gion . The Muslims and Georgians left , however , to establish Prométhée Lodge , which opened in 1927 and closed in 1930 , at which point it still had around thirty members . La Toison d ’ Or then changed its name to Jupiter no . 536 and became a high-degree lodge that held popular conferences . Its members were mostly academics and its Worshipful Masters included Stepan Lianozov , former mine owner in Russia , head of the government of Northwestern Russia during the Civil War , and president of the All-Russian Union of Trade and Industry , who was initiated into Astrée lodge in 1922 ; Aleksandr Vertennikov , initiated before the war in Copenhagen ; Aleksandr Davydov ; and Admiral Verderevsky , Minister of the Navy in the last provisional government . In 1932 , Gemaïoune Lodge no . 624 ( named after a mythical bird ) opened in order to meet the needs of a new generation who were more integrated into French society . Lotos Lodge no . 638 opened on March 3 , 1933 , with Aitoff as Worshipful Master and Vyazemsky as Orator ( both men were close friends of Kandaurov ). Its aim was to study the principles and applications of morality . Hermès and Lotos had close ties to the two Russian GODF lodges .
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These Russian lodges enjoyed real autonomy within the GLDF , which helped them financially . The Scottish Rite used was inspired by that of the Astrée Grand Lodge at the beginning of the nineteenth century . Their work was open to the Glory of the GAOU and their oaths were sworn on the Bible , together with the Quran if the applicant was Muslim . Spiritualism was the dominant school of thought , but freedom of conscience was espoused and respected . The cultural level of the members was high : eighty percent had completed university studies . In 1926 , Kandaurov rented a clubhouse at 29 rue de l ’ Yvette ( 16 th arrondissement ). It had a dining room on the ground floor for hosting agapae , which were highly popular with visitors , while the first floor held a salon , a library , and Kandaurov ’ s office , where he could welcome and eventually teach new initiates . On the second floor was a magnificently decorated Temple that could hold eighty people . Russian Masonry benefited from the GLDF ’ s support , which was especially necessary as many of the Brethren were often forced to take poorly paid work . Members had a wide range of political and religious backgrounds , so topics that could lead to disagreement were avoided in the lodge . For example , there were differences of opinion about the nature of the future political system in Russia , with some preferring a federal republic while others wanted a constitutional monarchy .
The minutes of the lawyer Nikolay Teslenko ’ s interview with the Service Spécial des Associations Dissoutes ( Special Service of Dissolved Associations ) in August 1942 provide insight into the psychology and circumstances of these Russian Masons . Teslenko was the director of Editions musicales and had been initiated into Hermès Lodge in 1926 . He explained that his group consisted of political refugees , all anti-Communist , reflecting on “ the ideas they used to express , which had turned out to be an illusion ,” and learning