Library director Svetlana Alexandrovna Chekalova. (Large jpg - 42K)
On St Petersburg's Fontanka a unique library has been founded in memory of a Russian emigre prince who spent most of his life in England.
The small library contains a unique collection of books in both English and Russian and represents the private collection of Prince Georgy Golitsyn, who fled to England with his parents after the revolution in 1919.
The collection was continued by his son, Georgy Golitsyn (Jr), who died in London in 1992.
The library, which houses approximately 6,000 volumes including some 800 books given to it by members of the British Royal Family and other collectors, resembles the British Library's reading room in miniature.
The library's central theme revolves around Russian culture and art, which was the Golitsyn family passion. The library also houses an impressive collection of English reference books, including a complete set of the Encyclopedia Britannica, 20 volumes of the Oxford English dictionary, the Cambridge encyclopedias, the latest Sotheby's and Christie's catalogues and a cluster of books on English parks and countryside.
The library, at 46 Fontanka Embankment, was opened last October and financed from a charitable fund set up by Prince Golitsyn's relatives -- his widow Princess Jean Golitsyn and his daughter Katy.
The place chosen for the library was hardly coincidental. The building was owned from the end of the 19th century to the beginning of the 20th century by the prince's grandfather, Prince Georgy Golitsyn of Mecklenburg-Strelitz.
The Golitsyn family had strong aristocratic links with the Tsarist autocracy. The family was originally from the German principality of Mecklenberg-Strelitz, and Georgy Golitsyn of Mecklenberg-Strelitz was the grandson of Russian Tsar Paul I.
He was a well-known bookworm and collector during the reign of Alexander III and caused scandal by marrying his mother's chambermaid. Their children were granted the title Graf (Count) Karlov, which the family holds to this day.
Georgy Golitsyn of Mecklenburg-Strelitz bought the building, which now houses the family's private library, in 1895 after having sold their previous stately residence -- The Mikhailovsky Palace -- to Tsar Alexander III for the new Russian Museum.
The prince was well known for his passion for music and was an accomplished pianist and could play the violin. Among his accomplishments was the foundation of a string quartet which before the war gave concerts not only in Russia but in other European capitals.
During World War I, the quartet entertained the troops in front line towns and donated a percentage of its proceeds to help hospitals for the wounded.
His son Vladimir, who was a chevalier in the Imperial horse guards, met his future wife Katya at a ball. Soon they were married and when war broke out they were sent to the Caucasus where he served out his term in the army.
There in Tiflis their son Georgy Golitsyn (Jnr) was born in 1916 but within three years the entire family was forced to flee Russia during the Civil War and disappeared one foggy night on a British battle cruiser.
In England their son Prince Georgy Golitsyn studied in Oxford where in 1938 he received a scholarship in History and Art History specializing in Russian medieval art.
During the Second World War he served in the Welsh Guards and after demobilization in 1946, renewed his academic career.
In 1961 he visited the Soviet Union for the first time as a representative for the photocopying firm Rank Xerox and from 1974 made regular trips to Russia.
He was an expert on many historical, cultural and artistic aspects of Russian life and in the words of Jane Billington, Director of the Library of Congress in Washington DC, "He reopened the doors of Russian culture and art to the world and paved the way for its reconstitution."
The Prince died in London in May 1992 and his ashes were scattered in two places. Some were interred in Mogilev alongside those of his parents while others were buried in the dynasty's ancestral seat in Mecklenburg-Strelitz.
But books were the overriding passion for this extraordinary fellow who never lost sight of his love for Russia and its culture in his life.
At present the library is building up its collection which must remain a private collection in charitable hands. But already it has attracted quite considerable interest both here and abroad.
Last year Prince Charles personally donated autographed books from his collection to the library when he visited St Petersburg. But despite its private and royal links, the library is open to all who wish to study Russian culture in quiet and beautiful surroundings.
With its smart green reading tables, it is the perfect place for English speaking students not confident in the Russian language to study Russian culture and will prove an enduring testament to Russian-British cultural links.