Afro-Russian
Encyclopedia
Afro-Russians are Russians
of Black African
descent, including Black people who have settled in Russia
and their mixed-race children. The Metis Foundation estimates that there are about 40,000 mixed-race Russians.
who came as diplomats of the Abyssinian Empire, some of them being originally purchased as slaves and transported to the Crimea
by Ottoman Turkish traders in the 1670s as gifts of diplomatic friendship from Absyinnia (as Ethiopia was otherwise known) to the Russians. They were subsequently turned into hired servants by the Tsarist Russian imperial family, the Romanov
s. In fact, the Afro-Russian assistants in the Romanov estates rose in prominence, and often received an education. Pushkin's great-grandfather, Abram Petrovich Gannibal
(1696–1781), was a black imperial page, originally of a chiefly
family in his native Africa
, that was raised by Emperor Peter the Great himself. He is supposed to have written literature that Peter enjoyed reading, and eventually died a nobleman of Russia
.
under the auspices of the Comintern
. They were chiefly specialists in the spheres of industrial production and agriculture. The technical equipment, modest means, and professional experience brought by them were an appreciable contribution to economic development of a new state. Among them were Oliver John Golden and his wife Bertha (he brought with him a group of 16 Afro-American experts in the cultivation of cotton), well-known African-American poet Langston Hughes
with a group of 22 filmmakers, Paul Robeson
with his family and many others. Some of them stayed in Russia and their descendants still live there.
, the Soviet Union offered scholarships to young people from these nations. About 400,000 Africans studied in the former Soviet Union between the late 1950s and 1990. The first significant arrival of Africans was for the 6th World Festival of Youth and Students
held in Moscow in 1957. Many Africans also attended the Patrice Lumumba University
. Hence coloquial terms for Afro-Russians born in the 1950s and 1960s are "Children of the Festival" (ru) or "Children of Lumumba". Some of these children subsequently returned to their African parents' countries or moved on to Western Europe or in the case of Jewish Afro-Russians to Israel.
s playing for Russian sports teams.
Russians
The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....
of Black African
Black people
The term black people is used in systems of racial classification for humans of a dark skinned phenotype, relative to other racial groups.Different societies apply different criteria regarding who is classified as "black", and often social variables such as class, socio-economic status also plays a...
descent, including Black people who have settled in Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
and their mixed-race children. The Metis Foundation estimates that there are about 40,000 mixed-race Russians.
First African arrivals
It is thought that the first Afro-Russians were a group of 20 men from EthiopiaEthiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
who came as diplomats of the Abyssinian Empire, some of them being originally purchased as slaves and transported to the Crimea
Crimea
Crimea , or the Autonomous Republic of Crimea , is a sub-national unit, an autonomous republic, of Ukraine. It is located on the northern coast of the Black Sea, occupying a peninsula of the same name...
by Ottoman Turkish traders in the 1670s as gifts of diplomatic friendship from Absyinnia (as Ethiopia was otherwise known) to the Russians. They were subsequently turned into hired servants by the Tsarist Russian imperial family, the Romanov
Romanov
The House of Romanov was the second and last imperial dynasty to rule over Russia, reigning from 1613 until the February Revolution abolished the crown in 1917...
s. In fact, the Afro-Russian assistants in the Romanov estates rose in prominence, and often received an education. Pushkin's great-grandfather, Abram Petrovich Gannibal
Abram Petrovich Gannibal
Major-General Abram Petrovich Gannibal, also Hannibal or Ganibal or Ibrahim Hannibal or Abram Petrov , was brought to Russia as a gift for Peter the Great and became major-general, military engineer, governor of Reval and nobleman of the Russian Empire...
(1696–1781), was a black imperial page, originally of a chiefly
Tribal chief
A tribal chief is the leader of a tribal society or chiefdom. Tribal societies with social stratification under a single leader emerged in the Neolithic period out of earlier tribal structures with little stratification, and they remained prevalent throughout the Iron Age.In the case of ...
family in his native Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
, that was raised by Emperor Peter the Great himself. He is supposed to have written literature that Peter enjoyed reading, and eventually died a nobleman of Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
.
Early Soviet period
After the revolution several Black African and mixed-race families came to the Soviet UnionSoviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
under the auspices of the Comintern
Comintern
The Communist International, abbreviated as Comintern, also known as the Third International, was an international communist organization initiated in Moscow during March 1919...
