Russians in Australia
Encyclopedia
The first Russia
n citizen known to have become a permanent resident of Australia
was John Potocki
, who landed in Hobart
, Tasmania
on 18 February 1804. Potocki, arrested in England, was sentenced to hard labor in Tasmania
. According to Potocki's own account, recorded by captain Lazarev
in 1820, he served in the Russian Army
during the reign of Catherine II
. In 1810 Potocki was released by British authorities and settled in Hobart
permanently. By 1820 there were four Russian-speaking families of former convicts in Hobart.
where it loaded provisions on its way to Russian American colonies. Sometimes this date is considered as a start of relations between Australian colonies and Russia.
Contacts continued in 1820 when two Russian ships, the Vostok (meaning 'East') and the Mirny (Peaceful), visited Port Jackson under the command of Captains Lazarev
and Bellingshausen
for provisions and repairs on several occasions during an expedition to explore Antarctica ordered by Tsar
Alexander I
. Until the middle of the 19th century, only a few dozen Russians
, Ukrainians
, Lithuanians
, Latvians
, Finns and other émigré
s from the Czarist Russian empire were resident in Australia, which was still a part of the British Empire
.
Russian ships visited Australia throughout the 19th century and a number of Russian seamen absconded from their ships to settle permanently in Australia. Religious sects, including the Mennonites and Doukhobors, made plans to send up to 40,000 settlers to Australia and New Guinea
but after much debate in the Russian press, and 2,000 applications to emigrate, this mass emigration did not materialise.
The Russian Imperial Navy corvette
Bogatyr made a friendly visit to Melbourne
and Sydney
in 1863. Information from Polish deserters
pointed to Russian plans to attack Australia in support of the Union
cause. (See Australia and the American Civil War: Imperial Russian Navy) In 1882 three Russian Navy ships – the Africa, Vestnik (Herald or Messenger) and Plastun – made port in Melbourne, sparking renewed fears in the press of a Russian invasion. A brief mobilisation of defence forces ensued before the lack of aggressive intent was made clear. In 1885 concerned British colonists thought a Russian invasion was again imminent and built Bare Island Fort to protect 'Sydney's back door' in Botany Bay
, Canada
, Argentina
and Brazil
towards the end of the 19th century. Australia was a much less popular destination, with only 300 Russians leaving for Australia in 1890. According to the Census
in 1891, the number of Russians living in Australia was 2881, comprising 2350 men and 531 women.
and south west of Russia escaping anti-Semitism
and a wave of pogrom
s which raged in the wake of Tsar Alexander II
's assassination on 1 March (old calendar) 1881. The number of Russians according to the Australian census is shown in table below.
By the time of the formation of the Australian Commonwealth in 1901, a total of 3,358 Russians were resident in the newly created country, comprising 1,262 in New South Wales
, 954 in Victoria
, 454 in Queensland
, 251 in South Australia
, 400 in Western Australia
and 37 in Tasmania. Most emigrants had come via England
at this time, but in the future many travelled via the newly opened Trans-Siberian railway
and ports in the far east, which provided a quicker and cheaper route. Letters from Antipodean emigrants were commonly published in the Russian press and had the effect of encouraging potential emigrants to consider this exotic new land as a possible destination.
of that year and the February Revolution
in 1917. These migrants comprised political opponents of the Czarist regime and defectors from compulsory military service in the Russian armed forces. According to Prince Abaza, the Russian General Consul in Australia in 1914, there were 12,000 people from the Russian empire in Australia out of a total population of 4.5 million. The lure of Australia's democracy
and social mobility outweighed the hardships which many of the emigres suffered in their first years, often in labouring jobs due to their lack of English.
During the World War I
no less than one quarter of all the Russian males living in Australia served in the Australian Army. By percentage it was more than for the general Australian population. There were more Russian nationals serving in the Australian Army than nationals from any other non-Anglo-Saxon country. Many more applied but were rejected either because of poor command of English or because of their medical conditions. Many of the recruits were motivated by their gratitude to their new country. Another important factor was the policy of the Russian General Consul Prince Abaza who lobbied for the forceful return of all Russian nationals who would not serve in Russian Army (unlike Australia, Russia had a mandatory military service policy).
No less than 150 Russian nationals in the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps
participated in the Battle of Gallipoli
. No less than 400 Russians were among ANZACs on the Western Front
in 1916.
. After the lifting of this prohibition after the defeat of the white movement
, a third wave of Russians migrated to Australia in the 1920s after the defeat of the White Army by the Bolshevik
forces. These were known as the White emigre
s. Many of these refuges embarked from Manchuria
, having been driven to Siberia
by the rampant Red Army
.
