№1 | October 2016

REDISCOVERING BI L ATE RAL RE LATIONS THROUGH HISTORY

FORT ROSS: FORMER COLONY BRINGS RUSSIAN HISTORY TO LIFE ON THE CALIFORNIA COAST P. 4

SILICON VALLEY POSES CHALLENGES FOR RUSSIAN VENTURE CAPITALISTS P. 24

RUSSIANS IN HOLLYWOOD: FROM SILENT FILM STARS TO STANISLAVSKY P. 28

MOST RELEVANT TOPICS: Russia’s national identity Russia’s foreign policy outlook Best Russian studies programs Russia in the Middle East The magnetic push and pull of the Russian economy Terrorism

G E T F U L L D I G I TA L A C C E S S T O O V E R 4 0 A N A LY T I C A L R E P O RT S w w w. r u s s i a - d i r e c t . o r g / s u b s c r i b e

Pavel Koshkin Editor-in-Chief Russia Direct Ɖ͘ŬoshŬinΛrussia-direct͘orŐ

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On the campus of Moscow State University stands a statue of American poet Walt Whitman. The caption on its base reads: “You Russians and we Americans! ... so far apart from each other, so seemingly different, and yet... in ways that are most important, our countries are so alike.” Whitman’s words are a good reminder that historically the United States and Russia have had more similarities than differences — including vast territories, diverse geography and climate zones and a culture that values the arts and history. These commonalities are what we try to convey in this publication “U.S.-Russia Shared Frontiers.” We seek to highlight the role Russia has played in U.S. history, focusing on past and current cooperation between Russians and Americans. Our key goal is to alleviate the tensions between the two countries and foster future collaboration by reminding citizens of both countries about their shared historical legacy. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill once said: “Russia is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.” For many Russians, the U.S. is the same kind of puzzle. For example, few Russians know about Fort Ross, the 19th-century Russian settlement in California. Our great hope is that by spreading awareness about the history we all share, we can encourage cooperation in this time of severe challenges in bilateral relations. This edition of “U.S.-Russia Shared Frontiers” focuses on Russia’s impact on California. The content, written by journalists, historians, academics and experts from the U.S. and Russia, includes stories about Russians in the early days of Hollywood, Russian and American joint efforts on environmental conservation in the Pacific, Russians working in Silicon Valley and exchange programs between Russian and American students — particularly the Stanford U.S.-Russia Forum (SURF). The publication also highlights Fort Ross and the role it played in early California. The fort is the topic of our cover story, and the publication features a long-ranging interview with Fort Ross Conservancy CEO Sarah Sweedler. Our next issue will cover the shared history of the U.S. and Russia in Alaska (to commemorate the 150th anniversary of its purchase in 2017), and in the future we plan to take an in-depth look at Russians in Hawaii and on the East Coast. Dear reader, I hope you will enjoy taking this exciting trip with us. Please feel free to reach out with any questions or comments.

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Greetings from Russia’s Ambassador to the United States Sergei Kislyak

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Greetings from Transneft CEO Nikolai P. Tokarev

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Fort Ross: Symbol of RussianAmerican Friendship

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Interview with Sarah Sweedler, CEO of Fort Ross Conservancy

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Ties to Fort Ross in unexpected places

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Fort Ross through the eyes of Russian and American exchange students

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Russian California in place names

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Discovering Russian culture in San Francisco

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Scholars uncover the history of Russian America

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How to find succes in Silicon Valley

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Russian contributions rich in Silicon Valley

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Russia’s Hollywood legacy

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The Russian roots of California’s greatest Cabernets

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Environmental cnooperation between the U.S. and Russia should not become endangered

THIS SPECIAL ISSUE WAS PRODUCED BY RUSSIA DIRECT, INTERNATIONAL PROJECTS DIVISION OF ROSSIYSKAYA GAZETA ΈRUSSIAΉ͘ SUPPORTED BY TRANSNEFT͘ INTERNET͗ WWW͘RUSSIAͳDIRECT͘ORG EͳDAIL͗ CONTACTΝRUSSIAͳDIRECT͘ORG PH͗͘ нϳΈϰϵϱΉ ϳϳϱ ϯϭϭϰ FAy͗ нϳΈϰϵϱΉ ϵϴϴ ϵϮϭϯ

EUGENE ABOV PUBLISHER, RUSSIA DIRECT PAVEL KOSHKIN EDITORͳINͳCHIEF, RUSSIA DIRECT OLGA FASTOVA ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER, SALES, DARKETING, EVENTS ANDREI SHIMARSKY ART DIRECTOR MILLA DOMOGATSKAYA PRODUCTION DESIGNER NIKOLAY SHIYANOV DESIGNER; ALEXANDER KISLOV DESIGNER IRINA PAVLOVA LAYOUT ELENA BOBROVA EDITOR ΈRUSSIAΉ; LARA MCCOY GUESTͳEDITOR ΈU͘S͘Ή ANDREI ZAITSEV HEAD OF PHOTO DEPARTDENT JULIA GOLIKOVA CODDERCIAL DIRECTOR ANNA SERGEEVA REPRESENTATIVE IN NEW YORK, EͳDAIL A͘SERGEEVAΝRUSSIAͳDIRECT͘ORG, OLGA GUITCHOUNTS REPRESENTATIVE IN WASHINGTON, DC, EͳDAIL O͘GUITCHOUNTSΝRUSSIAͳDIRECT͘COD, PHOTOS: FORT ROSS CONSERVANCY, RENOVA FORT ROSS FOUNDATION, LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, RIA NOVOSTI, LEGION DEDIA, GETTY IDAGES, PAUL C͘ DILLER, ELENA BOBROVA, PAVEL KOSHKIN, TODAS PACHA, PERSONAL ARCHIVES͘ Ξ COPYRIGHT ϮϬϭϲ, ROSSIYSKAYA GAZETA͘ ALL RIGHTS RESERVED͘ ADDRESS Ϯϰ PRAVDY STR͘, BLDG͘ ϰ, FLOOR ϳ͘ DOSCOW, RUSSIA, ϭϮϱ ϵϵϯ͘

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THE ROAD FROM OUR SHARED PAST LEADS TO OUR COMMON FUTURE

Contents

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U.S.-Russia Shared Frontiers: California / October 2016

Editor’s note

Dear friends!

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The history of Russian America is an integral part of the cultural heritage the United States and Russia share. When we speak of Russian heritage in America, we mean not only monuments and historical places, but also human destinies. The history of Russian America is not only about exploration — it also involves economic growth, spiritual development and building bridges between different peoples, all of which can be seen in the historical and cultural legacy left behind by Russian pioneers. Although the presence of Russians in Alaska is well known, Russian America also included the Aleutian Islands, California and — for a short time — even the Hawaiian Islands. In 1812, Fort Ross, one of the first Russian settlements on American soil, was established. The creation of this fort involved practically no armed encounters between Russians and native groups. Today Fort Ross stands as an example of how creative labor and respectful interaction between people from diverse backgrounds

helps build a common language and achieve goals. We are certain that the rediscovery of the cultural historical heritage of Russian America, along with joint research and preservation efforts, can increase trust between our two countries today. We are convinced that the development and the implementation of a joint program for the protection and preservation of the cultural and historical monuments of Russian America is essential. Further steps, for example, could include the development of a joint website, an archive about Russian America and the creation of a museum or development of tourist sites tracing the footsteps of the Russian pioneers. Academic dialogue between representatives of various research institutes in both countries could even serve, to some extent, to further the efforts to improve relations. And cultural interaction, undoubtedly, promotes the development of a constructive agenda for Russia and the U.S.

With best wishes for the success of this publication and its readership, Sergey Kislyak Russian Ambassador to the US

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On behalf of the Transneft company, I am pleased to offer my greetings to all readers of “U.S.-Russia Shared Frontiers” and all those who are interested in the history of U.S.Russia relations and our common legacy. Together with our partners Sovcomflot and Chevron, we at Transneft have been engaged in an extensive collaboration with Fort Ross Conservancy to save the Fort Ross Historic State Park. These efforts are especially relevant today. Whole generations of Russians and Americans have been brought up in an environment of mutual distrust. As a result, we perceive each other through the lens of the Cold War, and its legacy weighs on us. In the second half of the 20th century, the outlook of people from both sides of the Atlantic was influenced by two conflicting state ideologies. The propaganda promoting these worldviews derailed the memory of the Soviet and American soldiers who fought against a common

Nikolay P. Tokarev President of Transneft

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U.S.-Russia Shared Frontiers: California / October 2016

Dear friends,

enemy during World War II, including the participants of the historic meeting at the Elbe River on April 25, 1945. Likewise, other memories of our shared history are fading away, including those related to the former Russian settlement in California — Fort Ross. All those who see Fort Ross for the first time and learn its exciting history are sincerely surprised. The Fort opens to them whole chapters of our common historical chronicle that have been unknown until recently. Little accurate information about Russian America, past and present, is available to ordinary people: professional researchers primarily rely on academic sources, while myth and fiction prevail in popular culture. Today Russian-America relations are once again not in the best shape, which makes it increasingly important to look for and find connections — and not only at the highest political levels. Knowing and respecting the history and culture of our countries have always been an indispensable element of the understanding and collaboration between Moscow and Washington. This strengthening of mutual knowledge, understanding and respect is the very mission to which Fort Ross is dedicated. Thanks to the efforts of many enthusiasts who have contributed to saving and restoring the park since the 1970s, this place has turned into a unique historical platform where everyone can be exposed to the cultural legacy of Russian America’s pioneers. Fort Ross has become a sort of magnet attracting Russian Americans of today. Moreover, the park is actively involved in large-scale work to foster multifaceted dialogue between Americans and Russians — involving not only those from the establishment, but also from the scientific and business communities. Creating space for effective cooperation is our common cause and responsibility. This is the only reasonable path to peace, well-being and prosperity for both our countries. I sincerely wish good luck to all the sponsors and participants of the Fort Ross events in their difficult, but noble endeavor and hope that we can keep promoting friendly relations and mutual respect between Russia and the U.S.

