Diversity connects - Russia

A memorial inscription saying there was the first bridge over the Neva by Betancourt

A Maiden with a broken jar” in Ekaterininsky Park near Petersburg
H. Karrnio, the portrait by P.I. Potemkin

Spanish Saint-Petersburg

The beginning of mutual acquaintance of Spanish and Russian people has begun in the XV century. By this time in Moscow there had been already known about Spanish territory and in Spain there had begun the awakening of interest to far Moscow. During the XVI century our states regularly exchanged their embassies.
People in Russia knew about Spain from merchants and diplomats which came back from boundary. The interesting monument of that epoch which has remained up to now is the report by one of the first Russian diplomats in Spain Peter Ivanovich Potemkin (died near 1700), about the trip to Spain which was performed in 1667-1668. The arrival of Russian embassy made so strong impression to Spanish royal court that to court artist H. Karrenio was ordered a full-dress portrait of P. I. Potemkin which is situated in the collection of National museum of Prado now.
The whole transformations epoch by Peter the Great (1682-1725) was marked with mutual opening by Russia and Spain.
Simultaneously with development of trading and diplomatic communications amplified cultural exchange. In 1720 in Russia came ŤDon-Quixote ť by Miguel de Cervantes, primary in the short retelling which was translated from French. In Madrid in 1736 was published ŤThe history of Moscowť which was written by the secretary of King Phillip V Manuel de Villegas Pinyatelly.
In the second half of XVIII century in the epoch of the absolutism of Elizabeth Petrovna (1741-1761) and Ekaterina II (1762-1796) in Russia were published other translations of the products by Spanish writers. In 1742 in the printing house of Imperial Academy of sciences was published the first Russian edition ŤPocket oracleť by Baltasar Grasian, in 1779- ŤGeneral history of Spainť by Jesuit Juan Marian. In 1769 was published the first full translation of ŤDon-Quixoteť by Cervantes after more than 150 years after the appearance of novel in Spain.
At this time many Spaniards came to service to Russian throne. Among them it is enough to recollect the admiral José de Ribasa (1749-1800) who was a hero of several Russian-Turkish wars or the native of Valencia Vicente Martin and Soler (1754-1806) who was the court composer ofEkaterina II and Pavel I.
Since the middle of XVIII century in Russian collections of painting (at first in the imperial collections) appeared the pictures of Spanish artists D.Velazcues, F.Surbarran, B.E.Murillo and others. Now these pictures can be seen in The Saint-Petersburg State Hermitage and in The State A.S.Pushkin Fine Arts museum in Moscow.
Interest of Russian public to Spain has especially increased in the beginning of XIX century. It was promoted by problems of the struggle with the general enemy-Napoleonic France. The court of Saint-Petersburg resolutely supported the struggle of the Spanish patriots with aggressors and signed the Contract about friendship, union and cooperation with representatives of Cadiz Cortes (city Great Lukas, On July, 20th 1812). After the victory over Napoleon the interest of Russian society to Spain didn't weaken.
The generation of Russian intelligence of noble families from which came out Decembrists welcomed with delight the struggle of Spanish liberals with the Ferdinand's mode of absolutism. During this period the Spanish motives appear in the creativity of A.S.Pushkin, M.J.Lermontov and other authors of "Golden Age" of Russian poetry. In 1823 in Saint-Petersburg were published ŤMemoirs about Spainť by F.B.Bulgarin (1789-1859), the first notes of the author about this country.
The appreciable trace in the architecture of Saint-Petersburg of the beginning of XIX century, left a Spanish engineer and architect Agustín de Betancourt y Molina. (1758-1824).
He designed the first bridge over the Neva and a lot of others across The Moika and the Fontanka rivers. He took part in erection of the famous Isaak’s Cathedral and designed an engineer project of a famous monument “A maiden with a broken jar . But his major value lies in
foundation of Railway Engineers’ University, which is one of the leading educative centers up to now.
By the middle of XIX century in Russian society noted a kind of “fashion for Spain”, an exotic country, surrounded by a romantic halo. In these years the famous Russian writer and philosopher J. Kireevsky (1806-1856) translates into Russian dramas of P. Calderon, and the composer Mikhail Glinka (1804-1857), the ancestor of Russian classical music fruitfully works in Spain. "Spanish Overtures" written in this period are among the works which laid the foundation to Russian simfonizm.
In the following years the image of Spain constantly is presented in Russian cultural life. In 1896 in Saint-Petersburg was a successful debut of the ballet by L.F. Minkus "Don Quixote". Spanish motifs are constantly present in the works of composers A. Dargomyzhsky, M.A. Balakirev and N.A.Rimsky-Korsakov, as well as in music for ballet by P.I.Chaykovsky. A collection of travelling impressions of Russians about Spain supplemented "Sketches of Spain" in 1888 of V.I.Danchenko, the brother of the famous theater director. Famous Russian painters V.A. Serov (1865-1911), K.A. Korovin (1861-1939), P.P. Konchalovsky (1876-1956) depicted in their paintings the images of the Iberian Peninsula. At the same time in Spain increases influence of Russian literature. Works of L.N. Tolstoy, F.M. Dostoyevsky and I.S. Turgenev were translated into Spanish.. At the beginning of XX century Dostoevsky was one of the most read authors in the country. His work served as creative stimulus for many Spanish writers, including Miguel de Unamuno, Pio Baroja, a philosopher Jose Ortega-y-Gasset.
In the first half of XX century an increasing presence of Russian artists and musicians on the Spanish scene was obvious. In Madrid performs composers A.K.Glazunov and S.S. Prokofiev, tours "Russian ballet" of S.P. Diaghilev and the great Russian ballet-dancer - Anna Pavlova. In 1930 the soviet writer L.V. Nikulin (1891-1967) published interesting “Letters on Spain”.
However the true Spanish -Russian , and Russian - Spainish opening belongs rather to the time of active Soviet-Spanish cooperation in the years of the Civil War (1936-1939).
During this period prominent figures of Soviet culture visited Spain: writer Ilya Erenburg, journalist Mikhail Koltsov, documentary cinema director Roman Karmen. The spanish spectators knew and loved classics of the Soviet cinema: films- "October", "Battleship Potemkin", "We are from Kronstadt." In particular, a lot of warm words on Spain and Spanish
people can be found in the works of poet Michael Svetlov.
A lot of Spanish children were sent from Spain to Russia during this period. Many of them joined their life with Russia forever, making a great contribution to Russian science, art and engineering.
That was the time when the scientific “hispanistiks” was established and planned work on the translation of Spanish classical and modern literature began. Spanish motifs are widely represented in the works of composers A.I. Khachaturian, K.V. Molchanov, R. Shchedrin. The first two parts of the Symphony number 14 by D.D. Shostakovich were inspired by
the verses of F. Garcia Lorca.
Since the early 90's in the Spanish capital operates the Russian-German Foundation "Alexander Pushkin", the main center of Russian language spread and the promotion of Russian culture. In April 2002, during the visit to Russia Prince Felipe of Asturias was opened the Moscow branch of Cervantes Institute.

Anastasia Petrova