G. V. GORYACHKIN, RUSSIAN ALEXANDRIA. THE FATE OF EMIGRATION IN EGYPT.

Moscow: Russkiy Put Publishing House, 2012, 336 p. (in Russian)

The author, a well - known Russian Arabist, dedicated the presented monograph to "Russian Alexandrians, living and dead, children and grandchildren". In the preface to the first edition, the author makes an important statement that serves as a starting point for research, which is informational and analytical in its essence, when he writes: "Until the end of the 80s of the last century, the topic of Russian emigration attracted the attention of domestic researchers, but was impassable. Only with the development of the Russian public's interest in this forbidden past, after Russian President Vladimir Putin visited the cemetery of White emigrants Saint-Genevieve-des-Bois in the vicinity of Paris, did the Russian authorities give the go-ahead to representatives of archival institutions and libraries to open this forbidden topic for domestic researchers" (p.7).

The main text of the monograph is preceded by an address to readers by Sergey Lavrov, Chairman of the Government Commission for Compatriots Abroad and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, which reads in part:: "I am convinced that the book will find its interested reader and will be in demand as a convincing confirmation of the traditionally close ties of compatriots with their historical Homeland" (p.1).

The book consists of two prefaces, three chapters, a conclusion, appendices, and notes. The chapters are clearly structured, each of them has its own research subject, but all chapters are united by a common topic.

Chapter I is devoted to the historical fate and place of the Russian colony among the foreign communities of Alexandria before 1920. Here the author emphasizes that " before the declaration of formal independence of Egypt in 1922, subjects of European powers enjoyed significant privileges: they were under the protection of their consulates, subject to the jurisdiction of mixed courts, had the right of visa-free entry and exit, could move freely and to live in the country without asking for special permission from the authorities, in other words, they had the right of extraterritoriality" (pp. 18-19).

But in 1937, the so-called "capitulation regime" with its privileges and immunity for foreigners was abolished. And in 1947, a law was passed that reserved for Egyptians at least 40% of seats on the administrative boards of joint-stock companies, 75% for employees and 90% for workers. This law was the main reason for the dismissal of foreigners and their mass departure from Egypt. Another important reason for their outflow was the constantly growing nationalism, to which the author gives a detailed explanation.

The national composition of the foreign community in Alexandria and the dynamics of its individual components are analyzed in detail in this chapter. Based on this analysis, the author comes to the conclusion that, on the one hand, foreign communities played a huge role in the process of capitalist transformation of Egypt, on the other hand, they caused deep contradictions in the socio-political life of this country.

A separate section of the chapter is devoted to the conditions of formation and formation of the Russian colony in Alexandria before 1917. Important milestones on this path were the creation of the Russian Society of Shipping and Trade in 1856, the Russian Chamber of Commerce in Alexandria in 1903, and the conclusion of the Trade and Navigation Agreement between Russia and Egypt in 1909. At the same time, the number of Russians in Alexandria and in Egypt as a whole was constantly growing. According to the 1917 census, it reached its maximum value of 4,225 people after the arrival of a large number of wounded and captured compatriots from the fronts of the First World War (p.56).

It is very characteristic that the level of their education and literacy significantly exceeded the similar indicators of representatives of other foreign colonies in Egypt, such as Greek, Italian, French, Spanish, and Austrian, and was equal to the level of the British.

Russian immigrants also conducted political activities in Alexandria that were not inferior in their activity to those of representatives of other non-ethnic communities. This was due to the fact that a significant part of them were hostile to the tsarist regime and continued to participate in a broad opposition movement in Egypt, where an important place was occupied by Russians of Jewish origin.

The author states that the most notable events in the history of "Russian-Egyptian" emigration were the events in Egypt, mainly in Alexandria, related to the first Russian revolution of 1905-1907. In particular, on January 19 and 20, 1907, powerful demonstrations of Alexandrians took place in defense of political emigrants. The central place in the study, both in terms of content and volume of the text, is occupied by chapter 2 "Russian White emigration in Alexandria in 1920-1952". Its starting point is the statement that the mass exodus of Russian emigrants occurred in February-March 1920 after the defeat of Denikin's Volunteer Army in southern Russia. They arrived in Egypt on three English and two Russian steamers.