, comprising Russian prisoners of war and displaced Russian citizens. These people faced persecution in Stalin
's Soviet Union
, being seen as collaborators or contaminated with dangerous Western influences. Many Russians, fearing forced repatriation to the Soviet Union where they faced death in the Gulag
, claimed to be Polish to escape Stalin's dictat that all Soviet citizens must return. There had been a large influx of Russian Orthodox
refugees from China
following the Japanese invasion of Manchuria in 1931 and more fled Mao Zedong
's rise to power after the defeat of the Chinese Nationalist
Army. Refuge in Australia for the Russian colony in China was negotiated by archbishop John of Shanghai. His success in negotiations with the Labor
Government of Ben Chifley
is sometimes seen as a miracle
proving John's sainthood. Several Russian born emigrants to Australia have published accounts of their escapes from Soviet Russia and Communist China, including Alex Saranin's 'Child of the Kulaks' and 'The Tarasov Saga' by Igor Ivashkoff (Gary Nash).
(5,407) or Sydney
(5,367). A significant portion of Russian-born residents are women (62%), and most (69%) had arrived in Australia no earlier than 1990. Also at the 2006 Census 67,055 Australian residents declared that they had Russian ancestry, either alone or in combination with one other ancestry.
Whereas previously the majority of Russian immigrants were Jews
, in recent years Jewish emigration has been less evident. Notable Russian emigrates include boxer
Kostya Tszyu and pole vault
champion Tatiana Grigorieva
, who won a silver medal in the 2000 Sydney Olympics
.
Sydney's Bondi Beach is a popular area for Russian migrants, with several restaurants and specialist shops catering to their needs. The Australian Russian community is served nationally by Russian language radio broadcasting team at SBS Special Broadcasting Service
Government radiostation which broadcasts in 58 community languages.
According to Russian Federal State Statistics Service there are about 1200 Russians who left Russia for Australia from 2000 to 2008. Roughly 170 Russians leave Russia for Australia every year.
in 1925. Parish St. Nicholas church there was intended to be a monument to the Tsar-martyr Nicholas II
.
The first Russian Saint Vladimir Cathedral in Sydney
was opened in 1938 in celebration of the 950th anniversary of the baptism of Russia. Many more churches were opened after World War II
.
An Australian Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (ROCOR, also known as the Russian Church Abroad (ROCA), or the Synod) was formed and now has about 42 centres in Australia and New Zealand
. There is a Russian Orthodox convent
in Kentlyn
, near Sydney, and the Holy Transfiguration Monastery in Bombala, NSW
. Russian churches set up Russian schools to preserve Russian language and customs.
There are parishes of the Russian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) in Glen Iris, Victoria
(celebrating in English) and in Blacktown, NSW, (celebrating in Slavonic). There is a small Belarusian
Orthodox community in Bankstown, NSW, that is administered by the Moscow Patriarchate. The Russian Orthodox congregation in South Yarra
, Melbourne, is under the jurisdiction of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese and celebrates services in Russian.
There are also some parishes of Lipovan Orthodox Old-Rite Church
which represent the tradition of Russian Old Believers
.
The Myer
shopping chain, still a dominant power in the Australian retail sector, was founded by early Russian speaking Jewish immigrant Sidney Myer
in Melbourne, his first store set up as the 'Myer Emporium'. He supported new Russian emigres to Melbourne for as long as he lived.
. In 1926 the famous Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova danced in Melbourne and Sydney, giving a great boost to the embryonic Australian ballet of its day and in the same year, famed opera singer Feodor Shalyapin made an Australian concert tour. Renowned ballerina Irina Baronova
toured Australia before the Second World War and lived in Byron Bay, New South Wales
from 2000 until her death in 2008. She was a vice-president of the Royal Academy of Dance
and a patron of The Australian Ballet, and published her memoirs in 2005.
Kira Bousloff (Abricossova) (1914–2001) is best known as the founder of the oldest ballet company in Australia - the WA State Ballet Co
. Born in Monte-Carlo to Russian parents she came to Australia as a member of the Covent Garden Russian Ballet company
in 1938 and remained in Australia after the tour ended in 1939. She moved to Perth with her husband composer John Penberthy and established the WA State Ballet Co in 1952.
Pianists Alexander Sverzhizki and Phillip Shovk and painter Danila Vassiliev worked in Australia and boosted the local development of their arts while art historian Nina Kristesen established the Department of Russian Language and Literature at Melbourne University in 1946.