Elena Bobrova, Russia Direct

FE

AT

URE

SYMBOL OF RUSSIAN-AMERICAN FRIENDSHIP 4

FOR MORE THAN 200 YEARS, THE FORMER RUSSIAN SETTLEMENT IN CALIFORNIA HAS SURPRISED LOCALS AND GUESTS ALIKE — SOMETIMES JUST BY THE FACT OF ITS EXISTENCE.

75,000

3,400

acres in size

visitors per year

80

miles from San Francisco

The Fort was the hub of the southernmost Russian settlements in North America from 1812 to 1842. It was established as an agricultural base from which the northern settlements in Alaska and Aleutian Islands could be supplied with food. Fort Ross was the site of California’s first windmills and shipbuilding. In the 20th century, it became a State Park and a U.S. National Historic Landmark.

Fort

Birnbaum has been working at the park for nine years, and says that the Fort Ross Bicentennial in 2012 helped increase awareness about the history of the site. “Thanks to the attention of American and Russian mass media to our 200th anniversary and our increased and continued presence of Fort Ross on social media, we’re now ‘on the map!’” he said. “Nonetheless, we continue to welcome first-time visitors who ask the same question I did 40 years ago: ‘A Russian fort in California?’ Surprise!”

THE RUSSIANS ARE COMING… TO CALIFORNIA Russian presence in the territory that later became the United States began after explorers Vitus Bering and Alexei Chirikov reached Alaska and the Aleutian Islands in 1741-1742. They discovered that these lands were rich with sea otters, which were prized for their fur. In 1772, the first permanent Russian fur trading post was founded

The biggest celebration in the park’s year is the Fort Ross Festival, which is held each July. It usually includes folk dances, music performances and historical reenactments showing the first years of the Fort.

in Unalaska, today the largest city of the Aleutian Islands. Formal incorporation of the territories by Russia did not take place until 1799, when Tsar Paul I issued a charter for the Russian-American Company (RAC), giving it a monopoly over all Russian ventures in North America. This joint-stock company, backed by the state, quickly expanded and established colonies in present-day Alaska, Hawaii and California. Fort Ross, 80 miles from San Francisco, was the southern-most settlement of the RAC. “Russians came to California for three main reasons: fur, food and trade,” Birnbaum said. “There was a ‘soft gold’ rush in the North Pacific... with Russians, Americans, English and others seeking the luxuriant and valuable fur of the sea otter and Northern Fur Seal. Plus, in the north and the Bering Sea region, Russians were tired of eating fish and seal meat, and wanted food that they were accustomed to: beef, bread, fruit and vegetables. Here in California they found — grew and traded — the food and other

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U.S.-Russia Shared Frontiers: California / October 2016

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hen asked about Fort Ross, the 19th century Russian outpost in California, the majority of both Russians and Americans look very puzzled. Few people on either side of the Pacific are aware of it at all. A handful of Americans have heard of the site — but in its other role, as a California State Park. “Often people come to Fort Ross because of recreation opportunities: the snorkeling, the kayaking or the hiking,” said Hank Birnbaum, program manager at Fort Ross. “And they later know a bit about the history, and they are totally surprised what a unique place this is.”

I first visited Fort Ross State Historic Park approximately 40 years ago, in the late 1970s. First impressions? Beautiful unspoiled landscape of coastal redwood hills descending to a marine terrace and inviting sandy ocean cove.” Hank Birnbaum, Fort Ross Concervancy Programs Manager

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supplies that they so badly needed in Alaska,” Birnbaum added, pointing out that establishing the Fort made trade with the Spanish missions of Alta California possible. Fort Ross was founded by RAC officer Ivan Kuskov in Spring 1812. Twenty-five Russians and 80 Alaska Natives made up the original settler group. Archeological works that have taken place in the Fort since the 1950s confirmed the active presence of Native Americans in the settlement. “In 1990-1994, archaeologists from the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, worked to relocate and identify individual graves in the so-called Russian Cemetery,” said Edward Breck Parkman, a senior state archaeologist with California State Parks. “Whereas we originally expected to find the graves of around 50 Russian men, we ended up finding over 130 graves of men, women, and children, many of whom were Alaska Natives.

The park is an ideal place to learn history, try old crafts and travel into the past. Kids can watch a blacksmith, tinsmith, weaver, soap maker, carpenter and others preparing their wares.

Additionally, some of the graves contained numerous glass trade beads and broken ceramics,” Parkman said. Among other artifacts found were Russian-made bricks, a Russian sauna on the beach below Fort Ross and artifacts made of Alaskan slate and bone harpoon points, some of which are displayed at the park’s Visitor Center. Archeological excavations also revealed the presence of Kashaya Pomo Indians, on whose ancestral land the outpost was built. In 19871988, archaeologists from Sonoma State University discovered Kashaya Pomo tools for obtaining fish, shellfish, and seaweed. “Most scholars estimate that there were around 1,500–5,000 Kashia here at the time the Russians founded Fort Ross,” said Jerry Pinola, 54, a member of the tribe now known as the Kashia Band of Pomo Indians from Santa Rosa. “Our people, Kashia, say it was much more than that.”

Pinola and his family are members of the Kashia’s Nu Nu Shinal dance group, which takes an active role in activities at Fort Ross. Although Pinola often passed the Fort on the way to the Kashia reservation, he discovered the park only four years ago. “It’s very impressive what the Russian merchants built here. To think that they crossed thousands of miles of ocean and came ashore on this very spot, they had amazing courage,” Pinola said. Today, Kashia tribal citizens maintain their dance circle outside the Fort’s walls. They do their sacred dancing six times a year — on special occasions and holidays, as well as at several private ceremonies that take place at night when the park is closed. Their ancestors performed seasonal work in the Fort and were paid in flour, meat and clothing. French sea captain Auguste Bernard DuhautCilly noted in his book about his

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travels in California in 1826-1829 that at Fort Ross, a population of about 60 Russians, 80 “Kodiaks,” [ed. Alaska Natives] and about 80 Indians, all lived in relative harmony. It is also known that Kashia women and Russian men intermarried, and that some Indian wives and children accompanied their husbands and fathers north to Alaska and even to Russia after the sale of the colony to American entrepreneur John Sutter in 1841. The possible presence of Kashia descendants in Russia was one reason Kaylee Pinola, 19, a student at the University of California, Berkeley, wanted to visit the country, which she did in 2014. “The potential that some Kashia members ended up in Russia is very high, and we felt them when we were in Russia. During our trip we visited the Kunstkamera museum in St. Petersburg that houses hundreds of artifacts from our old ones — many of the items were items that we still use today and make the same way that our old ones did back then. Every day since we returned home, I have been waiting for the opportunity to return,” Pinola said. Reasons behind the sale of Fort Ross were both economical and political. The fur-trading business was in decline, as the population of sea otter was hunted almost to extinction. Additionally, a formal trade agreement in 1838 between the RussianAmerican Company and settlements in British Columbia to provide food for Alaska rendered Fort Ross unnecessary. At the same time, the Mexican government’s active encouragement of new settlers into the area and a growing influx of Americans posed a looming challenge to Russian claims over the territory, which neither the

ARCHEOLOGY UNCOVERS HIDDEN LAYERS OF HISTORY Archaeologists began investigating Fort Ross in the 1950s. In 1988-1989, Professor Kent Lightfoot and archaeologists from the University of California, Berkeley excavated a site on the beach below Fort Ross. A Russian sauna was discovered as was evidence of the Russian shipbuilding industry. From 1990-1994, Professor Lynne Goldstein and archaeologists from the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, worked to relocate and identify individual graves in the so-called Russian Cemetery. The human remains were identified by the archaeologists, given last rites by Russian Orthodox Church priests, and then reburied. In 1994, wooden crosses were installed at each gravesite. Other scientists explored areas where Alaska Natives and Kashia Pomo workers lived. Artifacts are on display at the Fort Ross vistor center.

Imperial government in distant St. Petersburg nor the Russian-American Company was able to meet. On Jan. 1, 1842, Alexander Rotchev, the last governor of the colony, and about 100 colonists sailed from Bodega Bay headed for the city of Sitka in Alaska. After 30 years, the flag of the Russian-American Company was lowered at Fort Ross, and the Russian epoch in the history of California came to an end.