The author examines in detail the process of their arrival and placement on Egyptian soil, relying on the memories and testimonies of eyewitnesses and participants of this drama and using official documents. He comes to the following conclusion: "The Russian emigrants who arrived in Alexandria after the defeat of Denikin's troops in southern Russia formed the core of the white emigration in Egypt, and significantly supplemented the number of Alexandrian Russians who found themselves in this city before 1920....For the most part, however, they did not stay long in Alexandria" (p.89).

Describing in detail the living conditions of Russian emigrants in various camps in Alexandria, their social and gender composition, the nature of the work they were forced to do, the fate of individual individuals, G. V. Goryachkin notes that Russian emigrants in Egypt were helped by the central authorities in exile located in Paris, as well as other All-Russian organizations that found shelter in the capitals of other European countries.

The author provides data on the spheres of employment of Russians based on the General Census of the population of Egypt for 1927.According to them, 28% of Russians were employed in trade, 27% - in the manufacturing industry, and about 20% were persons of liberal professions. About a tenth of Russians worked in transport, and just over 5% - in the service sector (p. 131).

In the section on the socio-political situation of the Russian colony in this chapter, the author notes that a wide network of Russian consulates, consular representatives and agents, established before 1917 and covering the entire territory of Egypt, continued to function after the October Revolution. Until October 1923, Russian representatives in Egypt continued to exist and were funded from various sources.

However, after that, the Egyptian government, which had been formally independent since 1922, deprived the Russians of preferential capitulation rights. An important role in this decision was played by the strengthening of the Soviet state and the beginning of its international recognition. G. V. Goryachkin quotes an excerpt from a letter from British Commissioner Scott addressed to A. A. Smirnov, former Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of the former Russia in Egypt, which, in particular, stated: "... now Egypt is independent and Britain should not interfere In addition, one has to take into account the fact that the Bolshevik power has already existed for six years and... that the anti-Bolshevik elements have not shown sufficient strength to fight back so far and therefore must be considered a dead wreck of the past " (p. 139).

This is a fundamentally important position of the official British position on the attitude to the established Soviet government and, as a consequence, to Russian emigration outside the USSR, including in Egypt. It means that for six years after the October Revolution of 1917, the British hoped for the restoration of the former system and order in Russia and therefore provided assistance from their budget to "anti-Bolshevik elements".

When in 1923 the hope of restoring the old order in Russia dried up, assistance to Russian emigrants in all directions ceased. From this moment, the decline of Russian emigration begins both in Egypt and in other countries. In this regard, the author states that the Russians found themselves in Egypt "in the position of the most disenfranchised 'untouchables', in the most offensive situation that representatives of Christian powers in a Muslim country have never found themselves in. They were now placed under the supervision of quarter sheikhs, subject to local tribunals, and were to be held in local jails if detained. All government agencies were informed that the Russians in Egypt no longer enjoyed capitulatory rights, that they should be treated as Egyptian subjects, and that the Russian mission and consulates had not existed since October 6 (1923 - V. G.), and therefore all acts and documents issued by them after that date were illegal and are invalid" (pp. 139-140).

The events of October 1923 further increased the disunity in the camp of Russian refugees that existed earlier. G. V. Goryachkin describes in detail the processes of socio-political differentiation that became more acute after this milestone. In general, despite the diversity of political sympathies and views, the majority of Russian refugees were democratically inclined and did not belong to the adherents of extreme positions, left and monarchical.

At the same time, the author states that the deprivation of capitulation rights of Russian refugees in Egypt led to the loss of any protection by them. Even earlier, according to the decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee and the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR of December 15, 1921, all lipa who left the country after November 7, 1921 without the permission of the Soviet authorities, were found to be without Russian citizenship. Thus, Russian exiles turned into outcasts, in the tragic situation of stateless people.

