Lecture: The Dutch and Moscow
23 Jan 2012
Professor Hans van Koningsbrugge will deliver a special lecture about Dutch people in Russia before the era of Tsar Peter the Great.
Van
Koningsbrugge, professor at the University of Groningen, is a specialist in Dutch-Russian
affairs. He has authored many books and publications about the history of the
relations between both countries.
His lecture is called ‘The Dutch in Moscow before Peter the Great’.
It is well-known that after Peter the Great’s visit to the Low Countries, many Dutch travelled to Russia to work for the the Tsar as part of his Russian modernisation project, even helping him in buiding his new capital St. Petersburg. However, decades before the Tsar’s visit to Holland, Dutch people were already living and working in Moscow. In fact, Peter’s wish to travel abroad was inspired by a Dutchman he met in Moscow.
Dutch town
The Dutch lived together with other Westerners in the so-called Nemetskaya sloboda, a special neighborhood of Moscow where all foreigners lived. This foreigner’s quarter resembled a small Dutch town and contrasted strongly with the rest of the city where all the houses were made from wood.
The Nemetskaya Sloboda was a neighborhood in northeast Moscow, located on the right bank of the Yauza River, within the present-day Basmanny District.
Professor Van Koningsbrugge’s lecture will reveal more about this forgotten Dutch-Russian past. Who were those Dutch people who travelled to Moscow in the 15th and 16th centuries and what were they doing in old Muscovy? How were their relationships with the Russians?
The lecture will
be in Dutch with translation into Russian. The lecture, organised by Nuffic
Neso, starts at 19:00 onTuesday 24th September at Nikolayamskaya 6 (in the Oval
Hall).
Participation in the lecture is free. You can register for the lecture via: http://www.nesorussia.org/home/news-events/upcoming-events/web-forms/copy7_of_42043543343844144244043044643844f-43d430-44143543c43843d430440
A small Dutch Library - Boekenhoekje
The lecture is a part of the cycle of so-called Boekenhoekje lectures (translated as Book Corner in English). The name refers to the small Dutch Library where Russian students can borrow Dutch books and DVD’s. The lectures, which are devoted to Dutch language and culture, are given in Dutch – with Russian translation. More information about the Dutch library ‘Boekenhoekje can be found here: http://www.nesorussia.org/home/nederlands-boekenhoekje
Dr. Hans van Koningsbrugge has been a University Lecturer in Russian Studies at the University of Groningen since 1990. In addition he is the director of the Netherlands-Russia Archive Centre. Van Koningsbrugge is also an honorary professor at the Moscow State University for Culture. The main focus of his research is on modern Russia and Dutch-Russian relations.
He has published amongst other works: The Russian Bibliography about the Netherlands and Russian-Dutch Relations 1700-2000, Baltic affairs: relations between the Netherlands and North-Eastern Europe 1500–1800, Around Peter the Great. Three centuries of Russian-Dutch relations.