FORT ROSS AS A SPIRITUAL CENTER FOR THE RUSSIAN DIASPORA For 65 years, Fort Ross was privately held. In the second half of the 19th century, it had a port, which was used extensively by ranchers in the surrounding community. There was a store, a post office and a telegraph station; the old Russian buildings housed a hotel, a dance hall and a saloon. The Orthodox chapel, erected in 1825, was turned into the stable. In 1903, the stockade and surrounding land were purchased by the California Historical Landmarks Commission. Three years later, in March 1906, it was turned over to the State of California for preservation and restoration as a state historic monument. This timing proved to be unfortunate, however. As San Francisco-based historian Maria Sakovich wrote in her article “Our Shared Heritage: Highlights from the History of Fort Ross State Historic Park,” which was presented at the 2012 bicentennial conference: “Just one month later, the earthquake of April 18, 1906, which destroyed much of San Francisco, damaged the historic buildings at Fort Ross. The walls of the chapel collapsed and the roof, still intact, fell to the ground.

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U.S.-Russia Shared Frontiers: California / October 2016

In 2010, a memorandum of understanding between the Renova, the State of California and Fort Ross Conservancy was signed in the presence of then-Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and then-California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

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In 2008-2009, California State Parks were in debt and Fort Ross was partially closed. Considerable support came from the Renova Group of Companies, owned by Russian businessman Viktor Vekselberg (second from right).

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It would be 10 years before funding would be available for its repair.” Sakovich closely studied the role of the Russian diaspora in saving Fort Ross because of a personal connection — her grandfather, Vladimir Sakovich, held the first 20th century Russian Orthodox service in the Fort Ross chapel in 1925. After 1920, the Russian population in San Francisco grew quickly as refugees from the Bolshevik revolution arrived on the West Coast. Largely upper and middle class, these Russians arrived with little from their previous life. “I don’t know the numbers in 1925, but throughout the 1920s and 1930s, the Russian refugee population was probably around 7,500,” Sakovich said. “Probably aware of this influx of citizens of the former Russian empire, William S. Borba, a member of California fraternal organization Native Sons of the Golden West (NSGW), made contact with the clergy at Holy Trinity Cathedral in San Francisco and invited them to the settlement. NSGW had been taking care of the chapel for the previous few years and held an annual gathering at Fort Ross on the Fourth of July,” Sakovich said. The day before the service, her grandfather and some 50 people started their trip from San Francisco at eight in the morning; they arrived at five in the afternoon. “Because it was so late, we had to spend the night right there next to the church, around several campfires, the hospitable farmers from nearby bringing food,” Father Sakovich noted in his pastoral journal. “Next morning, with the remaining pilgrims, we held an Obednitsa [ed. a type of service], and around noon departed, leaving the church decorated with flowers and icons.”

The park hosts more than 20 events and festivals during the year. At such celebrations, numerous park volunteers dress in historical costumes.

In late 1930s, a group of enthusiasts from the Russian Historical Society in America measured and took photographs of the fort. They also found the chapel’s bell in Petaluma, California. “We were met in Petaluma by a member of the local parlor [chapter] of the NSGW, who showed us an old shed, inside which we found the old Fort Ross bell,” Society member Victor Povich noted. “There were religious inscriptions in old Church Slavonic... and another inscription in Russian stated that the bell was cast in St. Petersburg at the foundry of Master Merchant Michael Makarov Stukolkin.” In a special ceremony at Fort Ross on Labor Day 1945, with representatives from the NSGW, the State Park Commission and the Russian Historical Society, the bell, together with “an exact replica of the flag of the Russian American Company,”

was presented to the State of California. Today Fort Ross continues to play a sacred and unifying role for the Russian-American community, especially those who work in Silicon Valley. Members of “Russian House Kedry,” a California-based non-profit organization dedicated to maintaining and sharing Russian cultural traditions in California, have taken part in the Fort Ross Festival for 15 years. “We first came here in 2001, just few families with their kids,” said Geliya Kudryavtseva, a clinical researcher in Sunnyvale, California and a member of the “Kedry” board of directors. “We wanted to find out more about our compatriots, who had been here before. Life in Silicon Valley is super technological, so we wanted to find a place for our kids to feel its simplicity. Fort Ross is perfect for that, volunteers can try so many things here! Cook on the fire in the Russian oven, work with old instruments, do crafts, shoot from historical rifles.” “Kedry” is made up of about 20 families, most of whom are programmers, scientists and business owners. But when they volunteer in the park, they are dressed in historical costumes, organize folk games, sing traditional village songs and act in the theater. “For visitors, we are the revived inhabitants of Fort Ross. We are always asked a lot of questions, both in Russian and English,” Kudryavtseva said. “Through holidays spent in the park, Russian history of the 19th century becomes an organic part of the modern life of our kids. Knowledge of Russian culture and language comes not in class, not from a book or museum, but in a creative form.”

WHERE THE PRESENT MEETS THE PAST

“We first came here in 2001, just a few families with their kids. We wanted to find out more about our compatriots, who had been here before. Life in Silicon Valley is super technological, so we wanted a place for our kids to feel its simplicity.” Geliya Kudryavtseva, member of “Russian House Kedry” cultural heritage group

Throughout the 20th century, Fort Ross has been managed by California State Parks. In 1973, the Fort Ross Conservancy (FRC), an independent non-profit, was founded to support the work and restoration efforts at the Fort. FRC is responsible for educational programs, environmental activities and fundraising. It organizes more than 20 events during the year, including a Harvest Festival, Alaska Native Day, Kashia Day and the main

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SERGEY PETROV, Consul General of the Russian Federation in San Francisco

cing a budget crisis. California State Parks were in debt and Fort Ross was partially closed,” he remembered. At that time, Russian Ambassador to the U. S. Sergey Kislyak petitioned in favor of the park, but then-California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger promised nothing. Considerable support for maintaining the site came from the Renova Group of Companies, owned by Russian businessman and philanthropist Viktor Vekselberg. On June 22, 2010, a memorandum of understanding between the Renova Group of Companies and the State of California, and between Renova Group and Fort Ross Conservancy was signed in San Francisco in the presence of then-Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. Vekselberg himself visited the park not long before the agreement was made, and decided to support it almost immediately. “In my opinion, the historical period when the settlement was founded is unique. In those times, Russia exported high technologies and not raw materials, our compatriots built the first shipyards and windmills on the West Coast of North America,” Vekselberg said. His U.S.-based Renova Fort Ross Foundation has provided essential support to Fort Ross, funding the restoration of the historic Rotchev House roof, the stabilization of the historic orchard and upgrades to the Fort’s visitor center, among other things. Together with The Link of Times Foundation, it sponsored

construction of a replica of a historical windmill in 2012, which, for Vekselberg stands as a “symbol of Russian-American relations during their best times, not overshadowed by any confrontations.” The Foundation also supports the Stanford U.S.Russia Forum (SURF), which brings together students and scholars from both countries annually. The support from local citizens, the Russian Consulate in San Francisco and the Russian Embassy in Washington, DC, and corporations such as Transneft, Sovcomflot, and Chevron has been critical in maintaining the Fort, according to Birnbaum. “All of them worked together with Renova Fort Ross Foundation to create a truly memorable bicentennial celebration and bolster our ongoing work at Fort Ross,” he said. “With their support, much has been accomplished — the premiere of a new documentary that runs in the Visitor Center, new historically accurate costumes and scenarios, preservation of our National Historic Landmark Rotchev House, and [at the event] over 6,000 guests were wowed by live performances from Pyatnitsky Folk Ensemble with the Pacific Ocean as the backdrop. Our bicentennial was definitely one for the record books.” Thanks to the revival of interest in the Fort caused in part by the bicentennial, those with a vested interest in the site hope that the future will produce even more opportunities for remembering Russia’s role in California history.

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Fort Ross is something special. I’ve visited it many times, but every new trip brings more positive feelings, energy and inspiration. This place is a unique combination of amazing untamed nature, rich historic heritage and unbroken human spirit. You come once and you will never forget. Fort Ross is a symbol of many things. Of course it represents the courage of Russian explorers and merchants, but today it is most importantly a symbol of peace and the ability of different races, nations and religions to coexist. Fort Ross was a rare place where Russians, indigenous people, Spaniards and Americans lived and worked together in peace. It is now up to us to preserve this place and what it represents. This obligation is especially critical in our turbulent times. The main challenge to Fort Ross is our indifference. If we stop caring, stop remembering — it will perish. Fort Ross has been almost abandoned several times, including just a few years ago. Only our work to save and preserve it — especially the efforts of the local California Russian community, the Orthodox church as well as the Russian, American and California governments — made it possible for us to continue to enjoy this amazing historic place.

