The Russian Community

The Russian community in Prague is in some ways subject to over-generalization. For a start, there is a tendency to group all people from the former Soviet Union as Russians – something which upsets both Russians and other nationalities. Speaking Russian doesn’t necessarily mean that a person is Russian. They could be Tajikstani, Kazakstani or Moldovian – just to name some of the nationalities of Russian speakers I’ve met here. Even if a person identifies as a Russian national, it is a simplification to think that they are one uniform group of people. Instead, they are cut across by many interests, ambitions, dreams, and concerns.

Differences of background always color any community, and historically, the Russian community was no different. Russians who came here in large numbers in the twenties to escape the Bolshevik Revolution and subsequent civil war were a mixed group, including peasants, professionals, intellectuals, and aristocrats – or people who straddled these divides.

That day never arrived, but in its time it attracted a number of people; not only students but thinkers and their families, including one Elena Nabokov, mother of the famous writer Vladimir Nabokov. Another famous Russian writer with even stronger ties to Prague was the poet Marina Tsvetaeva, who lived here from 1922 to 1925. She even composed a poem about the Czech lands. Nabokov’s mother and Tsvetaeva were just two of the estimated 25,000 Russian émigrés who lived in Czechoslovakia in the twenties. This number steadily declined as the program lost funding due to acknowledgment the Bolsheviks were not giving up power. It was stopped all together in 1934, when Czechoslovakia had to officially recognize the USSR upon the Soviet Union’s entry into the League of Nations that year.

Karlovy Vary has become strongly associated with the Russian community in the Czech Republic. The Karlovy Vary region had over 1,000 Russian residents, but it was not the most numerous. After Prague, Central Bohemia had the next largest. Perhaps the connection is also due to the popularity of Karlovy Vary with Russian tourists.

According to Oleg Alborov, president of the Coordination Council of Russian Compatriots, the Russian people here work in a wide variety of fields. These include education, a range of cultural activities, publications, medicine, production, law and accounting, to name a few.

“Every Friday a group meets. They don’t have a special topic. What unites them is that they’re expats and they’re here and this is a chance for them to get together and talk,” she said. The venue  changes depending on convenience or simply the desire to check out new places. Katerina said that she didn’t think there was one place where all the Russian expats congregated in Prague.

However, she saw certain differences between the newer expats, like herself, and the established communities who have been here for twenty years. She said, “[The older community] have their small businesses. They communicate with the same people very often when I am there, and – well – I’m foreign.”

In contrast, she thinks the newer community is traveling around more while maintaining connections with Russia. She hastened to add, “They feel comfortable and that’s fine. Probably I wouldn’t feel comfortable because I’m a different person.”

Kira Malysheva, a PR director, offered another perspective on socializing in the community. She admitted to spending most of her time with Russian friends. She adds, however, “It’s not because I prefer it that way, I think that in general Russians tend to find each other and because we have a common culture, we stick together.” She also reiterated Katrina’s opinion that there was no special place just for Russian expats. “In general, I would not say that Russians separate themselves much from the rest of the expats and Czechs.”

Cultural activities with friends and family were part of the social life of Maria, a Russian language teacher, but in some ways her response was similar to the ones above. “I have a family, acquaintances and colleagues. We go to the theater and concert. From time to time we share birthdays together. I don’t go anywhere special.”

Marta (not her real name), an office worker with an insurance firm, said she preferred to spend most of her time with her Czech friends. One reason was to improve her Czech language skills. In general, she doesn’t socialize much because of her job. “Work, home, work, home, that is my day,” she said.

The two women are also here for different reasons. Kira was here to be in a European city but be close to home. “Prague is perfect because it is central, has plenty of opportunities and is just a beautiful city to live in,” she said. Marta on the other hand wanted to be close to her daughter who studies at university here. Yet, it’s clear from her Czech language skills that she’s done a lot to assimilate.

Education was a more explicit reason in the case of Irina, a shopkeeper working in Prague. She said she came to the Czech Republic to give her daughter a European education.

Irina’s daughter finds the situation at school difficult. However, Irina sees this as much to do with her daughter’s performance at school. She said, “My daughter feels a lot of pressure. She’s clever, and her classmates don’t like her.”

For themselves, both women described their relationships with Czech people as good. Katerina was even more positive. “People I meet are friendly. They are more or less open. They are nice, nice to me. It’s about how you treat people. If you’re nice and friendly, they’re nice in return.” Having said that, she acknowledged how the past could affect the relationship between Czechs and Russians.

Maria also described her relationship with Czech people as “normal” and said that, though she couldn’t speak for everyone, “the group of people around her think similarly.”

A few special days are Liberation Day, May 9, when Russians go to place flowers on the graves of soldiers killed in the Second World War. The other important holidays are Easter and Christmas, which most Russians celebrate in accordance with the Orthodox calendar. For younger people, there are a variety of social events like Russian-themed club nights or social activities for students.

Of course, to get to know Russian culture more you should seek some first-hand experience. There are a number of schools teaching Russian in Prague. Catherine said about her own establishment that, at the moment, the students learning Russian were American. So in one small, way the two expat communities are also coming together.

As ever, we’d like to hear your comments.

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