kkh assesment 31

In the future there might come an author, who would like to write “The History of Russians in Sweden". It is possible to begin this history many hundred years ago. We know about archeological artifacts, which shows us about common life and faith of the people who lived in pre-Christian time. Its was an era of Vikings with mutual penetration of the peoples from Scandinavian and Russian lands – for military reasons, for trade and for marriage. The Swedish girl Ingegerd was married with Yaroslalv the Wise, the King of “Kievskaja Rus” . At this time Vikings traded not only sables, honey and silver, but also a big number of people that have been stolen from Slavic's lands. Probably, already in this time the first Russians came to the territory of the Scandinavian countries .

It is possible to write how two neighbor, northern countries were connected by marriage as well as in later times. There were relations and communications between the Emperor Romanov and the royal dynasties of Sweden. Catherine the Great was relative to the Swedish king Gustav III, and grand duchess Maria Pavlovna was married with the Swedish prince Wilhelm, Gustav's V son. And the grandmother of the great Russian poet Pushkin was also Swedish.

In the Swedish historian's stories, this is still not sorted out and researchers are still working with this. There are well-known “Occupational Archives", taken by Swedes from Novgorod during the XVII century. This includes a lot of interesting notes about historical events. There are collections in the library Carolina Rediviva in in town Uppsala.

Russian traders in the middle age , developed their business in the heart of the Swedish capital. Near the Museum of history in Stockholm there is still a place called "Russian" (The Russian square). In Stockholm you can also find a Russian orthodox church (built 1617) where people can see the famous icon of the Stockholm Mother of God. In the Tullgarn castle, near Stockholm, there is a guest book. This is always opened on the page where Nikolay II wrote his signature.

The first Russian female professor in mathematics Sofia Kovalevsky, became also professor in Stockholm. Here she is also buried. Alfred Nobel started his work and got his first capital in other countries, including Russia. This was the base for the Nobel Prize. One of the mostly prestigious hotels in Saint Petersburg is Hotel Astoria. This as well as many other buildings, was build by the Swedish architect Fredrik Lidval. His daughter lives in Stockholm and still remembers Russian language. In Sweden the descendants of Russian writer Lev Tolstoy live, one of them is Victoria Tolstoy, a famous jazz singer.

During the period between two revolutions (1905 and1917) the neutral Sweden became a transit intersection for the Russian revolutionaries, including V.I. Lenin who was here many times. The first wave of "white" emigrants swept through Sweden in 1918, gained strength in 1919 and ended in 1922. The Russian emigrants of the first wave were quickly organized and even created an own publishing house "North Fires" and for some number of years they gave out many books. World War II brought other types of immigrants to Sweden – people running from the Soviet power. Especially many came from the Baltic countries.

According to Swedish official statistics from 1982 there was 7 836 people from Soviet Union in Sweden. All were called "Russians" but they came from all over Soviet union. During the years1983 and 1984, 95 and 98 more people came to Sweden from Russia. The majority of the Russian emigrants to Sweden were women who was married with Swedish men or with Latin Americans living in Sweden, who before coming to Sweden had studied in the Soviet Union. All immigrants coming to Sweden must fill in a questionnaire to the Central statistical Bureau (SCB) of Sweden and among other things give their birthplace. According to the official statistics for 2002 from SCB there was 7.243 registered people born in Russia, 1.996 in Ukraine, 709 in Belarus . Totally about 18.000 people in Sweden have Russian as native language. Beside this, there are groups of people which are not included in the official statistics as Russians are people who have arrived from other countries, waiting final decision on their status.

Times change and now many Russians work in Swedish firms as translators, consultants, are attached to projects for development of cooperation with northwest Russia and the Kaliningrad region. The network with Swedish twin-cities with cities in the Russian Federation grows. Swedes adopt the Russian orphans, assist children, affected by the Chernobyl accident, many children from child homes comes to Swedish families for the summers. More modern Russian authors began to be translated into Swedish language (Tatyana Tolstaya, Boris Akunin, Alexandra Marinina). Many Swedish authors also began to be translated into Russian. Many mixed families also speak both Russian and Swedish as native languages. Many Russian emigrants who grew up in Sweden in the new generation have become doctors, lawyers, and businessmen. My work about the Russian people, their destinies, carrier, traditions and problems will be devoted in my work "Russian Emigrants in Sweden”. In this I would like to show the most interesting aspects of their daily life. To show what happens the people who start a new page in their lives, far away from their homeland.

The Russian Diaspora society as in many other, you can find Russian society and life in a miniature form. There are very rich Russians, buying for themselves whole islands and castles in Sweden and there are very poor, who don't have roofs over the heads. There are professors, intelligent people who are believing and bringing up the children in the best traditions of the Russian culture, around books, friends, music and visits to the theaters and concerts. There are also pensioners, who aren't able to afford to buy a ticket for any expensive performance. There are people who needs help and there are the people who can help...