Russian arts festivals and events are popular in Australia. The 150th anniversary of Pushkin
's death was commemorated with poetry festivals in 1987 and a range of Russian cultural and social organisations are active in the major cities of Melbourne and Sydney. The Russian Connection provides an independent and comprehensive guide to cultural events and occasions with a Russian flavour in Australia. The organisation promotes Russian cultural activities such as art exhibitions, ballet, classical music, concerts, festivals, children's events, movies, musicals, lectures, opera, and theatre. The Russian Connection is continually expanding with the recent addition of a catalogue of new Russian literature
and Russian language
movies available from various public libraries.
. He was born in Atherton, Queensland
, Australia
, to a family of Russian immigrants in 1916. He and his parents relocated to the Soviet Union in 1923. In 1964 he received the Nobel Prize in Physics
for his work on lasers and masers. He was also the chief editor of the Great Soviet Encyclopedia
from 1969.
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n citizen known to have become a permanent resident of Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
was John Potocki
Potocki
Potocki is the surname of a Polish noble family.-History:The Potocki family is a great artistocratic family originated from Potok in the Kraków Voivodeship; their family name derives from that place name. The family is heavily entwined with the cultural development and history of Poland's Eastern...
, who landed in Hobart
Hobart
Hobart is the state capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Founded in 1804 as a penal colony,Hobart is Australia's second oldest capital city after Sydney. In 2009, the city had a greater area population of approximately 212,019. A resident of Hobart is known as...
, Tasmania
Tasmania
Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...
on 18 February 1804. Potocki, arrested in England, was sentenced to hard labor in Tasmania
Tasmania
Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...
. According to Potocki's own account, recorded by captain Lazarev
Mikhail Petrovich Lazarev
Admiral Mikhail Petrovich Lazarev was a Russian fleet commander and explorer who discovered Antarctica.-Education and early career:Lazarev was born in Vladimir, a scion of the old Russian nobility from the Vladimir province. In 1800, he enrolled in Russia's Naval College. Three years later he...
in 1820, he served in the Russian Army
Imperial Russian Army
The Imperial Russian Army was the land armed force of the Russian Empire, active from around 1721 to the Russian Revolution of 1917. In the early 1850s, the Russian army consisted of around 938,731 regular soldiers and 245,850 irregulars . Until the time of military reform of Dmitry Milyutin in...
during the reign of Catherine II
Catherine II of Russia
Catherine II, also known as Catherine the Great , Empress of Russia, was born in Stettin, Pomerania, Prussia on as Sophie Friederike Auguste von Anhalt-Zerbst-Dornburg...
. In 1810 Potocki was released by British authorities and settled in Hobart
Hobart
Hobart is the state capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Founded in 1804 as a penal colony,Hobart is Australia's second oldest capital city after Sydney. In 2009, the city had a greater area population of approximately 212,019. A resident of Hobart is known as...
permanently. By 1820 there were four Russian-speaking families of former convicts in Hobart.
Early naval visits
In 1807 the Russian shallop Neva, under the command of Captain Leonty Gagemeyster, visited Port JacksonPort Jackson
Port Jackson, containing Sydney Harbour, is the natural harbour of Sydney, Australia. It is known for its beauty, and in particular, as the location of the Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge...
where it loaded provisions on its way to Russian American colonies. Sometimes this date is considered as a start of relations between Australian colonies and Russia.
Contacts continued in 1820 when two Russian ships, the Vostok (meaning 'East') and the Mirny (Peaceful), visited Port Jackson under the command of Captains Lazarev
Mikhail Petrovich Lazarev
Admiral Mikhail Petrovich Lazarev was a Russian fleet commander and explorer who discovered Antarctica.-Education and early career:Lazarev was born in Vladimir, a scion of the old Russian nobility from the Vladimir province. In 1800, he enrolled in Russia's Naval College. Three years later he...
and Bellingshausen
Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen
Fabian Gottlieb Thaddeus von Bellingshausen was an officer in the Imperial Russian Navy, cartographer and explorer, who ultimately rose to the rank of Admiral...
for provisions and repairs on several occasions during an expedition to explore Antarctica ordered by Tsar
Tsar
Tsar is a title used to designate certain European Slavic monarchs or supreme rulers. As a system of government in the Tsardom of Russia and Russian Empire, it is known as Tsarist autocracy, or Tsarism...
