Dear friends, let's imagine that we are archaeologists and we are going on a historical excavation! We arm ourselves with hoes and everything that will be useful to us, and begin to delve into... the English language! Yes, yes, you heard right. In English sufficient quantity French roots. We will be digging into these roots, where it came from, where it began and what caused it today. Reasons for the appearance of French words in English
It all started with this historical character. William I the Conqueror or in French Guillaume le Conquérant(c. 1027/1028 - September 9, 1087) was the nephew of the French king Henry I (this is the one who married the daughter of Yaroslav the Wise, Anna Yaroslavna). William bore the title of Duke of Normandy.
Apparently, one fine day he felt cramped in the northern French province, so he declared his own claims to the English throne. It is clear that in England there were more than enough of their own contenders. But this did not stop Wilhelm. He enlisted the support of his barons, gathered an army and navy and marched on England.
The famous Battle of Hastings was the turning point in William's capture of England. The Anglo-Saxon nobility was forced to submit to him and in 1066 William the Conqueror became king of England.
William's accession to the English throne had enormous consequences for the development of England. He founded a united English kingdom, created an army and navy, and began building stone fortresses (the Tower became the first).
During his time, the English language was enriched with many hundreds of French words, however, for another three hundred years it was considered a “common dialect” and was not used among the nobility. That's it significant event, which led to the fact that the French seeds were “sown” in the English language.
“Digging up” French roots
Since William was Duke of Normandy, he brought with him the Norman clergy and nobility. They began to occupy important government and church positions. Gradually in English language The Norman dialect began to enter and mix with it. This is how the Anglo-Norman language appeared, which became state language England and existed until the 14th century!
During this time, the English language managed to assimilate huge amount French words and accept them as “native”. 
French loanwords in English
Walter Scott's novel Ivanhoe describes the Norman period in English history in a very interesting and fascinating way. The book talks about how people lived and behaved at that time, about how ordinary people did not want to accept a foreign language and preserved their native speech.
For example, words such as:
- court, servant, guard, prince, vassal, government, serf, village (court, servant, guard, prince, vassal, government, serf, village);
- army, battle, banner, victory (army, battle, banner, victory);
- religion, chapel, prayer, to confess (religion, chapel, prayer, confess);
- city, merchant (city, merchant).
Villagers retained English names, while city dwellers adopted French words: butcher “butcher”, mason “mason”, tailor “tailor”.
For example, animals were called with English words, but their meat was called with French words: beef "beef", mutton "lamb", pork "pork", veal "veal".
Many French words have migrated into English in the areas of law and government: chancellor - advisor, country - country, court - yard, crime - crime, evidence - evidence, government - government.
- Words from the sphere of the church: abbot - abbot, monk, priest - priest, religion - religion, saint - saint
- Words from the cultural sphere: art - art, dance - dance, dance, painting - painting
- Words from the military sphere: army - army, battle - battle, battle, captain - captain, enemy - enemy, sergeant - sergeant, soldier - soldier
- Just different words with French roots: adventure - adventure, courage - courage, dignity - dignity, letter - letter, letter, mirror - mirror, regard - look.
During the Renaissance, French words entered the English language through philosophical and artistic literature, poetry, etc.
Considering the fact that of the 80,000 most used English words 25,500 of them are of French origin, we can conclude that French roots make up almost a third of the English language.
We hope, dear readers, that you enjoyed our linguistic excavations and learned something new for yourself! See you again!
Brothers Mikhail and Alexey Grabar are French who belong to the generation of Russian emigrants born and raised abroad. Their family, contrary to popular belief, has no connection with the family of the famous artist Igor Grabar, but can boast of a considerable number of academicians on the paternal side and aristocrats on the maternal side. They were also related to the Pushkin family, though not directly, but through the Goncharov family, as well as to the Chukovsky family, to which the well-known poet Korney Ivanovich Chukovsky belonged. Today, younger brother Alexey Grabar spends almost half of his time in Russia - here he is involved in the affairs of the private aviation company he founded, Avolus. Older brother Mikhail mainly lives in Paris. He is a renowned specialist on Russia and teaches at the University of Haute-Brittany.
Mikhail Grabar
» What is the story of your family's departure from Russia?
My grandfather, Andrei Nikolaevich Grabar, emigrated from Russia in the 20s, immediately after the Civil War. His brother Peter fought in the White movement and was evacuated to Scandinavia. Later he became the director of one department of the Pasteur Institute, but first, as a nobleman, he was supposed to become an officer. And my grandfather was immediately destined for a career as an academician. It was assumed that he would become a professor in Russia - and that’s what happened, but only in France. And he left with his parents for Bulgaria, where they were sheltered by General Ivanov, who was a very famous person and the Minister of Defense of Bulgaria, and also a Russophile. He opened his own home for Russian immigrants. Grandfather lived with his parents and fell in love with the general’s daughter - she became our grandmother. Moreover, he wrote to Brother Peter about how wonderful it was in Bulgaria. He came and fell in love with his grandmother’s sister and married her too.
» How did the fate of your family develop on your paternal side?
This family branch has a very strong academic tradition. Grandfather was a famous Byzantine professor. From Bulgaria via Strasbourg the family moved to Paris. Grandfather first taught Russian at the University of Strasbourg, then moved to the department of art history. Then he was invited to Paris to the prestigious Collège de France and soon became an academician.
He maintained relations with academicians Likhachev and Lazarev. Grandfather had two sons - Oleg, a professor, a major art historian, and the youngest -
Nikolai, my father, who moved away from science and became a businessman: discovered travel agency. However, Dad was very interested in religion and instilled this interest in us.
» You speak Russian well, with virtually no accent. Have you studied the language since childhood?
My grandfather and grandmother spoke Russian to me, but then I completely forgot it and from 8 to 12 years old I did not speak Russian at all, I spoke only French. But later he began to learn his native language again and brought it to a decent level so that it was possible to write scientific works and give lectures.
