Andrey Grishaev( Coll:, 24-) explores the history of Russians at the College
The Wykehamist
Privet, Winchester!( Привет, Винчестер!)
Andrey Grishaev( Coll:, 24-) explores the history of Russians at the College
Earlier this term, I was wandering the topyear corridor in College, looking at the various XVs and VIs rolls up on display, when I stumbled upon the 1921 VIs roll, in which I saw a Russian surname— M. Zvegintzov. This spurred my curiosity, and after some digging, I found Michael Zvegintzov( Coll:, 1918-23) in the archives, with an interesting description of how he ended up in College( we will get to this later). Hence, the search for more Russians in the history of Winchester College began, with this article being the culmination of my efforts. Special thanks go to SF as well as Matthew Sneller( Coll:, 21-) for helping me with the archives, and WEG for helping with Latin translations.
Nicolas’ DSM medal, London auction, 2018
There have actually been quite a few Wykehamists connected to Russia in some way. For example, George Moberly( namesake of Moberly Court, HM 1836-66) was born in St Petersburg, whilst our very own AGMR( Coll:, 2011- 16) went to school in Moscow as a boy— the same school that I went to. This could very easily be its own article, but for now, we shall focus on the actual Russians that have attended the College.
There have been two main waves of Russian boys studying at Winchester; one was during the Great War and the Russian Revolution( 1915- 21), the other a few years after the collapse of the Soviet Union( 1996-2008). The first wave saw at least six boys join the school, though a 1978 issue of The Wykehamist article describes this as the‘ band of Russians who came to Win: Coll: during the 1914-18 war,’ perhaps suggesting a larger number. These boys were all children of aristocrats in the empire— white émigrés who came to the UK to escape prosecution under the new communist regime. These émigrés would, in fact, later go on to have children whom they sent to Win: Coll: again in the 1950s, constituting the second‘ wave’ of Russian boys, including Pasternak’ s nephew— Nicholas Pasternak Slater( Coll:, 1951-56). The second wave originally saw about ten boys join the College, but numbers have been increasing ever since, and over 50 boys( and recently, girls) are now part of the College’ s extensive history. The backgrounds of these boys and girls contrast those who came almost a hundred years before them; most were from new money, and were not escaping Russia, but simply being sent abroad by their parents to receive an elite British education and gain connections. Rather than encapsulating the unprecedentedly destructive forces of the Great War and the Russian Revolution, which brought the first wave of Russian Wykehamists, the second wave was a celebration of life, prosperity and the opening of Russia’ s doors to the world. Now, we will look at the lives of some of the boys that came here.
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