Alexander I
Alexander I of Russia
Alexander I of Russia , served as Emperor of Russia from 23 March 1801 to 1 December 1825 and the first Russian King of Poland from 1815 to 1825. He was also the first Russian Grand Duke of Finland and Lithuania....
. Until the middle of the 19th century, only a few dozen Russians
Russians
The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....
, Ukrainians
Ukrainians
Ukrainians are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine, which is the sixth-largest nation in Europe. The Constitution of Ukraine applies the term 'Ukrainians' to all its citizens...
, Lithuanians
Lithuanians
Lithuanians are the Baltic ethnic group native to Lithuania, where they number around 2,765,600 people. Another million or more make up the Lithuanian diaspora, largely found in countries such as the United States, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Russia, United Kingdom and Ireland. Their native language...
, Latvians
Latvians
Latvians or Letts are the indigenous Baltic people of Latvia.-History:Latvians occasionally refer to themselves by the ancient name of Latvji, which may have originated from the word Latve which is a name of the river that presumably flowed through what is now eastern Latvia...
, Finns and other émigré
Émigré
Émigré is a French term that literally refers to a person who has "migrated out", but often carries a connotation of politico-social self-exile....
s from the Czarist Russian empire were resident in Australia, which was still a part of the British Empire
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
.
Russian ships visited Australia throughout the 19th century and a number of Russian seamen absconded from their ships to settle permanently in Australia. Religious sects, including the Mennonites and Doukhobors, made plans to send up to 40,000 settlers to Australia and New Guinea
New Guinea
New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...
but after much debate in the Russian press, and 2,000 applications to emigrate, this mass emigration did not materialise.
The Russian Imperial Navy corvette
Corvette
A corvette is a small, maneuverable, lightly armed warship, originally smaller than a frigate and larger than a coastal patrol craft or fast attack craft , although many recent designs resemble frigates in size and role...
Bogatyr made a friendly visit to Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
and Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
in 1863. Information from Polish deserters
January Uprising
The January Uprising was an uprising in the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth against the Russian Empire...
pointed to Russian plans to attack Australia in support of the Union
Union (American Civil War)
During the American Civil War, the Union was a name used to refer to the federal government of the United States, which was supported by the twenty free states and five border slave states. It was opposed by 11 southern slave states that had declared a secession to join together to form the...
cause. (See Australia and the American Civil War: Imperial Russian Navy) In 1882 three Russian Navy ships – the Africa, Vestnik (Herald or Messenger) and Plastun – made port in Melbourne, sparking renewed fears in the press of a Russian invasion. A brief mobilisation of defence forces ensued before the lack of aggressive intent was made clear. In 1885 concerned British colonists thought a Russian invasion was again imminent and built Bare Island Fort to protect 'Sydney's back door' in Botany Bay
Botany Bay
Botany Bay is a bay in Sydney, New South Wales, a few kilometres south of the Sydney central business district. The Cooks River and the Georges River are the two major tributaries that flow into the bay...
Waves of emigration
Up to 250,000 people a year emigrated from the Russian empire to countries such as the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
and Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
towards the end of the 19th century. Australia was a much less popular destination, with only 300 Russians leaving for Australia in 1890. According to the Census
Census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
in 1891, the number of Russians living in Australia was 2881, comprising 2350 men and 531 women.
The first wave 1880-1905
The first major wave of Russian emigrants to Australia began in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, largely Jews from the BalticBaltic provinces
The Baltic governorates , originally the Ostsee governorates is a collective name for the administrative units of the Russian Empire set up at the territories of Swedish Estonia, Swedish Livonia and, afterwards, of Duchy of Courland and Semigallia .-History:The Treaty of Vilnius of 1561 included...
and south west of Russia escaping anti-Semitism
Anti-Semitism
Antisemitism is suspicion of, hatred toward, or discrimination against Jews for reasons connected to their Jewish heritage. According to a 2005 U.S...
and a wave of pogrom
Pogrom
A pogrom is a form of violent riot, a mob attack directed against a minority group, and characterized by killings and destruction of their homes and properties, businesses, and religious centres...
s which raged in the wake of Tsar Alexander II
Alexander II of Russia
Alexander II , also known as Alexander the Liberator was the Emperor of the Russian Empire from 3 March 1855 until his assassination in 1881...
's assassination on 1 March (old calendar) 1881. The number of Russians according to the Australian census is shown in table below.
| Census year | 1871 | 1881 | 1891 | 1901 | 1911 | 1921 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of Russians in Australia | 720 | 1303 | 2970 | 3372 | 4456 | 7659 |
By the time of the formation of the Australian Commonwealth in 1901, a total of 3,358 Russians were resident in the newly created country, comprising 1,262 in New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
, 954 in Victoria
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
, 454 in Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
, 251 in South Australia
South Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...