» What is the family history maternal line?
My mother Natalya had her maiden name Kiseleva, her father Evgeniy was an engineer. At the age of 17 he left for France. Being mathematically gifted, he entered a very famous educational institution– Lyon Central School of Engineers. He has several patents for inventions, including the "turbine-K", where "K" stands for the first letter of his last name. He was offered to go to work in the USA, but he did not dare. Grandfather divorced his wife Anastasia Dmitrievna, but they had a daughter, Natalya Evgenievna, who became our mother. Grandfather was serious and gloomy, and grandmother Vera was easy person. Her father was interesting person, a professor named Vergun. He was born in Transcarpathian Rus', which was then part of Austrian Empire, in a city called Gorodok. Officially, he was a journalist, working in Austria, so his grandmother was born in Vienna. He was a Russian patriot, a Pan-Slavist, and promoted the idea of uniting the Slavs and fighting the German idea. Of course, this was not welcomed in Austria, and he ended up in prison. The Germans considered him a spy. He was handsome and many women fell in love with him. His wife was a lady named Novosiltsova. This family belonged to the clan pillar nobles, who were related to the Goncharovs - the same Goncharovs to whom Alexander Pushkin’s wife, Natalya Goncharova, belonged. That is, our relationship is not close at all.
» It seems you are related to someone else famous poet– Korney Ivanovich Chukovsky?
That’s right, Vera’s grandmother’s cousin on her mother’s side was married to Korney Chukovsky’s son Nikolai.
» You were born from Russian parents. Do you consider yourself Russian?
Yes, to some extent. But since I grew up in France, I also consider myself French. And I also have an American passport - when my grandmother went to America, my mother was educated at Columbia University and married a 100% American.
» Despite the fact that Russian blood flows in you, during your childhood and youth it was problematic to travel to Russia. Was your first visit to Russia an event for you?
When the border was opened, around 1985, I was 20 years old. I was studying philosophy at the time, and I was invited to study in Moscow for a year. At that time, I thought that I would follow in the family footsteps and become a scientist - it was assumed that I would specialize in the history of philosophical and theological thought in Russia. On the one hand, I saw that the lofty ideas of perestroika and glasnost were not fully realized in Russia, and on the other hand, that in the West there was still strong Russophobia, inherited from the days of confrontation between the USSR and the West. I felt like a kind of cultural bridge. I understood the French and American mentalities, but at the same time I had Russian roots and was raised in the Orthodox tradition. My and Alexei’s ancestors were nobles, officers, they built the Russian Empire, so I felt that I had the right to defend the honor of Russia. And there was a lot of prejudice in the West. All the talk boiled down to the Russian mafia, which existed, that’s a fact, but the life of the whole country didn’t boil down to that!
» What are you doing now?
I teach Russian economics, culture and history at the University of Haute-Brittany and live in Paris. I followed my academic father's line. But I'm also interested real world– for me it’s politics and economics. That's why I'm helping with some issues. younger brother Alexey in business.
» You are coming to Russia. What are your impressions?
In Russia you get tired of the “Sovietness”, of incomprehensible rules, of unreliability. But there are wonderful achievements in science and sports. Old Europe is tired, it needs new energy from Russia, this is a strategic alliance. Europe and Russia must do something to, for example, resist the powerful expansion of China.
Alexey Grabar
» Alexey, you work in the field of private aviation - first at Netjet, and then at your own company, Avolus, which is successfully developing in Russia. How did you feel working in Russia?
I lived in Russia for a long time - I was a representative of many Western companies in Moscow, for example, Eurocopter, we sold the first airbuses to Aeroflot. I was 27 years old, I had to travel everywhere with a driver and a security guard - times were harsh. Later, I did an MBA in France and then looked at the situation in Russia with different eyes. I became interested in how not everyone can create their own company in Russia, come up with an idea and develop it. There are many young people in Russia, they are risky, their energy is contagious!
» Do you feel Russian or French?
When I lived in France, I thought that I was Russian after all. And when I came for the first time in my twenties to work in Russia, I understood irrevocably: I am French. How many times have I told myself: that’s it, I won’t work in this country anymore, I won’t return to Russia, it’s too hard here, I’m tired of the Russian mentality, but the energy of this country and its capabilities are stronger than temporary irritation.
Roman Moon makes up the ideal French team.
Fabien Barthez
Barthez's Manchester United career showed that he was not a great goalkeeper. But he was reliable at the main tournaments, and the ritual with a kiss from Laurent Blanc is as much a symbol of the victories of the French team as Zidane’s goals.
After reaching the final of the 1998 World Cup, President Jacques Chirac came into the French dressing room and kissed Barthez on his bald head. “He took me by surprise,” the goalkeeper recalls. “I didn’t allow this to anyone except Blanc.”
Lilian Thuram
Now Thuram is a public intellectual who speaks out on controversial topics: he is against racism and homophobia, he even participated in a march in support of gay marriage. When Thuram was a footballer, there was no controversy: just a defender with no flaws. Played the most matches in the history of the national team. Could play on the right and in the center. In top form he could run across, clear the ball and beat positionally any football player on the planet. He won both major national team tournaments, at 34 he was the best player in the World Cup semi-finals, and at 36 he had a contract with Barcelona. I would have played until I was 40 years old if it weren’t for heart problems.
Laurent Blanc
In 1994, when France did not qualify for the World Cup, Blanc could not stand the criticism and left the national team. Coach Aimé Jacquet persuaded the defender to return, and at the victorious tournament in 1998, Laurent decided at the most crucial moments: the golden goal against Paraguay in the first round of the playoffs, the winning penalty against the Italians in the quarterfinals. A leader, a player who never fusses, the nickname “President” suits Blanc perfectly.
Robert Jonquet
An elegant central defender who valued the ball. If he were playing now, L’Equipe and France Football would have predicted his transfer to Barcelona throughout his career. His most famous words: “Football is about creation, not destruction.” In France they still believe that main point semi-final of the 1958 World Cup - a double leg fracture, which Jonque earned in a collision with the Brazilian Vava. This happened in the 35th minute of the match, France, having lost its key defender, conceded four more goals and had to wait 40 years for victory at the World Cup.
