He said that he will sign the petition, and get other signatures if he can help Mme. Ivinskaya's case.

Upon hearing of Mme. Ivinskaya's imprisonment, Nobel-prize winner Bertrand Russel sent a private note to Premier Khrushchev, asking whether she had, in fact, been jailed. Subsequently, a letter-writing campaign by famous authors of the Western world was started in behalf of the woman and her daughter. Among those who have sent letters thus far are Graham Greene and Francois Mauriac.