, 400 in Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
and 37 in Tasmania. Most emigrants had come via England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
at this time, but in the future many travelled via the newly opened Trans-Siberian railway
Trans-Siberian Railway
The Trans-Siberian Railway is a network of railways connecting Moscow with the Russian Far East and the Sea of Japan. It is the longest railway in the world...
and ports in the far east, which provided a quicker and cheaper route. Letters from Antipodean emigrants were commonly published in the Russian press and had the effect of encouraging potential emigrants to consider this exotic new land as a possible destination.
The second wave 1905-1917
A second wave occurred between the defeat of Russia in the Russian-Japanese War in 1905, the revolutionRussian Revolution of 1905
The 1905 Russian Revolution was a wave of mass political and social unrest that spread through vast areas of the Russian Empire. Some of it was directed against the government, while some was undirected. It included worker strikes, peasant unrest, and military mutinies...
of that year and the February Revolution
February Revolution
The February Revolution of 1917 was the first of two revolutions in Russia in 1917. Centered around the then capital Petrograd in March . Its immediate result was the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II, the end of the Romanov dynasty, and the end of the Russian Empire...
in 1917. These migrants comprised political opponents of the Czarist regime and defectors from compulsory military service in the Russian armed forces. According to Prince Abaza, the Russian General Consul in Australia in 1914, there were 12,000 people from the Russian empire in Australia out of a total population of 4.5 million. The lure of Australia's democracy
Democracy
Democracy is generally defined as a form of government in which all adult citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Ideally, this includes equal participation in the proposal, development and passage of legislation into law...
and social mobility outweighed the hardships which many of the emigres suffered in their first years, often in labouring jobs due to their lack of English.
During the World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
no less than one quarter of all the Russian males living in Australia served in the Australian Army. By percentage it was more than for the general Australian population. There were more Russian nationals serving in the Australian Army than nationals from any other non-Anglo-Saxon country. Many more applied but were rejected either because of poor command of English or because of their medical conditions. Many of the recruits were motivated by their gratitude to their new country. Another important factor was the policy of the Russian General Consul Prince Abaza who lobbied for the forceful return of all Russian nationals who would not serve in Russian Army (unlike Australia, Russia had a mandatory military service policy).
No less than 150 Russian nationals in the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps
Australian and New Zealand Army Corps
The Australian and New Zealand Army Corps was a First World War army corps of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force that was formed in Egypt in 1915 and operated during the Battle of Gallipoli. General William Birdwood commanded the corps, which comprised troops from the First Australian Imperial...
participated in the Battle of Gallipoli
Battle of Gallipoli
The Gallipoli Campaign, also known as the Dardanelles Campaign or the Battle of Gallipoli, took place at the peninsula of Gallipoli in the Ottoman Empire between 25 April 1915 and 9 January 1916, during the First World War...
. No less than 400 Russians were among ANZACs on the Western Front
Western Front (World War I)
Following the outbreak of World War I in 1914, the German Army opened the Western Front by first invading Luxembourg and Belgium, then gaining military control of important industrial regions in France. The tide of the advance was dramatically turned with the Battle of the Marne...
in 1916.
The third wave 1917-1939
The Australian Government placed an embargo on immigration from Russia between 1917 and 1922 due to the Russian revolution and subsequent Russian Civil WarRussian Civil War
The Russian Civil War was a multi-party war that occurred within the former Russian Empire after the Russian provisional government collapsed to the Soviets, under the domination of the Bolshevik party. Soviet forces first assumed power in Petrograd The Russian Civil War (1917–1923) was a...
. After the lifting of this prohibition after the defeat of the white movement
White movement
The White movement and its military arm the White Army - known as the White Guard or the Whites - was a loose confederation of Anti-Communist forces.The movement comprised one of the politico-military Russian forces who fought...
, a third wave of Russians migrated to Australia in the 1920s after the defeat of the White Army by the Bolshevik
Bolshevik
The Bolsheviks, originally also Bolshevists , derived from bol'shinstvo, "majority") were a faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party which split apart from the Menshevik faction at the Second Party Congress in 1903....
forces. These were known as the White emigre
White Emigre
A white émigré was a Russian who emigrated from Russia in the wake of the Russian Revolution and Russian Civil War, and who was in opposition to the contemporary Russian political climate....
s. Many of these refuges embarked from Manchuria
Manchuria
Manchuria is a historical name given to a large geographic region in northeast Asia. Depending on the definition of its extent, Manchuria usually falls entirely within the People's Republic of China, or is sometimes divided between China and Russia. The region is commonly referred to as Northeast...