Bixant Lizarazu
A dynamic full-back who created width in attack. Ahead of Patrice Evra and Roger March due to the number of titles. He could have become a great loser of French football, but his penalty miss in the quarter-finals of the 1998 World Cup was covered by the strikes of Trezeguet, Henry and Blanc.
The importance of France's defense at that tournament is often underestimated, preferring to remember Zidane, who was only truly good in the final. Yes, attacking players led the French to victories at Euro 84 and Euro 2000, but in 1998 the team reached the title primarily due to its defense, which conceded only one goal in four playoff matches.
Patrick Vieira
Didier Deschamps could be here. He played the entire 98 World Cup, which Vieira spent in rotation. He captained the team in the victorious finals of 1998 and 2000. Cantona once called him a water-carrier: Deschamps knew full well that his job was to win the ball and pass it on to more talented players. But what it all comes down to is that while Deschamps was the ideal partner and leader, Vieira is best years was an ideal midfielder.
Jean Tigana
The French "Magic Square", one of the best midfield lines in European history. Luis Fernandez helped the defense, Alain Giresse attacked from the flank, and Jean Tigana carried the ball from the support zone to someone else's penalty area. There was one more person in the “square”, but more on him later.
In the year of France's victory at Euro 84, Tigana was recognized as the country's best player and finished second in the Ballon d'Or voting. It was after his passage and penetrating pass that the second goal was scored in the final match with Spain. Tigana was not a strongman, he eluded his opponents due to his technique and some special airy lightness, noticeable even now, on Youtube videos with videos from 30 years ago.
Raymond Kopa
The son of Polish immigrants made his way in football because he did not want to spend his whole life in coal mines. The motivation was so strong that Kopa became the first superstar of French football, the first big French export to Real Madrid and the first footballer to receive the Legion of Honour. He also won the Champions Cup three times.
Kopa was a phenomenal dribbler, his coaches assigned him the role of a free attacking midfielder who does what he wants. Not everyone liked this: in a recovering post-war Europe, many believed that a footballer should be a symbol of team effectiveness, rather than an individualist determined to do everything himself. Kopa never won anything in the national team, but at the 58 World Cup he and Fontaine did everything for the French victory.
The question of the nationality of football players in France was relevant even then. Kopa did not hide the fact that he only wanted to play for France and generally considered himself a Frenchman, but he was not at all ashamed of his Polish roots. “The Poles have always been travelers and were never afraid to leave their native country,” Kopa said in his autobiography. “They will become great Frenchmen, Canadians and Americans, but they will always have love for Poland in their hearts.”
Michelle Platini
The end of the 60s was an unimportant time for French football: the national team did not win anything, and attendance at matches was at a record low. But the country was already undergoing a reform of the player training system, which resulted in the emergence of a golden generation. Team of the 80s, decorated with the “Magic Square”: three have already been mentioned, and the fourth was Michel Platini.
They said that he could distribute passes with eyes closed. Zidane said that as a child he called himself “Platini” in the yard. Michel scored more than almost all of his contemporaries: for example, during the Euro 84 victory for France, he scored 9 goals in 5 matches. Football fans of the 80s were no less tired of him than Messi and Ronaldo were - you and I: from 1983 to 1985, Platini won three Ballon d'Ors in a row.
Zinedine Zidane
I think you know what he achieved. I think you saw how he played. I think you remember how he finished. The heir of Platini, with whom Zidane is connected not only by the fact that as a child he wanted to be like him.
The French national team has always accepted people with foreign roots. The stars of the 50s were the Pole Kopa and Juste Fontaine, born in Marrakech. The Magic Square was three-quarters made up of Spanish-born Fernandez, Mali-born Tigana and the son of Italian Platini. The son of Algerians, Zidane was not only the best player in the French national team, but also a symbol of the policy of multiculturalism. His goals seemed to tell the world: “France is an example of how to integrate migrants into society.”
Thierry Henry
There is a great temptation to replace Thierry Henry with Fontaine or Trezeguet. Not because they are stronger: the ease with which Henry scored goals in the Premier League is one of the most beautiful spectacles in football of the last 20 years. Henri just has enough difficult relationships with France, it is not for nothing that he considers London, and not Paris, his home. It seems to him that his achievements are underestimated at home, and many French people believe that he was never as good in the national team as in the Premier League, that he should have stopped the conflict in the team at the 2010 World Cup, and in general he is a narcissistic jerk. Henri won everything with the national team, Henri is a 100% genius, and yet there are only three people in this team whose positions are indisputable: Kopa, Zidane and Platini.
Coach: Aimé Jacquet
The author of the main victory of the French team, the man who at the right moment dared to remove superstars Cantona, Papin and Ginol from the team. Before the start of the 1998 World Cup, he was terribly scolded, but he proved that he felt this team better than anyone else. When the players were nervous before the opening match, he found the right words to give them confidence (Marcel Desailly would later say that he had rarely seen coaches so convinced of success). And vice versa, when France failed in the first half in the semi-final against the Croats, Jacquet blasted the players during the break: “What are you afraid of? You will lose this match, and it will not be surprising.” An impressed Lilian Thuram scored two goals in the second half. Barthez says about Thuram: “When I played with him at Monaco, he went to goal and didn’t shoot because he was afraid to miss. He wanted to win this game so much that he overcame his fear.”
As the Chairman of the VKS Alexey Lobanov notes, “The time has come for the thirty-odd million Russian community abroad to know and realize the place that it now occupies in this world.Russian compatriots who find themselves abroad due to historical and political vicissitudes and unpredictability human destinies, did not dissolve and were not lost, despite the befalls that befell them great difficulties getting used to new conditions. Along with maintaining a close spiritual connection with historical homeland they carry within themselves the high creative talents and qualities inherent in the Russian people from time immemorial. For many of them, active participation in cultural life countries of residence serves to express artistic talents that distinguish them from the general crowd.”
