Constantinople: The Emigration’s First Stop on the Way to Creating an Independent “Russia Abroad”

One hundred years ago, our ancestors in the First Wave of Russian emigration left Russian territory, fleeing the 1917 Revolution and the Civil War, experiencing loss, deracination and a sense of irrelevance. Yet they never abandoned being Russian, creating an independent, active and free “Russia Abroad” that stayed substantially coherent till the descent into WW2.
This lecture proceeds with the 5th Wave in mind, trying to address their concerns by presenting the experience of our ancestors who when facing similar choices, picked an émigré life “from suitcases” hoping to stay relevant to Russia’s fate and for an eventual return.
This installment of the RNAA’s lecture series originated in Istanbul, the first stop of the Russian diaspora’s journey, from a 100-year-old Russian Café Rejans that had been frequented by some of our ancestors.
Presented by Dr. Anatol Shmelev of the Hoover Institution and Timur Saitov of SUNY Binghamton.