, having been driven to Siberia
Siberia
Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...
by the rampant Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
.
The fourth wave 1945-1960
A fourth wave of emigrants came to Australia after the Second World WarWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, comprising Russian prisoners of war and displaced Russian citizens. These people faced persecution in Stalin
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
's Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, being seen as collaborators or contaminated with dangerous Western influences. Many Russians, fearing forced repatriation to the Soviet Union where they faced death in the Gulag
Gulag
The Gulag was the government agency that administered the main Soviet forced labor camp systems. While the camps housed a wide range of convicts, from petty criminals to political prisoners, large numbers were convicted by simplified procedures, such as NKVD troikas and other instruments of...
, claimed to be Polish to escape Stalin's dictat that all Soviet citizens must return. There had been a large influx of Russian Orthodox
Russian Orthodox Church
The Russian Orthodox Church or, alternatively, the Moscow Patriarchate The ROC is often said to be the largest of the Eastern Orthodox churches in the world; including all the autocephalous churches under its umbrella, its adherents number over 150 million worldwide—about half of the 300 million...
refugees from China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
following the Japanese invasion of Manchuria in 1931 and more fled Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong, also transliterated as Mao Tse-tung , and commonly referred to as Chairman Mao , was a Chinese Communist revolutionary, guerrilla warfare strategist, Marxist political philosopher, and leader of the Chinese Revolution...
's rise to power after the defeat of the Chinese Nationalist
Chinese nationalist
Chinese nationalist can refer to:* Chinese nationalism* Kuomintang - Chinese Nationalist Party in Taiwan....
Army. Refuge in Australia for the Russian colony in China was negotiated by archbishop John of Shanghai. His success in negotiations with the Labor
Australian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...
Government of Ben Chifley
Ben Chifley
Joseph Benedict Chifley , Australian politician, was the 16th Prime Minister of Australia. He took over the Australian Labor Party leadership and Prime Ministership after the death of John Curtin in 1945, and went on to retain government at the 1946 election, before being defeated at the 1949...
is sometimes seen as a miracle
Miracle
A miracle often denotes an event attributed to divine intervention. Alternatively, it may be an event attributed to a miracle worker, saint, or religious leader. A miracle is sometimes thought of as a perceptible interruption of the laws of nature. Others suggest that a god may work with the laws...
proving John's sainthood. Several Russian born emigrants to Australia have published accounts of their escapes from Soviet Russia and Communist China, including Alex Saranin's 'Child of the Kulaks' and 'The Tarasov Saga' by Igor Ivashkoff (Gary Nash).
The fifth wave - Russians in Australia today
The 2006 Census revealed Australia had a Russian-born population of 15,354. Most Russian-born residents live in MelbourneMelbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
(5,407) or Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
(5,367). A significant portion of Russian-born residents are women (62%), and most (69%) had arrived in Australia no earlier than 1990. Also at the 2006 Census 67,055 Australian residents declared that they had Russian ancestry, either alone or in combination with one other ancestry.
Whereas previously the majority of Russian immigrants were Jews
Jews
The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
, in recent years Jewish emigration has been less evident. Notable Russian emigrates include boxer
Boxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
Kostya Tszyu and pole vault
Pole vault
Pole vaulting is a track and field event in which a person uses a long, flexible pole as an aid to leap over a bar. Pole jumping competitions were known to the ancient Greeks, as well as the Cretans and Celts...
champion Tatiana Grigorieva
Tatiana Grigorieva
Tatiana Grigorieva is a retired Australian pole vaulter. She retired from the sport in 2007 after a 10 year career that saw her win Olympic, Commonwealth and World Championship medals...
, who won a silver medal in the 2000 Sydney Olympics
2000 Summer Olympics
The Sydney 2000 Summer Olympic Games or the Millennium Games/Games of the New Millennium, officially known as the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was celebrated between 15 September and 1 October 2000 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia...
.
Sydney's Bondi Beach is a popular area for Russian migrants, with several restaurants and specialist shops catering to their needs. The Australian Russian community is served nationally by Russian language radio broadcasting team at SBS Special Broadcasting Service
Special Broadcasting Service
The Special Broadcasting Service is a hybrid-funded Australian public broadcasting radio and television network. The stated purpose of SBS is "to provide multilingual and multicultural radio and television services that inform, educate and entertain all Australians and, in doing so, reflect...