According to the chairman of the VKS, “throughout history Russian state culture educated and enriched, served as a source of spiritual experience for the nation, the basis for the consolidation of our multinational people. It was domestic culture that largely ensured the authority and influence of Russia in the world and helped it become great power. In this regard, we, compatriots, are faced with the full task of increasing international interest in the history of Russia, in traditions, in language, in cultural values.”
Our first story is about Russian compatriots in France - in a country occupying special place in the destinies of Russian diaspora.
The cultural and historical heritage of Russian compatriots in France is a unique phenomenon in its richness and diversity, as well as its significance for national, French and world culture. Over the past three centuries, Russian-French relations have developed under the sign of great mutual interest and sincere sympathy of the French and Russians for each other, and, as a result, intensive cultural and humanitarian exchanges.
From the middle of the 18th century. our compatriots came to France for work, study, recreation, treatment, purchasing real estate, and permanent residence. For many cultural and artistic figures from Russia, their stay in France served as a powerful source of inspiration. During the period of the XVIII - XIX centuries. prominent representatives of Russian culture visited here intellectual elite: poets and writers - V. Tredyakovsky, D. Fonvizin, S. Pleshcheev, V. Zhukovsky, N. Nekrasov, N. Gogol, A. Fet, F. Tyutchev, F. Dostoevsky, M. Saltykov-Shchedrin, I. Turgenev , L. Tolstoy, I. Goncharov, A. Chekhov; philosophers - M. Bakunin, V. Belinsky, V. Solovyov, A. Herzen; artists - I. Repin, V. Vereshchagin, V. Polenov; scientists - S. Kovalevskaya, A. Korotnev, S. Metalnikov, D. Ryabushinsky and others.
At the beginning of the 20th century. the flourishing of science, culture and the arts in France and Russia, as well as special character bilateral relations (military-political alliance) contributed to an increase in the influx of Russian compatriots to French soil. By this time, Russia had finally entered the European cultural space, and the Russian intelligentsia enjoyed great respect in Europe. The names of outstanding Russian representatives of the “Silver Age” are closely connected with France. Among them are writers and poets - N. Gumilev, A. Akhmatova, M. Tsvetaeva, Z. Gippius, Teffi (Nadezhda Lokhvitskaya), O. Mandelstam, M. Voloshin, A. Kuprin, I. Erenburg, A. Tolstoy; composers - A. Scriabin, N. Rimsky-Korsakov, S. Rachmaninov, A. Glazunov, I. Stravinsky; artists - V. Kandinsky, K. Malevich, M. Larionov, N. Goncharova, L. Bakst, A. Benois, D. Burlyuk, L. Popova, K. Korovin, M. Vrubel, M. Chagall, Z. Serebryakova.
The historical trials that befell Russia in the 20th century provoked several waves of mass emigration, each of which brought new generations of compatriots abroad, including to France.
The first wave of emigration dates back to the period of revolutionary upheavals in Russia at the beginning of the 20th century. After 1905, about 15 thousand people settled here, and in the subsequent period after the Civil War in Russia, over 400 thousand people moved to live in France.
This was precisely the reason for the high concentration on French soil of representatives of famous Russian noble families, whose history is closely intertwined with the history of Russia, as well as prominent artists, writers, publicists, and musicians.
A Parisian taxi driver, a former guards officer in the Russian army, reads the emigrant newspaper "Vozrozhdenie"
The second wave of emigration dates back to the period after the end of World War II. At least 40 thousand Russians from among the deportees, displaced persons and former prisoners of war remained to live in France.
The third wave took shape in the 70-80s. from citizens who left the Soviet Union - including representatives of the dissident movement. The fourth wave of emigration, which began in the 90s, attracted Russian contract workers and economic migrants. The appearance of two large categories of compatriots dates back to the same period - Russian women married to French citizens and children adopted by French adoptive parents.
Active integration into French society immigrants from Russia did not prevent them and their descendants from maintaining a close spiritual and cultural connection with their historical homeland, finding successful application their talents and skills in new conditions, to leave a noticeable mark not only in French, but also in world history and culture.
Currently in France there are many places that preserve the memory of the Russian diaspora. Among them are the following: “Russian House” and “Russian Cemetery” in Sainte-Genevieve-des-Bois. At the beginning of the 20th century, the English subject Dorothea Paget purchased an old mansion on the territory of the city of Sainte-Genevieve-des-Bois and, on the initiative of Princess V.K. Meshcherskaya (1876-1949), provided it for the use of elderly Russian emigrants. The shelter founded by Princess Meshcherskaya still exists today under the name “Russian House”.
The inhabitants of this shelter were buried in the municipal cemetery upon their death. Around these graves, the first of which appeared in 1927, the “Russian Cemetery” was formed, where many representatives of the Russian intelligentsia and clergy, statesmen and public figures who went down in the history of Russian and world culture are buried. These are writers I.A. Bunin, B.K. Zaitsev, A.M. Remizov, artists K.A. Korovin, S.K. Makovsky, D.S. Steletsky, Z.E. Serebryakova, K.A. Somov , philosophers Father Sergius Bulgakov, N.N. Lossky, dancers V.A. Trefilova, S.M. Lifar, M. Kshesinskaya, O. Preobrazhenskaya and others. There are also graves in the cemetery famous figures culture - immigrants from the Soviet Union: A.A. Tarkovsky, A.A. Galich, V.P. Nekrasov, R. Nureyev.
At the entrance to the cemetery in 1939, the Holy Assumption Church was erected according to the design of the architect Albert Benois (brother of the artist A.N. Benois).
The Russia House houses paintings and other works of art from the former Tsar's embassy in Paris. There is a large archive consisting of both the “House’s” own materials from the moment of its founding, as well as personal documents, diaries, photographs, historical and family heirlooms of pensioners who lived within its walls.