In a separate section of this chapter, Goryachkin highlights the role that former Russian diplomats played in alleviating the fate of Russian refugees in Egypt. A special place was occupied by the above-mentioned diplomatic agent and Consul General A. A. Smirnov, who became, in the author's words, "truly "the father of the" Russian colony". In 1908, he was elected doyen of the diplomatic corps in Cairo and remained so until 1923. He did not recognize the October Revolution and Soviet Russia, calling the Council of People's Commissars "a gang of usurpers who seized their homeland after the fall of legitimate power" (p.161).

The monograph ends with the chapter "Russian Culture and Alexandria". In it, the author notes that Russian culture gained a certain distribution and influence in Egypt even before several waves of emigration came to this country as a consequence of the tragic events in Russia at the beginning of the XX century.

This was largely due to the rapprochement of two thinkers of Russia and Egypt - the writer Leo Tolstoy and the reformer Muhammad Abdo. In particular, after Tolstoy's excommunication from the church, M. Abdo sent him a letter of support in 1904, in which he spoke highly of Tolstoy's teaching, about the influence of the writer's views "on all enlightened people", "on those who follow the righteous path" and those who have turned away from it, " on the poor and the rich." In the letter, he also stated that the excommunication of Leo Tolstoy from the Church is only proof of the correctness of his case (p. 227).

Many other Russian writers and poets turned to the Egyptian theme. In 1906-1907, the largest number of them visited Egypt. I. Bunin, N. Gumilyov, and K. Balmont visited here at about the same time.

Three times during 1908-1928, including twice after emigration, the great Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova visited Egypt, in particular in Alexandria. The author notes that in Alexandria, she "captured the imagination of Alexandrians, forcing them to take a fresh look at their own cultural heritage, highly appreciate and accept her magnificent plastic art, perfect performing skills" (p.233).

Along with literature and ballet, important forms of Russian-Egyptian cultural interaction were music and musical and theatrical art, especially opera and musical creativity. In 1903 and 1933, the great Russian singer F. I. Chaliapin toured Egypt. Another area of mutual enrichment between the cultures of Russia and Egypt was the visual arts.

In the conclusion of the monograph, the author notes that in terms of their social composition, the majority of exiled Russians represented the highest cultural strata of Russia: landlords, intellectuals, junkers, cadets, etc., who were "class enemies" of the new government. For many of them, it was difficult or even impossible to adapt to the harsh natural and climatic conditions of Egypt, especially to the intense heat and high humidity, as well as to the peculiarities of local cultural, social and socio-political life. These difficulties have forced many of them to leave Egypt and move to more favorable countries in Europe and Latin America.

The fate of Russian refugees in Alexandria is very similar to that of their compatriots who found themselves in Bizerte, another North African city on the Mediterranean Sea, for similar reasons in the early 1920s. They are dedicated to the Bizerta Marine Collection (1921-1923) (Moscow, 2003), a review of which was published in the Vostok magazine No. 4, 2004. In the preface to the collection, Admiral I. V. Kasatonov, Commander of the Black Sea Fleet in 1991-1992, wrote in particular:: "There were no winners in the civil war, and the main damage, as always, was suffered by Russia, frankly speaking, still feeling the consequences of the fratricidal war.

the war that did not spare the nation's gene pool " (p. 8). This conclusion is fully applicable to this peer-reviewed work.

I would like to add that one of the most tragic consequences of the civil war and subsequent emigration was the aggravation of the demographic problem in our country, which was further aggravated by years of mass repression and the Great Patriotic War.

Summing up, the author notes, in particular, that " the Russian emigration of the first wave left a deep mark not only in the history of Alexandria, but also in the history of Russian-Egyptian cultural ties." And below: "The merit of the Russian colony in Alexandria was also to preserve Russian intelligence, decency and a meaningful approach to life in a foreign land... A handful of educated refugees who passionately loved Russia... Despite the difficult material conditions, I tried my best to preserve and enrich my native culture and pass it on to the younger generations" (p. 73).

Permanent link to this publication: