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Русские австралийцы | |
|---|---|
| Total population | |
| 18,278 (by birth, 2011)[1] 98,112 (by ancestry, 2021)[1] | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Nationwide | |
| Languages | |
| Russian,Australian English | |
| Religion | |
| Russian Orthodox,Judaism | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Russian New Zealanders,Ukrainian Australians,Jewish Australians,Russian Canadians,Russian Americans |
Russian Australians compriseAustralian citizens who have full or partialRussian heritage or people whoemigrated fromRussia and reside inAustralia.
In 1807 thesloopNeva sailed toPort Jackson, under the command ofCaptain lieutenantLudwig von Hagemeister, where it loaded provisions on its way toRussian America. As this was the firstRussian vessel to travel to the Australian mainland,[2] this is occasionally considered the start of relations between Australian colonies and Russia.[3]
Contacts continued in 1820 when the Russian shipsVostok (meaning 'East'), and theMirny (Peaceful), under the command of captainsMikhail Lazarev andFabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen, visited Port Jackson. They sought provisions and repairs on several occasions during an expedition to exploreAntarctica thatTsarAlexander I had promoted. Until the middle of the 19th century, only a few dozenRussians,Ukrainians,Lithuanians,Latvians,Finns and otherémigrés from theRussian Empire were resident in Australia, which was still a part of theBritish Empire.[citation needed]
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 theMennonites andDoukhobors, made plans to send up to 40,000 settlers to Australia andNew Guinea but after much debate in the Russian press, and 2,000 applications to emigrate, this mass emigration did not materialise.
The Russian Imperial NavycorvetteBogatyr made a friendly visit toMelbourne and Sydney in 1863. Information fromPolish deserters pointed to Russian plans to attack Australia in support ofthe Union cause. (SeeAustralia and the American Civil War: Imperial Russian Navy)[4] In 1882 threeRussian Navy ships – theAfrica,Vestnik (Herald or Messenger) andPlastun – 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 builtBare Island Fort to protect "Sydney's back door" inBotany Bay
Up to 250,000 people a year emigrated from theRussian Empire to countries such as the United States, Canada,Argentina andBrazil 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.
The first major wave of Russian emigrants to Australia began in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, largelyJews from theBaltic and south west of Russia escapinganti-Semitism and a wave ofpogroms which raged in the wake of TsarAlexander II'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[5] | 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 inNew South Wales, 954 inVictoria, 454 inQueensland, 251 inSouth Australia, 400 inWestern Australia and 37 in Tasmania. Most emigrants had come via England at this time, but in the future many travelled via the newly openedTrans-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.
A second wave occurred between the defeat of Russia in theRussian-Japanese War in 1905, therevolution of that year and theFebruary Revolution in 1917. These migrants comprised political opponents of the Czarist regime and defectors from compulsory military service in the Russian armed forces. According toAlexander Nikolayevich 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 theWorld War I no less than one quarter of all the Russian males living in Australia served in the Australian Army.[6] By percentage it was more than for the general Australian population.[6] 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.[6] Many of the recruits were motivated by their gratitude to their new country. Another important factor was the policy of Consul-General 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).[6]
No less than 150 Russian nationals in theAustralian and New Zealand Army Corps participated in theBattle of Gallipoli. No less than 400 Russians were amongANZACs on theWestern Front in 1916.[6]
The Australian Government placed an embargo on immigration from Russia between 1917 and 1922 due to the Russian revolution and subsequentRussian Civil War. After the lifting of this prohibition after the defeat of thewhite movement, a third wave of Russians migrated to Australia in the 1920s after the defeat of theWhite Army by theBolshevik forces. These were known as theWhite emigres. Many of these refugees embarked fromManchuria, having been driven toSiberia by the rampantRed Army.[citation needed]
A fourth wave of emigrants came to Australia after theSecond World War, comprising Russian prisoners of war and displaced Russian citizens. These people faced persecution inStalin'sSoviet 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 theGulag, claimed to be Polish to escape Stalin's dictat that all Soviet citizens must return. There had been a large influx ofRussian Orthodox refugees from China following the Japanese invasion of Manchuria in 1931 and more fledMao Zedong's rise to power after the defeat of theChinese Nationalist Army. Refuge in Australia for the Russian colony in China was negotiated byarchbishop John of Shanghai. His success in negotiations with theLabor Government ofBen Chifley is sometimes seen as amiracle proving John'ssainthood. 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).[citation needed]
Alexander Kerensky, the leader of the Russian Provisional Government overthrown by theBolsheviks in 1917, lived in Brisbane in 1945-6 with the family of his terminally ill wife.[7]
The 2006 Census revealed Australia had a Russian-born population of 15,354. Most Russian-born residents live inMelbourne (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.[8] Also at the 2006 Census 67,055 Australian residents declared that they had Russian ancestry, either alone or in combination with one other ancestry.[8]
Whereas previously many Russian immigrants wereJewish, in recent years Jewish emigration has been less evident. Notable Russian emigrates includeboxerKostya Tszyu andpole vault championTatiana Grigorieva, who won a silver medal in the2000 Sydney Olympics and noted Constitutional jurist Liubov Poshevelya.