Currently, on the basis of the “Russian House”, a memorial and research center of Russian emigration is being created with a permanent exhibition, a room for specialists to work with archives, a reading room, where various events dedicated to Russian history and culture could also be held.
Turgenev Library in Paris. In 1875, on the initiative of the revolutionary G. Lopatin who lived in France and with the support of I. Turgenev, a Russian library was opened in Paris for students and political emigrants from Russia. Turgenev was personally involved in collecting the library’s book collections, donated many books from his own library, and received the latest publications from Russian publishers. In 1883, the library was named after Turgenev.
In the fall of 1940, the library's holdings were taken by the Nazis to an unknown destination and lost during the war. Only a few books bearing the library's stamp were subsequently found and transferred for storage to the I. Turgenev Museum in Orel. In 1959, the library's book collections were restored and formed the basis of the new Turgenev Library, which has more than 35 thousand volumes.
Turgenev in the circle of French writers (Daudet, Flaubert, Zola, Turgenev). Engraving from a drawing. IRLI (Pushkin House)
Museum in Bougival. Dacha of Ivan Turgenev. In 1874, I. Turgenev bought the Yaseni estate in the Parisian suburb of Bougival, where he built himself a small house-dacha in the Russian style opposite the Villa Directory, where the family of the famous French singer Pauline Viardot settled, with whom the writer had many years of friendship. Turgenev would live here until his death on September 3, 1883.
In "Ash Trees" Turgenev wrote his last novel"New" and "Prose Poems". In 1876, the writer completed the Russian translation of “The Temptation of Saint Anthony” by Gustave Flaubert, whom Turgenev considered his best friend among the French writers who were part of the so-called famous “Group of Five” (Flaubert, Turgenev, Daudet, Zola, Goncourt). Turgenev hosted Guy de Maupassant and Henry James, Russian writers Sologub and Saltykov-Shchedrin, artist Vereshchagin and other prominent representatives of literature and art in Bougival. Visited the writer famous composers Camille Saint-Saens and Gabriel Fauré.
In 1983, a museum was opened in the writer’s house, created by the Association “Friends of Ivan Turgenev, Pauline Viardot and Maria Malibran,” headed by A.Ya. Zvigilsky.
On the ground floor of the museum there is a permanent exhibition telling about the life of the writer in Russia and France, as well as about his immediate circle - the Viardot family, composers, artists and writers. The office and bedroom have been recreated on the second floor.
Museum of His Majesty's Life Guards Cossack Regiment. Museum founded in the Parisian suburb of Courbevoie by Major General I.N. Oprits, author fundamental work“His Majesty’s Life Guards Cossack Regiment during the years of the revolution and civil war. 1917-1920,” collected in his funds relics of the regiment, samples of uniforms and equipment, dishes, battalion paintings, officer’s household items, etc. The museum preserves unique military-patriotic material telling about the military history of Russia.
Created by Empress Catherine II in 1775 in St. Petersburg, the museum was evacuated to Turkey after the 1917 revolution, then to Serbia, and in 1929 it was transported to Paris.
Today the museum is a unique cultural and historical institution of its kind. None of the Russian regiments tsarist army It was not possible to preserve such a complete, integral collection of objects and documents related to its history. The museum has become a spiritual unifying center for former officers of the Life Guards Cossack regiment and their descendants, who created the association of the same name, through whose efforts the functioning of the museum is supported.
Conservatory named after S. Rachmaninov. In 1923-1924 A group of emigrant teachers from the Imperial Conservatories of Russia created the Russian Conservatory in Paris. Among its founders and honorary members were F. Chaliapin, A. Glazunov, A. Grechaninov, S. Rachmaninov. In 1932, the conservatory came under the tutelage of the newly created Russian Musical Society.
Besides music education The conservatory organizes concerts, creative conferences, and other cultural events, still remaining an island of Russian culture in France. The conservatory is headed by the chairman of the Russian Musical Society, Count P.P. Sheremetev.
IN brief information It is possible to mention only a small part of Russian compatriots who lived and worked in France, who contributed to French, Russian, and world culture.
Countess Sophia de Segur, née Rostopchina, daughter of the Moscow mayor F. Rostopchina, moved to France in 1817 with her father. Here she became a famous children's writer, on whose books more than one generation of French children grew up.
Sergei Diaghilev - at the beginning of the 20th century. brought Russian culture and art to the world level. In 1906 he organized an exhibition of Russian artists in Paris, in 1907 - a music salon, in 1908 - an exhibition of decorative arts, and from 1910 - the ballet “Russian Seasons”. Thanks to S. Diaghilev, first in France and then throughout the world, the names of Russian artists A. Benois, L. Bakst, M. Vrubel, D. Burliuk, M. Larionov, N. Goncharova, A. Yavlensky, composers N. Rimsky-Korsakov, S. Rachmaninov, A. Glazunov, I. Stravinsky, singer F. Chaliapin, outstanding ballet dancers V. Nijinsky, S. Lifar, A. Pavlova, T. Karsavina, I. Rubinstein.
Matilda Kshessinskaya - an outstanding ballerina, in 1926. founded the school of Russian ballet in Paris and was its permanent director for more than twenty years.
Igor Stravinsky is a composer who created his best works in Paris. One of the squares in Paris is named after him.
Fyodor Chaliapin is a world famous Russian singer who performed in the opera houses of Paris.
Konstantin Korovin is an artist, creator of sketches of costumes and scenery for dramatic productions, as well as opera and ballet performances. Participated in the design of the Russian pavilion at the World Exhibition in Paris in 1900. Awarded the Order Legion of Honor.
Marc Chagall is an outstanding artist who painted the dome of the Opera Garnier in Paris.
Ivan Bunin is a classic of Russian literature, Nobel Prize laureate.
Wassily Kandinsky, one of the founders of the new avant-garde movement in painting, lived and worked in France from 1933 to 1944.