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U.S.-Russia Shared Frontiers: California / October 2016

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celebration of the year, the Fort Ross Festival. For many locals, the park has become a place that has changed their views of Russia. One such local is Hank Birnbaum. Birnbaum first visited the park in the late 1970s and was impressed by the “beautiful unspoiled landscape of coastal redwood hills descending to a marine terrace and inviting sandy ocean cove.” His interest in the history of the place took him to the Soviet Union in 1983. He moved to Siberia in 1988 and lived there until 2004. Upon returning to California, Birnbaum realized the only place he really wanted to work was Fort Ross. In 2007, he began to work there with California State Parks as a Park Interpretive Specialist/docent. Later he moved to FRC. Birnbaum says that his experience in Siberia helps him in his work in a number of ways. “I can speak Russian, so I’m able to better welcome our many Russianspeaking visitors to Fort Ross, helping them feel welcome,” Birnbaum said. “The Baikal village where I lived for many years, Bolshoye Goloustnoye, was mostly ‘off the grid’ when I first arrived. People lived fairly simply, directly tied to the land (with their gardening, fishing, hunting, livestock)... a bit like it was at Settlement Ross 200 years ago! This knowledge helps me better understand what it was like here earlier... helping our visitors and staff also step back in time...” During his tenure at the park, Birnbaum has experienced Fort Ross’s decline and revival. “From 2008 to 2012, the State of California was experien-

s and the Fort ifornia State Park al C by th bo ed unded in ag ent non-profit, fo Fort Ross is man nd pe de in an ), C cy (FR at the Fort. Ross Conservan storation efforts re d t an k or w e th directors for eigh of d ar bo 1973 to support C FR e to nonlunteered on th r to her transition io Sarah Sweedler vo Pr . 10 20 in aff ting ing its st as a freelance wri s de ca years before join de l ra ve se l history. e worked for tural and cultura profit activity, sh na on ng si cu fo t urnalis consultant and jo

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RUSSIA DIRECT SAT DOWN WITH SARAH SWEEDLER, C.E.O. OF FORT ROSS CONSERVANCY, TO DISCUSS THE LEGACY OF THE FORMER RUSSIAN SETTLEMENT, ITS IMPACT ON U.S.-RUSSIA RELATIONS AND WHAT THE FUTURE MIGHT HOLD FOR THE SITE.

R ROSS:

A “PLATFORM FOR COLLABORATION” By Pavel Koshkin, Russia Direct

One of the most significant locations in the history of Russian California, Fort Ross serves as an important reminder of the past Americans and Russians share. Fort Ross was founded in 1812 by the RussianAmerican Company, Russia’s first joint-stock company, as part of the country’s expanded colonization plans. During its operation by the company, Fort Ross served as an important trading post as well as a source of supplies for the Russian settlements in Alaska. In the 1840s, it passed into private hands, and it became part of the preservation efforts of the State of California in the early 1900s. Today, Fort Ross works to improve relations between the U.S. and Russia, particularly through the Fort Ross Dialogue, an annual event that brings together Russian and American thought leaders from academia, business, the media and diplomatic circles. The event is organized by Fort Ross Conservancy (FRC), a non-profit and California Cooperating Association that supports the site; the California State Park Cooperating Association; and the Kennan Institute of the Woodrow Wilson Center. This year’s event is co-hosted by Stanford University and the Stanford U.S.-Russia Forum, and is being held on the Stanford University campus.

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Russia Direct: Let’s start with some background on Fort Ross Conservancy. How long have you been working there and what is the source of your ŝŶƐƉŝƌĂƟŽŶ͍ Sarah Sweedler:

I first volunteered on the board for the Fort Ross Interpretive Association in 2002 — we changed our name to Fort Ross Conservancy in 2011. For many years I was a volunteer, working happily on Fort Ross projects that interested me. Now I am an administrator and my job is to enable other people’s interesting projects. I joined as staff in 2010 and dedicate all my energies towards Fort Ross Conservancy and supporting California State Parks at Fort Ross. Many people are invested in this stretch of land, and I’m honored to work in service of that. tŚĂƚǁĂƐLJŽƵƌĮƌƐƚŝŵƉƌĞƐƐŝŽŶŽĨ&ŽƌƚZŽƐƐ͍

I felt an immediate connection to the place. While East Coast historical sites are well developed and at some level more “interpreted,” Fort Ross is different. It is quiet; it gives its visitors time and space to respond; and it has just enough infrastructure to give you a sense of what was, but not so much that your imagination is stifled. It’s magical. Personally, while I love to see happy people at Fort Ross during events, I like it best during the off-season when it’s quiet.

tŚĂƚǁĂƐƚŚĞŵŽƐƚŵĞŵŽƌĂďůĞĞǀĞŶƚĨŽƌLJŽƵĂƚ&ŽƌƚZŽƐƐ͍

I remember early on I was at our big summer festival, and I witnessed a reunion when two women who had been separated in the Soviet Union just happened to run into each other at Fort Ross. It was an emotional reunion, absolutely wonderful to witness, and even better that they found each other at this “second home” to so many Russians. Fort Ross brings people together. Why do you think is it important to support Fort Ross Conservancy ƚŽĚĂLJ͍

Fort Ross Conservancy is dedicated to promoting and preserving Fort Ross and Salt Point parks — our entire mission revolves around this goal. Our staff is small, but incredibly dedicated, adaptable and nimble. We run our own web server, we do our own desktop publishing, manage events, provide bilingual tours, fundraise, write grants, run the bookshop, and take on a thousand other tasks. These diverse talents and the strong motivation to implement simply don’t exist in a big bureaucracy such as California State Parks. The land is owned by State Parks and we work in partnership with them, but for us, we live and breathe this one stretch of coastline. All parks need such collaboration, as both the private and the public entities bring different skills to the table.

U.S.-Russia Shared Frontiers: California / October 2016

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To what extent could Fort Ross be seen in the context of the environmental ŵŽǀĞŵĞŶƚ͍ŽƵůĚŝƚƐĂǀĞĂŶŝŵĂůƐ͕ƉůĂŶƚƐĂŶĚƉůĂLJĂŶĂĚĚŝƟŽŶĂůƌŽůĞĂƐĂ ƌĞƐĞƌǀĞƉĂƌŬ͍

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The historic compound makes up a small fraction of the park. Fort Ross boasts 4.5 miles of pristine coastline and over 3,300 acres of coastal and redwood forest habitat, from waterfront to ridge top, so in fact the natural history dominates the cultural. Fort Ross is indeed a nature preserve, as is so much of the Sonoma coast, and California takes preservation of its natural resources very seriously. The waters offshore Fort Ross are also under federal protection as of 2015. Fort Ross Conservancy embraces this opportunity to use Fort Ross’ unique blend of cultural and natural history to talk about conservation. For example, several species of marine mammals (Steller Sea Lions, California Sea Lions, Harbor Seals) have re-established populations at Ross, while the California Sea Otter has not returned. FRC oversees Marine Mammal Monitoring to track changes to these populations, and we both distribute this data to the scientific community and share it with the public. FRC also offers the Marine Ecology Program, a citizen science, environmental educational and monitoring program for teachers, students and parents, with Fort Ross as the classroom. The Russian settlers chose a beautiful location, as did the Kashia Pomo Indians before them — vibrant tide pools, elegant redwood groves, offshore rocks providing protection to marine mammals and breeding birds and the wide vistas of the Pacific.

How does the California government see Fort Ross — as a burden or as an important heritage landmark that needs ƚŽďĞƐĂǀĞĚ͍

California State Parks is responsible for more than 280 parks, and Fort Ross is but one of them. I think State Parks is incredibly proud of its parks and it has done a fantastic job in caring for Fort Ross over the many decades. Right now the financial situation is such that the State Parks cannot provide what Fort Ross needs, and I believe they are happy that we, the nonprofit, has stepped in to fill the gap. But ultimately it is a State Park and it belongs to the people of California, and I look

forward to the time when the park system can once again develop Fort Ross and focus more energy on it. They have done so in the past, and I believe will do so in the future. /ƚƐĞĞŵƐƚŽďĞĮŶĂŶĐŝĂůůLJĐŚĂůůĞŶŐŝŶŐƚŽ ŬĞĞƉƐƵĐŚƉĂƌŬƐĂƐ&ŽƌƚZŽƐƐĂŇŽĂƚƚŽĚĂLJ͘ ,ŽǁĚŽLJŽƵĚĞĂůǁŝƚŚƚŚĞƉƌŽďůĞŵ͍

We have quite a few very dedicated sponsors and we are incredibly grateful to them — we couldn’t do this work without strong partnerships with the corporations and foundations who support us. Renova Group has been with us for five years, and they have helped us to grow beyond our wildest expectations

Sarah Sweedler with participants of the Marine Ecology program. Kids usually spend one or two days immersed in the day-to-day tasks of a marine biologist. After hiking out to the coastal bluffs, students use telescopes to practice observing and identifying marine mammals.

Fort

[ed. Renova Group is a Russian conglomerate with interests in aluminum, oil, energy, telecommunications and other sectors]. Transneft [the Russian state-owned transport and oil pipeline company], Sovcomflot [the Russian maritime shipping company specializing in petroleum and shipping of liquefied natural gas] and Chevron [an American multinational energy corporation] have sponsored many interesting projects, as well as the big Harvest Festival and Fort Ross Dialogue, and their support has widened our base tremendously. They share our Fort Ross vision and it’s a pleasure to work with them. These corporations care, and they have had a tremendously positive impact on Fort Ross these past five years. We are grateful!

