In September 1928, at 65 years old, Schmerling wrote this letter to the presidium of the Central Executive Committee of the Georgian SSR, requesting an increased pension in light of his poor health and long career.

The letter provides several interesting details about Schmerling's life. We learn that, while a student in Germany, he published caricatures in the newspaper Münchener Volks-Zeitung and he gives a list of the Soviet journals where he published starting in 1922. We also learn that in 1920-1921 Schmerling lived in Ganja, Azerbaijan, where he held posts in the local committee of public education, the state publishing house, etc.