Rudolf Nureyev is a ballet soloist and director of the ballet troupe of the Opera Garnier.
Andrei Tarkovsky is a world-famous film director, the author of many works included in the “golden fund” of cinema.
Russian emigrants fought in the ranks of the French Resistance. Among them are Elizaveta Yuryevna Kuzmina-Karavaeva (mother Maria, executed by the Nazis), T.A. Volkonskaya, Princess Z. Shakhovskaya (awarded the Order of the Legion of Honor for her activities during the war), S.B. Dolgova (organized a safehouse for the emigrant anti-fascist organization "Union of Russian Patriots"), A. Scriabin (by her husband Sarah Knuth, posthumously awarded the Military Cross and the Resistance Medal) and many others. Russians played a huge role in the anti-fascist movement in France, often acting as organizers of underground work, taking on the most difficult and responsible tasks.
Among their ranks was Princess Vera Obolenskaya, the daughter of the Baku vice-governor, state councilor Apollo Makarov, who came to France at the age of nine in 1920 with her parents. In 1937, she married Prince Nikolai Alexandrovich Obolensky, the son of the former mayor of Petrograd.
From the very beginning of the occupation of France by the Nazis, V. Obolenskaya became a participant in the Resistance movement, was the general secretary of the French underground “Civil and military organization", founder of the anti-Nazi organization "Union of Russian Patriots", helped Soviet and British prisoners of war in collaboration with the Free French partisans.
In December 1943 she was arrested by the Gestapo. She was subjected to numerous interrogations and torture for nine months. Without revealing any of the secrets of the underground and without betraying any of her comrades, she was executed on August 4, 1944.
In 1958, V. Obolenskaya was posthumously awarded by the French government the Military Cross, the Order of the Legion of Honor, and the Resistance Medal. In 1965 it was noted Soviet Order Patriotic War 1st degree.
In November 2000, Russian President Vladimir Putin visited the Russian cemetery in Sainte-Genevieve-des-Bois near Paris. There he laid wreaths at the graves of the Russian heroine of the Resistance movement against the Nazi occupiers, Vika Obolenskaya, and the great Russian writer Ivan Bunin. The President stopped in front of the graves of those who were called White Guards, and then said: “We are children of one mother - Russia, and the time has come for us to unite.”
In November 2000, Russian President Vladimir Putin visited the Russian cemetery in Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois near Paris.
Among the compatriots who left a noticeable mark on the history of France, the following can also be noted.
Zinovy Peshkov - the elder brother of the Bolshevik Ya. Sverdlov, the adopted son of M. Gorky (Peshkov), took part in the First World War in the ranks Foreign Legion French army. In 1915 he was seriously wounded and suffered amputation of his right arm. In 1916 he returned to the ranks of the Legion. He took part in many French military operations and was awarded military orders. He rose to the rank of general, was the personal secretary of Charles de Gaulle during the Second World War, and after the war - the ambassador of France.
Maurice Druon - writer, member of the French Resistance movement, French Minister of Culture, Member of Parliament, Life Secretary French Academy, recipient of numerous French and foreign state awards, winner of prestigious literary prizes. Maurice Druon - “the most Russian of French writers” - said that he is an example of Franco-Russian kinship and is happy about it, and cannot imagine himself without France and without Russia. Our compatriot Anna Marley created, together with Maurice Druon, the famous “Song of the Partisans”.
In 1884, on the initiative Russian zoologist Alexey Korotnev in Villefranche-sur-Mer created the “Franco-Russian Zoological Station” to study marine flora and fauna. Scientific cooperation in this area between the two countries continued until 1932, when the laboratory was transferred to the hands of the French state. Today the station is run by the Parisian Institute Pierre and Marie Curie. One of the vessels of the National Center for Scientific Research is named after Korotnev.
Of the contemporary cultural figures living in France who come from Russia or have Russian roots, the following should be noted: Oscar Rabin, Eric Bulatov, Oleg Tselkov, Mikhail Shemyakin - artists; Anatoly Gladilin, Andrey Makin - writers; Robert Hossein - actor, director, screenwriter, playwright. Hossein has starred in dozens of films in France, and is the author of numerous theatrical productions and film scripts. Commander of the Legion of Honor.
Hélène Carrère d'Encausse is a historian, life secretary of the French Academy, author of numerous books and publications on the history of Russia. She was awarded the Grand Cross of the Legion of Honor, the national Order of Merit, and numerous foreign awards.
Prince Alexander Alexandrovich Trubetskoy was born on March 14, 1947 in Paris, into a family of Russian emigrants. Father - Prince Trubetskoy Alexander Evgenievich (1892-1968). Mother - Princess Golitsyna Alexandra Mikhailovna (1900-1991). Prince Alexander Trubetskoy always openly says that he is a patriot of Russia. And she does everything she can to help preserve its historical past, cultural and spiritual heritage.
On the occasion of the 120th anniversary of the liberation of Bulgaria during the Russian-Turkish War of 1877-1878, it was planned to publish a book by V.A. Zolotarev, head of the Institute of Military History of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation. To prepare this book, Prince A.A. Trubetskoy handed over unpublished material - the memoirs of an officer of the Life Guards Horse Grenadier Regiment who participated in this war.
During the celebration of the 200th anniversary of the transition of A.V. The prince led Suvorov through the Alps along the path of the great Russian commander to members of the Russian youth organization “Vityazi” living in Paris. In addition, thanks to the sponsorship of A.A. Trubetskoy, the Military Historical Institute of Switzerland organized the Suvorov Congress to celebrate the 200th anniversary: and also in the fall of 2000, the book “Under the Russian St. Andrew’s Flag” was published, dedicated to the 200th anniversary of the completion of the Mediterranean campaign of the Ushakov squadron. Prince A.A. Trubetskoy supported the team of the Russian yacht "Maxiclass", which participated in races in the Mediterranean Sea and around Europe. Alexander Trubetskoy helped organize the exhibition and publish the album of the artist Kadol. This war artist is former officer Napoleonic army created a series of wonderful watercolors of views of Moscow in 1820. Nowadays the watercolors belong to the Institute of the History of the French Army and were brought to Moscow in 1999 for an exhibition at the Moscow Museum.