ĂƐĞĚŽŶLJŽƵƌĞdžƉĞƌŝĞŶĐĞ͕ŚŽǁŵĂŶLJ people visit Fort Ross annually and how many volunteers are involved in organizing Fort Ross events and ŵĂŝŶƚĂŝŶŝŶŐƚŚĞĐŽŶƐĞƌǀĂŶĐLJ͍

Sweedler visited Russia several times, accompanying groups of Kashia Pomo Indians.

Ro s s

Fort Ross is important to Russians, but it’s also literally “home” to the Kashia Pomo, and it’s an important story for the Alaska Natives as well. The stories are different for each people. Making sure that each of these distinct groups has a voice is not always easy. Of course, this is also an asset, because a place with diverse people and stories is a place worth protecting and preserving.

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THIS YEAR’S FESTIVAL HAD CLOSE TO 3,000 VISITORS — WE RAN OUT OF PARKING AND BEER GLASSES, SO A SUCCESS BY ANY METRIC.”

ŽǀŝƐŝƚŽƌƐĐŚĂŶŐĞƚŚĞŝƌƉĞƌĐĞƉƟŽŶ ŽĨh͘^͘ͲZƵƐƐŝĂƌĞůĂƟŽŶƐĂŌĞƌƚŚĞLJĂƌĞ ĞdžƉŽƐĞĚƚŽ&ŽƌƚZŽƐƐ͍

ŽĞƐƉŽůŝƟĐƐŚĂŵƉĞƌLJŽƵƌĂƩĞŵƉƚƐƚŽ save Fort Ross and put it forward in the h͘^͘ͲZƵƐƐŝĂĂŐĞŶĚĂ͍

I believe that a day spent at Fort Ross, especially if you are lucky to have our bilingual Hank Birnbaum as your guide, will forever warm your heart to Russia and Russian America.

We are a park, and our vantage point is by definition positive and forward-looking. Fort Ross must remain a place of collaboration, despite what the front page of any newspaper prints. Can the U.S.-Russia shared historical legacy (such as Fort Ross) be a tool to ďƌŝŶŐZƵƐƐŝĂĂŶĚƚŚĞh͘^͘ƚŽŐĞƚŚĞƌ͍KƌŝƐ it naïve to think that a common history ĐĂŶĂůůĞǀŝĂƚĞƚĞŶƐŝŽŶƐ͕ŐŝǀĞŶƚŚĞĨĂĐƚƚŚĂƚ ƉŽůŝƟĐŝĂŶƐĂůǁĂLJƐĨŽĐƵƐŽŶƚŚĞĐƵƌƌĞŶƚ ĂŐĞŶĚĂ͕ŶŽƚƚŚĞƉĂƐƚ͍

I sincerely believe that Fort Ross is both a place and a platform for collaboration. It is our shared history, and to work on the physical land together reminds us of this peaceful past, but also brings us together in the present so that the past informs these new relationships. Common ground, as we say.

FRC and State Parks hold events at the park every month, covering diverse topics such as natural and cultural history, arts and music. Everything from Seaweed Forays to Plein Air workshops, Alaska Native Day, Kashia Day, and of course our Fort Ross and Harvest Festivals.

,ŽǁĚŽLJŽƵƐĞĞ&ŽƌƚZŽƐƐŝŶϭϬͲϮϬLJĞĂƌƐ͍

/ŶƚŚŝƐĐĂƐĞ͕ƚŽǁŚĂƚĞdžƚĞŶƚŝƐŝƚƉŽƐƐŝďůĞ to make the agenda of Fort Ross ŵĂŝŶƐƚƌĞĂŵ͍tŚĂƚĐĂŶďĞĚŽŶĞƚŽ make it popular among Americans and ZƵƐƐŝĂŶƐ͍

Spreading the word about Fort Ross takes time. Our visitation and outreach have more than doubled in the past few years, but the park is remote, and that remoteness is both a blessing and a curse. It’s a two-hour drive from San Francisco to Fort Ross each way, and people either love

Fort Ross needs a few key pieces of infrastructure to become its best self. We need a bigger, newer, and more inclusive museum, a kitchen where we can feed 100 people, and a dormitory or cabins so that visitors, especially students, can spend a few days at the park studying marine ecology or history, or running a workshop, all without leaving the park. This would fundamentally change the park dynamic. People want to settle in and stay, to wake up to the unique smells and sounds of this place or to take that early morning walk to the historic cemetery, but it’s nearly impossible given the lack of infrastructure. This can be done without impinging on the park’s atmospheric beauty.

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U.S.-Russia Shared Frontiers: California / October 2016

What problems have you faced in ƐƵƉƉŽƌƟŶŐ&ŽƌƚZŽƐƐŽƚŚĞƌƚŚĂŶĮŶĂŶĐŝĂů ŽŶĞƐ͕ŝĨĂŶLJ͍

This year’s Fort Ross Festival had close to 3,000 visitors and probably 300 volunteers — we ran out of parking and beer glasses, so a success by any metric. Annually we only count cars, so it’s difficult to say, but at least 75,000 people per year.

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that twisty cliff-hanging drive along Highway 1, or it scares the pants off them. Location, and the laws that protect our coastline from development, provide Fort Ross with this pristine natural environment that amplifies its historical beauty, but the park lacks amenities. Fort Ross the brand can and should be universal. This virtual Fort Ross travels easily, and we would like it to be well known across the U.S. and Russia through movies, the web, cultural exchanges, etc.

TIES TO FORT ROSS IN UNEXPECTED PLACES CONNECTIONS BETWEEN THE U.S. AND RUSSIA CAN BE FOUND IN FARFLUNG LOCATIONS, INCLUDING MAJOR SIBERIAN CITIES AND SMALL TOWNS ON RUSSIA’S FAR NORTHWESTERN BORDER. The city of Kargopol is the hometown of Alexander Baranov, the first and longest serving administrator of the Russian-American Company.

Kira Tverskaya, special to Russia Direct

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ven today, few people know about Fort Ross, the former Russian settlement on the coast of Northern California, and fewer were aware of it in the time it was active. And yet, some of the most remote places in Russia have ties to this colony. Irkutsk, the gateway to Lake Baikal and a regular stop on the Trans-Siberian Railway, has three connections to Fort Ross. The first is Grigoriy Shelikhov (1747-1795), a trader, researcher and industrialist who numbered among the founders of the Russian-American Company, which grew out of his previous endeavor, the Northeastern Company. The RussianAmerican Company’s headquarters were located at 24 Surikova Street in Irkutsk. Shelikhov led an expedition to North America from 1783-1786, during which he founded the first Russian settlement on Kodiak Island and secured it through numerous battles with the area’s indigenous population. When he returned to Irkutsk, he was among the founders of the city’s first library. He is buried in the local Znamensky monastery. Irkutsk’s second tie to Fort Ross is Elena Rotcheva (1807-?), nee Gagarina. This woman, born into a noble family, married Alexander Rotchev when he was a poor student. Today he is better known as a traveler and writer as well as the last governor of Fort Ross. The Napa Valley town of St. Helena is named in honor of Elena’s patron saint. Rotchev and Elena eventually parted ways, however. After their divorce in 1855, Alexander traveled extensively across the Americas, Europe and Asia while Elena returned

to Irkutsk and was appointed head of the local orphanage for unprivileged children, the Medvednikova House. There she established herself as a progressive teacher and local socialite, holding receptions and dinners popular among the educated people and the liberal aristocracy of the city. In 1863, Rotcheva was forced to leave her office for reasons both political and personal, and eventually she left Siberia for good. The orphanage building, on Khalturina Street, still stands, however, and is now occupied by an agricultural school. A more contemporary tie to Fort Ross in the city is the Irkutsk-Fort Ross club, a part of the Global Village project, which organizes summer camps and trips for children to “… instill a pride in cultural awareness, a recognition of the benefits of cultural diversity, an appreciation for archaeology, and a support for historic preservation.” The small city of Totma in the Vologda Region of central Russia is a sister city of California’s Bodega Bay, which should come as no surprise as the town is the birthplace of Ivan Kuskov (1765-1823), the founder of Fort Ross. Born in Totma, Kuskov moved to Irkutsk for business. There he met Alexander Baranov, who became head of the Russian-American Company, and followed him as a commercial assistant to his North American expeditions. Kuskov oversaw the construction of the settlement of Novoarkhangelsk in Alaska, later known as Sitka. He recognized the need to found a more southern settlement to provide food for the northern colonies and found the location for Fort Ross. A Russian flag was raised over the new settlement on Aug. 30, 1812 with

Fort PAUL C. MILLER, PHOTOGRAPHER

“I have been photographing various cultural events at Fort Ross for the Fort Ross Conservancy for five years. Mostly I shoot still images of the park, but recently I have been adding video clips and aerial shots with the use of a drone. Every visit to Fort Ross reminds me of the Valaam monastery, located on an island in Lake Ladoga north of St. Petersburg. Both places share a timeless beauty and a connection to an era before the advent of modern machines and the internet”.

The city of Totma is the birthplace of Ivan Kuskov, the founder of Fort Ross and its governor until 1821.