Sydney'sBondi Beach is a popular area for Russian and Russian-Jewish migrants, with several restaurants and specialist shops catering to their needs. However, Russians live throughout New South Wales and Australia with less concentration in certain areas as might have been in the early waves of immigration. The traditional centres such as Strathfield and Sydney's Bondi are ever-changing communities catering to new people and services such as language schools and churches have not been well distributed beyond these areas since the 1980s. There is no language school, church or related services (for example) available in the northern suburbs of Sydney, despite Russians and other Slavic Europeans taking to the area in the recent waves of migration. The Australian Russian community is served nationally by Russian language radio broadcasting team at SBSSpecial Broadcasting Service Government radio station 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.[9]
The first Russian Orthodox parish in Australia was founded inBrisbane in 1925. The parish church of St Nicholas there (nowSt Nicholas Russian Orthodox Cathedral) was intended to be a monument to the Tsar-martyrNicholas II.[3]
The first RussianSaint Vladimir Cathedral in Sydney was opened in 1938 in celebration of the 950th anniversary of thebaptism of Russia.[3] Many more churches were opened afterWorld War II. An Australian Diocese of theRussian 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 andNew Zealand including St Peter and Paul Cathedral in Strathfield NSW, and area where many Russians had settled. There is also the Russian Orthodoxconvent inKentlyn, near Sydney, and the Holy Transfiguration Monastery inBombala, NSW. Some Russian churches set up Russian schools to preserve Russian language and customs.
There are also parishes of the Russian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) inGlen Iris, Victoria (celebrating in English) and inBlacktown, NSW, (celebrating inSlavonic). There is a smallBelarusian Orthodox community inBankstown, NSW, that is administered by theMoscow Patriarchate. The Russian Orthodox congregation inSouth Yarra, Melbourne, is under the jurisdiction of theGreek Orthodox Archdiocese and celebrates services in Russian. There are some parishes ofLipovan Orthodox Old-Rite Church which represent the tradition of RussianOld Believers.
TheMyer shopping chain, still a dominant power in the Australian retail sector, was founded by early Russian speaking Jewish immigrantSidney 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.
Online retail entrepreneurRuslan Kogan was born in Belarus and migrated to Australia in 1989 at the age of 5. In 2006 he started one of the biggest online retailers in the country,Kogan, which makes and sells affordable technology. He is also co-founder of furniture retailer Milan Direct. In 2012 he was named the richest person under 30 in Australia by BRW magazine.[10]
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 ofSaint 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, theRussian Imperial Ballet toured Australia, the first and only performances of Russian actors before theFirst World War. In 1926 the famous Russian ballerinaAnna 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 singerFeodor Chaliapin made an Australian concert tour. Renowned ballerinaIrina Baronova toured Australia before the Second World War and lived inByron Bay, New South Wales from 2000 until her death in 2008. She was a vice-president of theRoyal Academy of Dance and a patron ofThe 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 – theWA State Ballet Co. Born inMonte Carlo to Russian parents, she came to Australia as a member of theCovent Garden Russian Ballet company in 1938 and remained in Australia after the tour ended in 1939. She moved to Perth with her husband composerJames Penberthy and established the Western Australian State Ballet Company in 1952.[11]
PianistsAlexander Sverjensky andPhillip Shovk and painterDanila Vassilieff worked in Australia and boosted the local development of their arts, while art historian Nina Kristesen established the Department of Russian Language and Literature atMelbourne University in 1946.
Russian arts festivals and events are popular in Australia. The 150th anniversary ofAlexander 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. TheRussian 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 newRussian literature andRussian language movies available from various public libraries.
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 physicistAleksandr Mikhailovich Prokhorov. He was born inAtherton, 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 theNobel Prize in Physics for his work onlasers andmasers. He was also the chief editor of theGreat Soviet Encyclopedia from 1969.[citation needed]
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