. They were chiefly specialists in the spheres of industrial production and agriculture. The technical equipment, modest means, and professional experience brought by them were an appreciable contribution to economic development of a new state. Among them were Oliver John Golden and his wife Bertha (he brought with him a group of 16 Afro-American experts in the cultivation of cotton), well-known African-American poet Langston Hughes
Langston Hughes
James Mercer Langston Hughes was an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist. He was one of the earliest innovators of the then-new literary art form jazz poetry. Hughes is best known for his work during the Harlem Renaissance...
with a group of 22 filmmakers, Paul Robeson
Paul Robeson
Paul Leroy Robeson was an American concert singer , recording artist, actor, athlete, scholar who was an advocate for the Civil Rights Movement in the first half of the twentieth century...
with his family and many others. Some of them stayed in Russia and their descendants still live there.
Post War, The Festival Children
When African nations gained independence from colonialismDecolonization of Africa
The decolonization of Africa followed World War II as colonized peoples agitated for independence and colonial powers withdrew their administrators from Africa.-Background:...
, the Soviet Union offered scholarships to young people from these nations. About 400,000 Africans studied in the former Soviet Union between the late 1950s and 1990. The first significant arrival of Africans was for the 6th World Festival of Youth and Students
6th World Festival of Youth and Students
The 6th World Festival of Youth and Students was opened on 28 July 1957, in Moscow, Soviet Union. The festival attracted 34,000 people from 130 countries. This became possible after the bold political changes initiated by Nikita Khrushchev...
held in Moscow in 1957. Many Africans also attended the Patrice Lumumba University
Peoples' Friendship University of Russia
The Peoples' Friendship University of Russia is an educational and research institution located in the South of Moscow and is ranked by the Ministry of Education of Russia as the country's third-best university after Moscow State University and Saint Petersburg State University...
. Hence coloquial terms for Afro-Russians born in the 1950s and 1960s are "Children of the Festival" (ru) or "Children of Lumumba". Some of these children subsequently returned to their African parents' countries or moved on to Western Europe or in the case of Jewish Afro-Russians to Israel.
Post Soviet period
After the collapse of the Soviet Union racism and xenophobic sentiments have increased in the modern Russian state, particularly, due to economic hardship, mass immigration and falling birth rates amongst Slavic Russians. Afro-Russians are subjected to threats and violence on the part of ultra-nationalists and white power skinheads. After the 1990s, there has also been new residents including sports people of Black African descent including African Americans and Afro-BrazilianAfro-Brazilian
In Brazil, the term "preto" is one of the five categories used by the Brazilian Census, along with "branco" , "pardo" , "amarelo" and "indígena"...
s playing for Russian sports teams.
Prominent Afro-Russians
- Aleksandr AlumonaAleksandr AlumonaAleksandr Alumona , is a Russian footballer of Nigerian ethnic origin who plays for Belarusian club FC Shakhtyor Soligorsk in the Belarusian Premier League...
- (Nigerian father), footballer - Cirilo Tadeus Cardozo FilhoCirilo (futsal player)Cirilo Tadeus Cardozo Filho, aka Cirilo is a Russian futsal player of Brazilian origin. He is a member of the Russian national futsal team.-Honours:* Russian Futsal Super League champion : 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008...
- (Brazilian born), futsal player - Joaquim CrimaJoaquim CrimaJoaquim Crima, , a Guinea-Bissauan-born farmer, is a former independent candidate in the 2009 Srednyaya Akhtuba election. as the first black man to run for head of the district, Crima received the nickname, "the Russian Obama"...
- (born in Guinea Bissau), farmer and politician - Allan DugbleiAllan DugbleiAllan Dzhoakimovich Dugblei is a Russian professional football player. In 2009, he played for FC Nara-ShBFR Naro-Fominsk.-Personal life:His mother is Russian and father is from Ghana. As a child, he lived in Africa for several years.-External links:*...
- (Ghanaian father), footballer - Abram GannibalAbram Petrovich GannibalMajor-General Abram Petrovich Gannibal, also Hannibal or Ganibal or Ibrahim Hannibal or Abram Petrov , was brought to Russia as a gift for Peter the Great and became major-general, military engineer, governor of Reval and nobleman of the Russian Empire...
- (born in eastern Africa, Central Ethiopia), statesman, military leader, politician - Ivan GannibalIvan GannibalIvan Abramovich Gannibal was a Russian military leader and eminent Russian of African origin...
- (son of Abram Gannibal), military leader - Alice EdunAlice EdunAlice Edun is a singer who is of Nigerian-Russian descent but makes her home in Milan, Italy. Her musical fortes are in the area of dance and gospel...