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A view of Irkutsk, where the first headquarters of the Russian-American Company were located.

The Izborsk fortress took part in a museum exchange program with Fort Ross.

RUSSIAN EXPLORERS OF THE 18TH AND 19TH CENTURIES WERE INSTRUMENTAL IN OPENING UP ALASKA.

Kuskov as its governor. He oversaw the settlement for nine years, during which he married a woman from the local Kashaya tribe. She returned with him to Totma, where he died in 1823. Kuskov is buried in the Spaso-Sumorin monastery, which is still one of the great sights of the city. Kuskov’s house in Totma is now a museum containing his personal belongings, letters and portraits. Kargopol, located in the Archangelsk Region in the Russian North, is the hometown of Alexander Baranov (1746-1819). Baranov ran several successful businesses in Kargopol and the surrounding towns before moving to Irkutsk in 1780 to oversee some factories and organize research expeditions to Alaska and Northeast Asia. While there, he met Grigoriy She-

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U.S.-Russia Shared Frontiers: California / October 2016

Ro s s

likhov and agreed to run the American colonies for the Russian-American Company. He became the first governor of the territory, establishing Novoarkhangelsk (Sitka) and Fort Ross with the help of Ivan Kuskov. Like Kuskov, he married a Kashaya woman, but unlike his colleague, Baranov never saw his homeland again: he died at sea on his way back to Russia after the end of his service at the age of 73. Baranov is considered one of Kargopol’s most prominent citizens, and a monument to him stands on the edge of Onega river. In the northwestern corner of Russia sits Izborsk, one of the oldest Russian fortified settlements, a historic park located close to the Estonian border. Its connection to Fort Ross is more recent. In 2014, Izborsk received a U.S. State Department Peerto-Peer grant, which allowed the park to partner with an American museum to learn best practices and create projects that were beneficial to both institutions. Fort Ross was selected as the partner park for Izborsk. Staff from both institutions visited each other, and each created an online exhibition to showcase the crafts and the trade that thrived in their respective settlements. Like Fort Ross, Isborsk was built on busy trade routes. The fortress dates from the 14th century, and the stone walls, towers and cathedral of the original fortress still stand.

Pavel Koshkin, Russia Direct

FORT ROSS THROUGH THE EYES OF RUSSIAN AND AMERICAN EXCHANGE STUDENTS PARTICIPANTS IN THE STANFORD U.S.-RUSSIA FORUM (SURF) EXPLAIN THE ROLE THIS SYMBOL OF THE SHARED HISTORY PLAYS IN CONNECTING COUNTRIES AND CULTURES.

ort Ross is not just a symbol of the common past shared by the U.S. and Russia — it is also a landmark that each year hosts participants of different exchange programs, including the Stanford U.S.-Russia Forum (SURF). Each year, SURF brings together students from some of the world’s top universities — Yale, Stanford, Harvard, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of CaliforniaLos Angeles (UCLA), the University of Cal-

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ifornia-Berkeley (UC-Berkeley), Moscow State University (MGU), the Higher School of Economics (HSE), the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO) University — for meetings in the U.S. and Russia. The first part of the conference usually takes place in Moscow in the fall, introducing the 20 Russian and 20 American participants to each other. The students then work together on collaborative research projects over the next four months. In April, students travel to Stanford University to present their findings and meet with high-profile experts, academics and politicians. At the end of their time at Stanford, the participants go to Fort Ross, where they meet with prominent environmentalists, scientists and local leaders from the Kashia Tribe of Pomo Indians. The Fort Ross visit has been an important part of the SURF program from the very beginning. At Fort Ross, the SURF delegates take part in preservation projects, such as rebuilding hiking trails and contributing to marine

It is hard to imagine the challenges of basic survival that Fort Ross’s serene landscape imposed on its earliest Russian settlers. The newcomers arrived in an unfamiliar land and had to understand how to navigate relationships with the local inhabitants of the region. Today’s Russians visit KENNETH MARTINEZ, Fort Ross in much the same manner, uneasy about how Stanford University, Fulbright to deal with the natives. The actors are different, but the alumnus and an organizer at conversation is the same: How to manage our relationthe SURF program: ship when there is much potential for conflicting interest?

conservation. These joint efforts help build lasting relationships among the Russian and American participants. “We are honored to enable these young bright minds, from both of our countries, to learn firsthand about our common historic and cultural ties here at Fort Ross,” said Olga Miller of Renova USA and the Renova Fort Ross Foundation, which has supported SURF at Fort Ross for the last five years, starting in 2011 with just half a day of volunteer community service at the Fort, and now allowing the delegates the experience of staying two full days at Fort Ross. A number of SURF alumni shared their memories of Fort Ross and how it changed their views on U.S.-Russian relations.

Fort Ross, however, has continually brought Russians and Americans together. In recent years, the 200-yearold settlement has inspired many cultural, academic, and historical events. It has been the subject of essay competitions by the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, served as the focal point of investment in Russian-American heritage by companies like Renova, and inspired the reunification of American descendants of the settlement’s Russian and indigenous residents with their relatives

Fort

Ro s s

My history with Fort Ross started five years ago with the SURF conference, which on its last day brought me there in a bus full of fellow students. The flow of fresh salty wind from the ocean, the endless green of the hills covered in wild spring flowers, the cliffs with their stunning overlook on the Pacific — the landscape and the Fort itself instantly won a place in my heart. In my daily life, there’s a part of me always wanting to go back to Fort Ross. I took every chance I had to come back: first it was volunteering at the Fort’s bicentennial, then at a conference based there, and then at another annual celebration. I met all the staff, the board of directors, the park rangers, and many volunteers. The Fort brings people together today just as it did 200 years ago, when the Russians worked along with the Alaskans and the Spanish and the Native Americans. The role of Fort Ross in peacemaking is hard to overestimate. It will always be a great place to hold effective negotiations between the U.S. and Russia. The history and the atmosphere of the place make you think. It’s a great reminder that the most successful solutions to conflict are peaceful ones, reached through direct communication. It’s important for people of both countries to know about Fort Ross — not just as “that Russian settlement in California…have you heard of it? That’s so weird,” but with its fascinating historical context. If you dig deeper into how the Russian-American Company came to be, how the Fort and other Russian colonies were founded, how the settlers lived and interacted with their neighbors, you can see that there’s much more to Fort Ross than meets the eye.

YU RI BA RM IN

1) and former SURF alumnus (2010-201

2012): officer of the forum (2011-

t time, I was enchanted ted Fort Ross for the firs As a kid, long before I visi Nikolai Rezanov and the r lore e story of Russian exp n Arguello — a tragic by the 19th century lov nish California, Concepcio Spa of or ern gov the of daughter nects the two most Russians. Francisco a link that con drama that is known to ry, I have considered San setting up in d sto t nde tha me g om rnin rec lea v ce ano Ever sin ony that General Rez col a s, k place, so Ros t too For ry to sto e trip nations. My first y setting where the lov ver the in f sel my itage are ing her ic find two pieces of histor Bodega Bay, was akin to ved. The fact that these than it ser ser pre clo it s ch wa mu ly are ing lov carefully and goes to show that we tes Sta ited Un the and cherished in both Russia is to ertaking whose objective seems. regard is a unique und ing this Hav in t. um pas For red sha ssia eration about our The Stanford U.S.-Ru ps that ighten the younger gen shi enl tion and e rela itag The her t ce. join spa al nurture our t of this cultur t, I have always felt par ven to be exceptionparticipated in the projec over time and have pro ped elo dev e hav F SUR at ple peo h wit lt bui I have few things that conally strong. s, Fort Ross is one of the tion rela . U.S siaRus elop a deep for helped me once to dev In these turbulent times m one other. Fort Ross fro us for younger e e nat sam alie the n do tha nect us rather e; it can continue to itag her its and tes Sta affection for the United . citizens of both countries

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alumna of the SURF program (2011-2012) and organizer of the Forum (2012-2013):

ZACH WITLIN alumnus of SURF (2011-2012) and the Alfa Fellowship Program (2013-2014): Fort Ross was one of two highlights of my time as a delegate in the Stanford U.S.-Russia Forum. In spring 2012, we took a nature trip to Fort Ross. Spending time at the Fort, by the ocean, and among the redwoods was an incredible bonding experience. The most memorable part of that visit was when we sat by the campfire after dinner. One of the delegates brought a guitar, and it turned out that we had some talented musicians among both the American and Russian students. So we took turns passing the guitar around, and we alternated singing along in English and Russian. Speaking abstractly, it was not inevitable that Fort Ross would have anything to do with U.S. -Russia relations today. This is a Russian trading post that closed down in the 19th century, before the Bolshevik revolution, the Cold War and post-Soviet Russia. But people everywhere tend to turn to history either to better understand themselves or to revise the context of their modern selves. In that sense, Fort Ross offers an important opportunity to muse on U.S.-Russia relations and look for a shared moment in our past. Painting Fort Ross as part of a tradition of U.S.-Russia cooperation is a reminder that our countries are capable of turning to diplomacy and seeking to understand one another. Just understanding this won’t ease the tensions in our relations — those come from conflicts in our perceived interests — but that historical legacy can demonstrate good faith in managing those tensions. And, perhaps more importantly, that legacy helps ground person-to-person contact among Russians and Americans.

across the Pacific. These interactions bring positive impressions of one another to many Russians and Americans who may otherwise have had little or no contact. What is most promising is the potential Fort Ross has to transform state-to-state relations. It stands today, physical and tangible evidence of a relationship that was once rather different. It is, most saliently, a symbol. But the Fort’s value extends beyond this rich symbolism. It lies rather in the pretext for engagement. Removed from ministries and capitals, politics and pundits, the Fort is a place to convene, supported by leaders in both countries.