Government radiostation which broadcasts in 58 community languages.
According to Russian Federal State Statistics Service there are about 1200 Russians who left Russia for Australia from 2000 to 2008. Roughly 170 Russians leave Russia for Australia every year.
The Russian Orthodox Church in Australia
The first Russian Orthodox parish in Australia was founded in BrisbaneBrisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
in 1925. Parish St. Nicholas church there was intended to be a monument to the Tsar-martyr Nicholas II
Nicholas II of Russia
Nicholas II was the last Emperor of Russia, Grand Prince of Finland, and titular King of Poland. His official short title was Nicholas II, Emperor and Autocrat of All the Russias and he is known as Saint Nicholas the Passion-Bearer by the Russian Orthodox Church.Nicholas II ruled from 1894 until...
.
The first Russian Saint Vladimir Cathedral in Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
was opened in 1938 in celebration of the 950th anniversary of the baptism of Russia. Many more churches were opened after World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
An Australian Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (ROCOR, also known as the Russian Church Abroad (ROCA), or the Synod) was formed and now has about 42 centres in Australia and New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
. There is a Russian Orthodox convent
Convent
A convent is either a community of priests, religious brothers, religious sisters, or nuns, or the building used by the community, particularly in the Roman Catholic Church and in the Anglican Communion...
in Kentlyn
Kentlyn, New South Wales
Kentlyn is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Kentlyn is located 58 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Campbelltown and is part of the Macarthur region....
, near Sydney, and the Holy Transfiguration Monastery in Bombala, NSW
Bombala, New South Wales
Bombala is a town in the Monaro region of south-eastern New South Wales, Australia, in Bombala Council. It is located approximately south of the state capital, Sydney, and south of the town of Cooma. The name derives from an Aboriginal word meaning "Meeting of the waters". The town lies on the...
. Russian churches set up Russian schools to preserve Russian language and customs.
There are parishes of the Russian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) in Glen Iris, Victoria
Glen Iris, Victoria
Glen Iris is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 10 km south-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area are the Cities of Boroondara and Stonnington...
(celebrating in English) and in Blacktown, NSW, (celebrating in Slavonic). There is a small Belarusian
Belarusians
Belarusians ; are an East Slavic ethnic group who populate the majority of the Republic of Belarus. Introduced to the world as a new state in the early 1990s, the Republic of Belarus brought with it the notion of a re-emerging Belarusian ethnicity, drawn upon the lines of the Old Belarusian...
Orthodox community in Bankstown, NSW, that is administered by the Moscow Patriarchate. The Russian Orthodox congregation in South Yarra
South Yarra, Victoria
South Yarra is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 4 km south-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area are the Cities of Stonnington and Melbourne...
, Melbourne, is under the jurisdiction of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese and celebrates services in Russian.
There are also some parishes of Lipovan Orthodox Old-Rite Church
Lipovan Orthodox Old-Rite Church
The Lipovan Orthodox Old-Rite Church is the Romanian based jurisdiction of the Belokrinitskaya Hierarchy ....
which represent the tradition of Russian Old Believers
Old Believers
In the context of Russian Orthodox church history, the Old Believers separated after 1666 from the official Russian Orthodox Church as a protest against church reforms introduced by Patriarch Nikon between 1652–66...
.
Russian entrepreneurs
Myer
Myer is Australia's largest department store chain, retailing a broad range of merchandise including women's, men's and children's clothing, footwear and accessories; cosmetics and fragrance; homewares; electrical; furniture and bedding; toys; books and stationery; food and confectionery; and...
shopping chain, still a dominant power in the Australian retail sector, was founded by early Russian speaking Jewish immigrant Sidney Myer
Sidney Myer
Sidney Baevski Myer was a Russian Australian businessman and philanthropist, best known for creating Myer, Australia's largest chain of department stores.-Early life:...
in Melbourne, his first store set up as the 'Myer Emporium'. He supported new Russian emigres to Melbourne for as long as he lived.