- (Nigerian father), singer - Nkeirouka Ezekh - (Nigerian father), Olympic curlerCurlingCurling is a sport in which players slide stones across a sheet of ice towards a target area. It is related to bowls, boule and shuffleboard. Two teams, each of four players, take turns sliding heavy, polished granite stones, also called "rocks", across the ice curling sheet towards the house, a...
- Jon Robert HoldenJon Robert HoldenJon Robert "J.R." Holden is a retired American Russian professional basketball player. The Russian spelling of his name in Latin form is Dzhon-Robert Kholdin. He played NCAA Division I college basketball at Bucknell University from 1994-98...
- (African American and dual Russian and American citizen), basketball player - Victor Keyru - (Sierra Leonean father), basketball player
- Yelena KhangaYelena KhangaYelena Khanga was born in 1961 and raised in Moscow, USSR, and came to the United States in 1990 to write Soul to Soul: The Story of a Black Russian American Family: 1865 - 1992...
(Zanzibari father, African-American grandfather), journalist and TV anchor - Sergei Fanuelovich Kotov - (orphan of Ghanaian father and Russian mother), Ghanaian tribal king
- Stanislav LebambaStanislav LebambaStanislav Marselyevich Lebamba is a Russian professional football player. Currently, he plays in the Russian First Division for FC KAMAZ Naberezhnye Chelny. His father is from Congo and his mother Russian.-External links:* -References:...
- (father from Congo), footballer - Cyrille MakandaCyrille MakandaCirill Makanda-Etogo is a Cameroonian-Russian professional basketball shooting guard currently with APOEL B.C. of Cyprus Basketball Division 1. Throughout his ten year professional career, he has played for four teams in Russia, plus teams in Germany and France before joining APOEL B.C...
- (Camerounian father), basketball player - Avua-Siav Leo NelsonAvua-Siav Leo NelsonAvua-Siav Leo Tomovich Nelson or simply Leo Nelson is a Russian professional footballer, he plays for FC Ryazan.-International career:He was the first player of African descent to represent Russia internationally on any level .-References:...
- (Ghanaian father), footballer - Peter OdemwingiePeter OdemwingiePeter Osaze Odemwingie is a footballer who plays as a winger or forward for Premier League side West Bromwich Albion. His name, Osaze, means "God chooses "....
- (Nigerian father), footballer - Adessoye OyewoleAdessoye OyewoleAdessoye Oyetundzhievich Oyewole is a Russian football defender of Nigerian heritage. He plays as a defensive midfielder or a central defender. He plays for FC Ural Sverdlovsk Oblast.-External links:**...
- (Nigerian father), footballer - James Lloydovich PattersonJames Lloydovich PattersonJames Lloydovich Patterson is a Russian writer and child actor of African American descent.-Biography:James Lloydovich Patterson was born in Moscow on July 17, 1933, the eldest of three children born to an African American immigrant to the Soviet Union and his Russian wife...
, Russian born African American actor - Alexander Pushkin - (great-grandson of Abram Gannibal), poet and writer
- Jean SagboJean SagboJean Gregoire Sagbo is a Benin-born Russian real estate agent and politician. His position is councilor of Novozavidovo. Sagbo is the first Russian of African descent, or Afro-Russian, to have been elected in the Russian Federation. He has been referred to as "Russia's Obama". Sagbo immigrated to...
- (Benin born naturalized Russian), elected councilman of the town of Novozavidovo - Jerry-Christian TchuisséJerry-Christian TchuisséJerry-Christian Tchuissé is a retired Cameroonian football fullback, who holds Russian citizenship. He used to play for Chernomorets Novorossiysk, Spartak Moscow, FC Moscow, FC Terek Grozny and FC Vityaz Podolsk.- Club career :...
- (Camerounian born), footballer - Emiliya Turey - (Sierra Leonean father) handball player
- Devis UkoDevis UkoDevis Fredovich Uko is a Russian football forward. Currently, he plays for FC Pskov-747 Pskov of Russian Second Division.-Career:Uko was born in Leningrad to a Russian mother and a Nigerian father, making his first steps in football in Pskov where he also has relatives...
- (Nigerian father), footballer
External links
- Funmetis a Foundation for Afro-Russian Children Article "Afro-Russians" from Rossiyskaya GazetaRossiyskaya GazetaRossiyskaya Gazeta is a Russian government daily newspaper of record which publishes the official decrees, statements and documents of state bodies...
Article "Black Man" from Online Vremya