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U.S.-Russia Shared Frontiers: California / October 2016

KIRA TVERSKAYA

Four Russian scholars stand by a sign on a bridge crossing the Russian River in Sonoma Country. Photo courtesy of Glenn Farris.

Glenn Farris, special to Russia Direct

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ussian influence is easy to spot in northern California, where place names derived from Russian words are interspersed with those of Spanish origin. Alta California, the area between San Diego and San Francisco, was settled by the Spanish starting in 1769 in part because of the Spanish government’s anxiety over the presence of Russians in the North Pacific. The Russian-American Company put its first claim on land in California with the 1809 expedition led by Ivan Kuskov to Bodega Bay with the intention of establishing a settlement on the California coast. The Russians cleverly referred to the territory north of San Francisco Bay as “Nova Albion,” a name first used by the English buccaneer Sir Francis Drake in 1579 when he claimed the entire area of North America above Mexico for England, thus suggesting that the area was not necessarily Spanish land. Eventually the port at Bodega Bay was renamed Port Rumyantsev after Russian Foreign Minister Nikolai Rumyantsev. Even after the establishment of Fort Ross 18 miles to the north, Port Rumyantsev was the only viable landing place for ships coming to Russian California. In addition to Fort Ross, there are a number of places in today’s Sonoma and Marin counties whose names have Russian roots. Along with Fort

A NUMBER OF LOCATIONS IN THE AREA NORTH OF SAN FRANCISCO ARE TIED TO RUSSIA BY VIRTUE OF THEIR NAMES, ALTHOUGH MANY OF THEIR ORIGINS ARE UNCLEAR AND ACTUALLY MAY NOT BE CONNECTED TO RUSSIA AT ALL. Ross, there is the Russian River (initially called the Slavyanka River) and a place in between that carries the name Russian Gulch. There is a state park some 50 miles north of Fort Ross on the Mendocino Coast that is also called Russian Gulch. How this place came to have the name is less certain, but it has been suggested that it came from a Russian who stayed behind when the colony at Fort Ross was disbanded in 1841. There are towns in Sonoma County named Sebastopol and Moscow. Sebastopol was named in the mid-1850s during the Crimean War. The story was that a man named Hibbs got into a fight with a man named Jeff Stevens and barricaded himself in a store in the little town of Pine Cove. Someone jokingly stated that this was like the

siege of Sebastopol (September 1854– September 1855), and people started calling the town “Hibb’s Sebastopol.” Subsequently the town was renamed Sebastopol. It is not clear when or why the lumber mill town of Moscow got its name, although it appears on an atlas of Sonoma County dated 1877. An article in 1904 in the publication Overland Monthly suggested that the name was the Americanization of a local Indian word, mescua. Today, there is only a Moscow Road leading from the Russian River to note this connection. The Russians established three farms or ranchos in the area: the Kostromitinov Rancho on the lower Russian River, the (Vasilii) Khlebnikov Rancho near the current town of Bodega Corners and the Chernykh

A CROSS-CULTURAL LOVE STORY FOR THE AGES

Diplomat Nikolai Rezanov traveled to San Francisco in 1806 to buy supplies from the Spanish for Russian colonies in Alaska.

One other place in California with ties to Russia is the cemetery in Benicia, where Concepción Argüello is buried. Argüello was the daughter of José Darío Argüello, who served as the Spanish governor of Alta California and the Commandant of the Presidio in San Francisco. In 1806, she met Nikolai Rezanov, a founder of the RussianAmerican Company who had arrived in San Francisco aboard the ship Juno. The two fell in love, and later Rezanov returned to Russia to ask the tsar for permission to marry Argüello. He died in route,

Mount Saint Helena

however, and she never learned of his fate. According to tradition, Argüello rejected all other men and eventually took the veil as a Dominican nun. The story of Rezanov and Argüello was immortalized in the well-known Russian-language rock opera Juno and Avos, as well as in the bas-relief marker that stands beside Argüello’s grave. The rock opera Juno and Avos premiered in 1981 in Moscow’s Lenkom Theater. The leading roles were played by Soviet stars Nikolai Karachentsov and Elena Shanina.

Russian river

Mount Saint Helena was originally named Mount Mayacamas, but the name was changed after a Russian survey party ascended the peak in 1841 and left a copper plate on the summit inscribed with the date of their visit. The plate also bore the name of Elena Gagarina, wife of last manager of Fort Ross.

name, Okhotsk. It may have been named for a Russian brig called the Okhotsk, which visited the California coast in 1826, again in 1827-1828 and finally in 1828-1829. Further research may shed additional light on this puzzle.

Bodega bay In the beginning of the 19th century, Russians explored presentday Bodega Bay and marked it on their maps as Rumyantsev Bay. The bay was named in honor of Russian Foreign Minister Nikolai Rumyantsev.

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U.S.-Russia Shared Frontiers: California / October 2016

Rancho, named for agronomist Egor Chernykh, in a valley near Freestone, Calif. None of these survive to the present day and only the site of the Khlebnikov Rancho is known for sure. Near the Napa Valley is a mountain called St. Helena. It was named by a group of Russians including the naturalist Ilya Voznesensky and the manager of Fort Ross, Alexander Rotchev, for the patron saint of Rotchev’s wife, Elena Gagarina. On a late 19th century map of the area near Sacramento, California is the place name “Russian Embarcadero,” which was located on a bend in the Sacramento River just downstream from the city of Sacramento. Following the sale of Fort Ross to Swiss immigrant John Sutter, the Russian-American Company ships traveled up the Sacramento River to take on wheat as partial payment of Sutter’s debt. Presumably the Russian Embarcadero got its name from these visits, which continued until at least 1845. A very enigmatic place name, Rio Ojotska, appeared on a land grant map of California dated 1833. This river is now called the “American River,” which meets the Sacramento River at the city of Sacramento. The origins of this name are unclear, but it may be based on the Russian place

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he first Russian Orthodox parish in San Francisco was established in December 1857. The community was served by priests on Russian ships docking in San Francisco Bay until 1868, when a permanent priest was sent from Alaska. The community’s church changed names several times, but today is known as the Holy Trinity Cathedral. The current building, at 1520 Green St., was constructed in 1909, following the destruction of the original building in the 1906 earthquake. The bell tower of the Cathedral is adorned with a set of five bells donated by Emperor Alexander III in 1888. A few blocks from the Holy Trinity Cathedral is a place called Russian Hill. During the Gold Rush era, settlers discovered a small Russian cemetery at the top of the hill. The area had been a burial ground for members of the Russian-American Company, many of whom visited the city during the 19th century. The cemetery later was removed, but the name stayed. In 2005, the non-profit organization United Humanitarian Mission placed a plaque in both Russian and English on the hill describing the history of the cemetery. Today, San Francisco’s Russian community lives mostly in the Richmond District, which is also where the largest Russian Orthodox church on the West Coast is located. Construction on the Holy Virgin Cathedral (6210 Geary Boulevard) was completed in 1965. On Geary Street, there are also a number of shops and cafés run by Russian immigrants. Sources claim that biggest wave of Russian immigrants came from the Far East and China after 1922. This wave had two distinct parts — one was made up of those who fought against the communists in the Russian Revolution and were defeated in Siberia; the other group was made up of those who were building the Chinese Far East Railway. During this era, Russians moved to other places on the West Coast, including Seattle and Los Angeles. But San Francisco was especially attractive because the priest of the Holy Trinity Cathedral, Vladimir Sakovich, helped émigrés find employment and settle down.

SAN FRANCISCO’S RUSSIAN HERITAGE MAY NOT BE THE FIRST THING TO COME TO MIND WHEN PEOPLE SPEAK OF THE CITY BY THE BAY, BUT THE AREA’S RUSSIAN ROOTS RUN DEEP AND INCLUDE SEVERAL ORTHODOX CHURCHES, A MUSEUM OF RUSSIAN CULTURE AND A MUSEUM OF VETERANS OF WORLD WAR I.

The Consulate General of Imperial Russia, located in the historic James C. Flood Building at 870 Market Street, operated from 1852-1924. The first Soviet Consulate was opened in 1933 after diplomatic relations between the Soviet Union and the United States were established. Located at 2563 Divisadero Street, it operated until 1948. The next Consulate opened only in 1973 at the present location, 2790 Green Street.

Elena Bobrova, Russia Direct

AT SO UR CE S SAY TH E OF AV TH E BI GG ES T W NT S RU SS IA N IM M IG RA IA CA M E TO CA LI FO RN TLY AF TE R 19 22 , M OS FR OM TH E FA R EA ST AN D CH IN A. TH EM AJ OR IT Y OF SA N TH EM SE TT LE D IN FR AN CI SC O.