Russian arts in Australia
The mine engineer Ilya Repin (1888–1949), after settling in Sydney in 1925, helped create a Russian Orthodox Church in Sydney on Robertson Road in the 1930s. First holding services in his own cottage, he founded the Church of Saint Vladimir on this site, a 'khram' which exists to this day. There is a long history of Russian cultural and artistic visits to Australia. In 1913, the Russian Imperial Ballet toured Australia, the first and only performances of Russian actors before the First World WarWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. In 1926 the famous Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova danced in Melbourne and Sydney, giving a great boost to the embryonic Australian ballet of its day and in the same year, famed opera singer Feodor Shalyapin made an Australian concert tour. Renowned ballerina Irina Baronova
Irina Baronova
Irina Mikhailovna Baronova , FRAD was a Russian ballerina who was one of the Baby Ballerinas of the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, discovered by George Balanchine in Paris in the 1930s...
toured Australia before the Second World War and lived in Byron Bay, New South Wales
Byron Bay, New South Wales
Byron Bay is a beachside town located in the far-northeastern corner of the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located north of Sydney and south of Brisbane. Cape Byron, a headland adjacent to the town, is the easternmost point of mainland Australia. At the 2006 Census, the town had a...
from 2000 until her death in 2008. She was a vice-president of the Royal Academy of Dance
Royal Academy of Dance
The Royal Academy of Dance is an international dance education and training organization, and examination board that specialises in the teaching and technique of Ballet. The RAD was established in London, England in 1920 as the Association of Operatic Dancing of Great Britain, and received its...
and a patron of The Australian Ballet, and published her memoirs in 2005.
Kira Bousloff (Abricossova) (1914–2001) is best known as the founder of the oldest ballet company in Australia - the WA State Ballet Co
West Australian Ballet
The West Australian Ballet is the premier ballet dance company of Western Australia and is based in Perth at His Majesty's Theatre, Western Australia. The company was founded in 1952 by Madame Kira Bousloff and is one of the oldest ballet companies in Australia. Artistic directors have included...
. Born in Monte-Carlo to Russian parents she came to Australia as a member of the Covent Garden Russian Ballet company
Ballets Russes
The Ballets Russes was an itinerant ballet company from Russia which performed between 1909 and 1929 in many countries. Directed by Sergei Diaghilev, it is regarded as the greatest ballet company of the 20th century. Many of its dancers originated from the Imperial Ballet of Saint Petersburg...
in 1938 and remained in Australia after the tour ended in 1939. She moved to Perth with her husband composer John Penberthy and established the WA State Ballet Co in 1952.
Pianists Alexander Sverzhizki and Phillip Shovk and painter Danila Vassiliev worked in Australia and boosted the local development of their arts while art historian Nina Kristesen established the Department of Russian Language and Literature at Melbourne University in 1946.
Aleksandr Pushkin
Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin was a Russian author of the Romantic era who is considered by many to be the greatest Russian poet and the founder of modern Russian literature....
's death was commemorated with poetry festivals in 1987 and a range of Russian cultural and social organisations are active in the major cities of Melbourne and Sydney. The Russian Connection provides an independent and comprehensive guide to cultural events and occasions with a Russian flavour in Australia. The organisation promotes Russian cultural activities such as art exhibitions, ballet, classical music, concerts, festivals, children's events, movies, musicals, lectures, opera, and theatre. The Russian Connection is continually expanding with the recent addition of a catalogue of new Russian literature
Russian literature
Russian literature refers to the literature of Russia or its émigrés, and to the Russian-language literature of several independent nations once a part of what was historically Russia or the Soviet Union...
and Russian language
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
movies available from various public libraries.
Australians in Russia
The Russian connections in Australia are mostly composed by Russian-borns moving to or visiting Australia. The most notable representative of the Australians moving to Russia is the famous physicist Aleksandr Mikhailovich ProkhorovAleksandr Mikhailovich Prokhorov
Alexander Mikhaylovich Prokhorov was a Russian physicist known for his pioneering research on lasers and masers for which he shared the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1964 with Charles Hard Townes and Nikolay Basov....
. He was born in Atherton, Queensland
Atherton, Queensland
Atherton is a town on the Atherton Tablelands of Far North Queensland, Australia. At the 2006 census, Atherton had a population of 7,068.-Roads:...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, to a family of Russian immigrants in 1916. He and his parents relocated to the Soviet Union in 1923. In 1964 he received the Nobel Prize in Physics
Nobel Prize in Physics
The Nobel Prize in Physics is awarded once a year by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Alfred Nobel in 1895 and awarded since 1901; the others are the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Nobel Prize in Literature, Nobel Peace Prize, and...
for his work on lasers and masers. He was also the chief editor of the Great Soviet Encyclopedia
Great Soviet Encyclopedia
The Great Soviet Encyclopedia is one of the largest and most comprehensive encyclopedias in Russian and in the world, issued by the Soviet state from 1926 to 1990, and again since 2002 .-Editions:There were three editions...
from 1969.