A significant role in preserving Russian culture among emigrants was played by their caring attitude towards native language. With the increase in recent years in the number of our compatriots in France, including the number of mixed families and bilingual children, private schools are being actively created additional education(ShDO), aiming to teach children the Russian language.
Schools, as a rule, operate on the basis of associations of compatriots. IN major cities In France, SDOs have taken shape as independent structures, where classes with Russian-speaking children are the main activity, in more small towns- these are clubs or creative workshops under cultural associations of a broader profile.
Currently in France there are 50 kindergartens and children's centers, which are regularly attended by about 2,000 children. There are also two in Paris parochial schools, where about 150 children study.
According to estimates by the Coordination Council of Compatriots, SDOs cover about 30% of Russian-speaking children. As a rule, training begins at 3 years of age. After 12-13 years of age, the most motivated children attend Russian language lessons. However, the trend in recent years is that the number of older students in schools is constantly growing. Classes are held on Wednesdays and Saturdays. As a rule, children come to classes for 3-4 hours one day a week.
In all schools, classes are taught exclusively by native Russian speakers. In large schools these are professionals with diplomas Russian universities. However, in general there is a shortage of certified specialists in preschool education and teachers primary classes. Most often, among the candidates for the post of teacher there are philologists or teachers of English/French languages.
Dmitry Borisovich Koshko is a member of the World Coordination Council of Russian Compatriots Living Abroad, Chairman of the Coordination Council of Russian Compatriots in France, President of the France-Urals Association. Philologist, journalist, teacher, public figure. In 1993 he organized the “France-Ural” society, one of the publishers in Paris of the newspaper “Lettres d’Oural” (1993-1998). Organized the collection of charitable assistance in favor of hospitals in Kamensk-Uralsky and a number of Ural social institutions. Makes documentary journalistic films. Co-founder of the Union of Russophones of France (2006). He was a member of the National Organization of Knights (NOV).
Dmitry Borisovich is the great-grandson of A.F. Koshko (born in 1867 in the Minsk province, died in 1928 in Paris) - a Russian criminologist, head of the Moscow detective police, later in charge of the entire criminal investigation of the Russian Empire, and an exiled memoirist. At the beginning of the twentieth century, Arkady Koshko was a legendary person. It was he who created the first uniquely accurate criminal file in Russia and developed a special personal identification system, which was then adopted by Scotland Yard.
Thank youDepartment for work with compatriots of the Russian Foreign Ministryfor the materials provided
The former coach of the Croatian national team emphasized the African roots of the French national team players. “Sokker.ru” understands the issue that excites minds.
Stimac does not know the biographies of legends at all
Horvat listed the countries where the ancestors of the French national team players were from, and also asked: “Who will we play with?” He only remembered Africa, and the Spaniard Hernandez and the German Portuguese Griezmann were not on his list. The Croatian coach is a layman in the matter. Tiny mononational countries rarely make it to the finals and have never won such battles. But the greatest football players on the planet rarely played for the teams where their immediate ancestors were from. In any top 10 there will be few Cruyffs with grandparents strictly from the same country.
They previously tried to register Johan as a Jew, but they confused him because of his wife with relatives in Israel and the nickname of Ajax fans. However, Jews throughout Europe took local surnames - like Vysotsky’s ancestors, for example, and the Germans also lived in Holland for a long time. Cruyff could easily have been a little German or Jewish. But Maradona is definitely a Spanish-Italian Croat. Yes, Croatian! Diego is mostly Galician, but his grandmother's maiden name is Kariolic. My great-grandfather’s name was Matej and he was born in Croatia.
And Lionel is almost 100% Italian; his ancestor with the surname Messi moved to Argentina in 1893. Only his great-great-grandmother is from Catalonia, although he could play for Spain, being Argentine by birth and Italian by origin. And the great Di Stefano, an Italian-Argentine, played for Spain. Cristiano Ronaldo has a great-great-grandmother from Cape Verde. There is no exact information that she was black (suddenly the Portuguese woman was brought to Africa), but both Cristiano and his son are dark-skinned guys with dark hair.
It’s clear about Eusebio - he was born in Mozambique. Platini is a purebred Italian, father Aldo and mother Anna from the peninsula. France star Raymond Cop real name Kopashevsky, Zidane - Algerian Arab. What about France? Gheorghe Hadji turned out to be Macedonian by origin, and his surname is an Arabic word. Puskás is actually Purzeld, the greatest Hungarian of football, Ferenc is a Danube German by ancestry.
Naturalization in teams - old lady
Even according to the new Russian laws, naturalization in national teams has long been retired! Mussolini, in order for Italy to take the first cup, naturalized the Argentines Dimaria, Guaita, Monti and Orsi, as well as the Brazilian Gaurisi. Five people at a time when there were no substitutions in football. Three played in the final, one scored. And immediately after the 2006 final, the hair of “oriondi” Camoranesi was cut off; the Argentinean Mauro lost a bet to his Italian teammates.
And the champion Uruguayans are the first in the history of the tournament, where from? Mostly Italians and Spaniards, but the main star of world football in 1930 was an African. Jose Andrade was born after an affair between an Argentinean mother and an African sorcerer, who managed to conceive a child at the age of 97. The shaman turned out to be a runaway slave from Brazil. And when Uruguay beat the hosts of the tournament in Rio in 1950, the winning captain was the Brazilian Varela, and Victor Andrade, Jose’s nephew, also black, played nearby.
There is nothing new in the racial diversity of the world of national teams and there never will be. After all, the indigenous Charrua Indians cannot play for Uruguay; they were exterminated by the colonialists. Although we're not just talking about South America. Take the first champion Germany. The goalkeeper there was Anton Turek - a strictly German name and surname. Anton's replacement was goalkeeper Kwiatkowski, and Posipal, a Romanian, played in defense. But this was still a team with former soldiers Wehrmacht on the field.
The Albanian Mustafi, the Turkish Ozil or the Ghanaian Boateng did not reinvent the wheel in 2014. The first champion Germany also played with the children of immigrants. It’s just that back then the Germans came from poor European countries, but in the 21st century, world champions with Polish roots, Podolski and Klose, no longer surprise anyone. How no one was surprised by the Irish and Jew at the core of England at the victorious World Cup 66. But now they remembered the race, attributing to France “the first victory of Africa” at the world championships.
African teams have been winning the World Cup for a long time
Mbappe is right, the skin color and roots of European football players are remembered only in case of failure. They saw Ozil as a Turk after his failure in Russia. After the defeat in the Euro 2016 final, the French wrote in the comments about Sissoko and company. They couldn’t help but write, because the right-wing populist Le Pen won a third of the votes in the second round in the presidential elections last year.
Has everyone forgotten the 1998 France squad? Marcel Desailly's real name is Odenke Abbey, a native of the capital of Ghana. Without Thuram's goals they would not have passed Croatia in 1998. Lilian was born in the Caribbean. Karambe - on an island in Pacific Ocean, completely on the other side of the world. The homeland of Zidane's ancestors is North Africa, Jorge Trezeguet, David's father, was an Argentinean by passport.
Henri is Antilean, with a father from Guadeloupe and a mother from Martinique. Although Thierry himself was born in a slum in France. Djorkaeff and Boghossian are world champions with Armenian blood, although not only Armenian. Patrick Vieira was born in Senegal, a native of Cape Verde. Deschamps and Lizarazu are Basques. Lama and Diomedes are two more black world champions. There were a lot of black guys on Aimé Jacquet's team.
And in that French team there was much more people, born outside Europe than as part of Deschamps, who is of Spanish origin! But France 1998 was the same team of the world as France 2018. The result of globalization, poor newcomers not only master blue-collar jobs that the indigenous people disdain, not only go into crime, but also play great football while the indigenous people sit with gamepads in their hands.
Origin is not an argument for teams
In the world of prefabs, roots have never been decisive. It’s strange to hear specifically about the skin color of the French. Africans - indigenous people Brazil? But it was the grandchildren of slaves brought to the plantations of white colonialists from Europe who won the first World Cup for Brazil and four more. Didi was called the "Ethiopian prince". And Pele's great-grandparents were slaves from Africa, like the Wawa and others.
In Brazil, slavery was abolished in 1888, thirty-odd years later than in the Russian Empire and the United States. Do you know where Pele's ancestors are from? Most likely from Angola. Edson is Angolan by blood. But maybe a little Nigerian. And Garrincha’s relatives were Indians from the Fulnio tribe, but there were also African roots. Of the 11 people in Brazil's squad for the final with Sweden in 1958, at least five players with African ancestry.
Do you know why Pele's last name is Nascimento? The owner of the plantation where his great-grandfathers were slaves was called that. The official King of Football is the grandson of slaves. And in 1962, even Pele’s injury did not prevent “Team Africa” from becoming world champions once again; the forward was also replaced by a black guy. In 2002, everyone has African roots, with the possible exception of the goalkeeper. But Dida, Mbappe’s “dad,” was sitting on the bench.
Therefore, it is ridiculous to single out France. Brazil 1970 and 2002 had no less African grandchildren on the field. The continent of immigrants gave nine championship teams out of twenty-one! How to rewind history? How can Kante cancel the fact of his birth in Paris? Ngolo to Mali has the same weak attitude, like Alexander Sergeevich from Moscow, who played for five capital clubs, to Azerbaijan. Alexander Sergeevich’s last name is not Pushkin, but Samedov.
Almost everyone on the French team is from Europe
Of the new world champions, only Umtiti and Mandanda. The rest are French by place of birth, not only by passport. No worse than the grandchildren of Africans of the generations of Pele, Romario or Ronaldo! Did Stimac even watch the Euro 2016 final? Of the 22 people in the core, at least 12 had African grandparents. And those who were not were not born in Portugal, for which they played, but in France - like Guerreiro and Adrien Silva, or Germany - like Soares.
The decisive goal at Euro 2016 was scored by the Lokomotiv forward, who was born in Guinea-Bissau, like Danilo Pereira. Nani was found in Cape Verde, Joao Mario and Eliseu were from the same place. William Carvalho was born in Angola, Sanches' parents are from Sao Tome and Principe, but without his unexpected breakthrough Poland and Croatia might not have passed. What are we talking about here? Georgians became European champions faster than the Germans, Spaniards, Italians and French - as part of the USSR team in 1960!
Those who call this particular French team a unique “African team” emphasize their complete ignorance of the subject. The indication of origin does not fit well with the classics of national team football, because the first, second and third world champions included children of immigrants. And the fourth had as many African roots as European ones. In the history of football, rare world champions have managed to manage with one nationality. Even Spain has David Silva and his mother from Japan in their entry.
Pele can be Angolan. Zidane is Algerian by blood. Maradona is Spanish and a little bit Croatian. Platini and Messi are Italians, but they play for completely different teams. What about the new world champions from France? “Team Africa” won the World Cup for the first time in 1958, although there were also black champions in 1930 and 1950. The second time was in 1962, the third in 1970, the fourth in 1994, the fifth in 1998, the sixth in 2002, and the seventh now.
Stimac's bewilderment and strange reviews the topic has not been relevant for sixty years, or even more. A parent is not the one who shared genes, but the one who raised. Football France has trained each of the 23 world champions. Brazil has grown five trains. Both teams in equally African national teams, to use Štimac's vague hint.
The trend is sixty years old, and stupid comments are a couple of days old. The World Championships were invented for effort, not for drawing boundaries, in this sense, America was discovered in football long before Stimac.