The Holy Virgin Cathedral opened in 1965. It is located in the Richmond district where most Russians live.

The San Francisco Russian Center was founded in 1939 by immigrants who were committed to preserving their culture in the United States.

of The Society The Museum dets and of Rus̶sian Ca s orld War I ha W of ns ra te Ve ion of old ct lle co ue iq a un d s, medals an uniforms, map photos.

migrant archive that had been located in Prague, but later taken to the Soviet Union. Petr Konstantinov, a historian and head of the Russian historical society, asked all Russian émigrés to send archival materials to San Francisco, where they would be safe from the Bolsheviks. “We’ve got 1,020 packages from 27 countries, including Argentina, Australia, Germany, and China,” said Margarita Menyailenko, the head archivist of the museum, describing its holdings. “We have the biggest independent archive of Russian immigration in the world that is funded only by donations and not associated with any other organization. All other archives are at universities, for example the Hoover Institution at Stanford University; the Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary at Jordanville, New York and the Bakhmeteff archive at Columbia University,” Menyailenko added. The museum space is small, and at first glance, the exhibits seem chaotic, but there are definitely gems in the collection. Made up of documents and possessions of Russian immigrants who came to the United States from the Far East, Siberia and China as well as Baikal Cossacks ans veterans of the Russian Revolution, the exhibits include newspapers, books, diaries, letters, photos and military flags.The exhibit also contains the sign that hung outside the consulate of the Russian Empire in San Francisco with the accoutrements of tsarist power — the scepter, orb and crown — roughly painted over. The sign was bought at a garage sale. According to Sabelnik, other places of interest are the Globus Slavic book store at 332 Balboa Street, the Russian American Community Services, which serves authentic Russian food to seniors and the St.George Pathfinders of the Organization of Young Russian Scouts, which holds summer and winter camps for kids near the town of Laytonville, California. “I can recommend two Russian restaurants in the city — Katia’s and Renaissance,” Sabelnik added. “Also you can find the homestyle historic Cinderella bakery at 436 Balboa Street. It was established in 1953 and still serves tasty Napoleon Cake and pirozhki.”

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The Russian Hill neighborhood’s name dates back to the Gold Rush era, when settlers discovered a small Russian cemetery at the top of the hill. The graves were eventually removed but the name remains to this day.

forms, regiment books, old photos, honors, medals, revolvers and information about how many Cadet Corps existed in Russia and abroad. The Russian Center in San Francisco is another meeting point (2450 Sutter Street). The center was founded in 1939, but its grand opening took place on May 24, 1940. “The Russian Center is a large, four-story building, probably the largest Russian Center in the U.S.,” explained Natalie Sabelnik, head of the national organization, Congress of Russian Americans. “In addition to being the home of Teremok preschool and Russian folk dancing classes, it also rents out space to our organization’s headquarters office, the Museum of Russian Culture, the Russian Life newspaper, a library, rhythmic gymanastics and ballet classes. That’s why it’s not so easy to count how many people attend it. One of the biggest celebrations is Maslenitsa [Ed. a celebration at the end of February involving pancakes] — then about 3,000 people visit the center just in three days. In 2017, this Russian Festival will be held for the 29th time already,” Sabelnik said. The Museum of Russian Culture is located on the third floor of the Russian Center. It was opened in 1948 with the goal of replacing an im-

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U.S.-Russia Shared Frontiers: California / October 2016

In 1924, the first organization of Russian émigrés was formed — The Society of Veterans of the Great War (World War I). Ten years later, the Society acquired its own building at 2041 Lyon Street. The building served as a social club, and had a number of apartments available for rent. In 1951, this group incorporated the Society of Russian Cadets and became The Society of Russian Cadets and Veterans of World War I. Visitors are welcome even today, but by appointment only. The exhibits include 100-year-old uni-

Scholars uncover the history HISTORIANS BEGAN TAKING A CLOSER LOOK AT THE ROLE RUSSIANS PLAYED IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF CALIFORNIA AS EARLY AS THE 1860S. THE WORK OF RESEARCHERS FROM BOTH RUSSIA AND THE U.S. INTO RUSSIAN SETTLEMENTS, INCLUDING FORT ROSS, HAS PRODUCED IMPORTANT DISCOVERIES ABOUT LIFE IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST IN THE 19TH CENTURY. Alexander Petrov, special to Russia Direct

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he history of Fort Ross attracted the attention of scholars soon after Russia sold Alaska to the United States in 1867. Since that time, the work of historians from both Russia and the U.S. into Russian California has provided important insights into Russia’s colonization of the Pacific Northwest. Among the first to study the Russian presence in California was Russian  historian Petr Tikhmenev, whose two-volume set published in Russian in 1861-1863 described the history and development of the Russian-American Company (Petr Tikhmenev,  A History of the Russian-American Company: Documents,  ed.  Richard A. Pierce and Alton S. Donnelly,  trans.  Dmitri Krenov. Kingston, Ontario: Limestone Press, 1978). On the American side, Hubert  H.  Bancroft included the Russian colonies in his “History of California” (San Francisco: The History Co., 1886). Both historians used archival documents and tried their best to present a complete picture of the topic, although their research lacked important information as well as references to primary sources. In the early 20th  century, Frank Golder and Semen Okun’ revisited the history of the Russian-American Company (Semen B.  Okun’,  The  RussianAmerican  Company. Boston:  Harvard  University Press, 1951);  (Frank Golder,  Russian Expansion on the Pacific, 1641 – 1850. Cleveland, 1914). Okun’  paid special attention  to  the various reasons the Russians explored Alaska and California. He highlighted

the role of ordinary fur hunters and traders in the process of colonization and tried to compare the Russian colonization of California with that of the Spanish. Okun’ speculated that the Russian colonies in California were part of a plan by the Russian government to colonize the entire Pacific region, including Hawaii and the Philippines, although there is no evidence of this. Golder, a specialist on pre-revolutionary Russian archives, made a good attempt at casting the settlements in California as the outgrowth of a long-held Russian desire to colo-

The flag of the Russian-American Company, which was formed in 1799 and existed untill 1881, once flew over Alaska.

nize lands in the North Pacific, but he failed to explore regional archives that might have helped him differentiate between the state-sponsored expeditions to discover new lands in 1700-1750 and the 19th century colonizations, which were primarily organized by Russian merchants. The  expansive  works of Nikolai Bolkhovitinov, published in 1966 in Russian, were a major breakthrough in  the study  of Fort Ross  within the framework of the history of Russian America  and the history of  U.S.-Russian relations. Bolkhovitinov’s monograph,

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Contemporary historians have focused on individual figures in the history of Russian America. Dawn Lea Black, of Kodiak,  Alaska, and Alexander Petrov of the Russian Academy of Sciences published a collection of documents and research materials on Natalia Shelikhova — one of the founders of the RussianAmerican Company and  the  first Russian permanent settlement in Alaska. (Dawn Lea Black and Alexander  Y.  Petrov,  Natalia Shelikhova: Russian Oligarch of Alaska Commerce  (Fairbanks, Ak: University of Alaska Press, 2010). Shelikhova was the first woman  to pay  close attention to the Russian presence south of Alaska in California. Petrov also worked with Ken Owens of California State University on a biography of the general manager of  the  Russian colonies, Alexander

23 The illustrations in the story “A Tale of Fort Ross” are drawn by Vera Belius, a young artist from the city of Pskov. She was inspired by folk paintings from the Russian North.

Baranov, who initiated the colonization of California with Ivan Kuskov. In the course of telling the story of Baranov, the book describes maritime Alaska and northern California as cultural borderlands where Russian, English, Spanish and American traders and indigenous peoples formed complex commercial, political, and domestic relationships that continue to influence these regions today. (Kenneth  N.  Owens  with  Alexander  Y.  Petrov,  Empire Maker: Aleksandr Baranov and Russian Colonial Expansion into Alaska and Northern California. Seattle and London:  University of Washington Press, 2015). Their work is one example of how present scholarship on Russian California and Fort Ross  is  taking into account the history of native people. Other historians, including James Gibson from York University in

In 2014, the Renova Fort Ross Foundation announced an international literary competion for a children’s story about the park. “A Tale of Fort Ross” by Maria Viryasova, a talented writer from the Ulyanovsk Region of Russia, was chosen from 70 submissions.

Canada, are taking a closer look at primary sources to provide a broader view of the connections between Russian colonies in Alaska and California. Gibson’s work, for example, explores the importance of Russia’s California colonies in providing food to its Alaska settlements. Gibson and Valery A. Tishkov and Alexei A. Istomin from the Russian Academy of Sciences have prepared a two-volume set on the Russian presence in California published both in Russian and English. It covers issues of everyday life in Russian California and includes information on Californian  flora and fauna (James R. Gibson and Alexei A. Istomin, and Valery A. Tishkov, eds. and comps.,  Russia in California: Russian Documents on Fort Ross and Russian-Californian Relations in 1803-1850,  trans.  James R. Gibson. Moscow: Nauka, 2005 and 2012).

U.S.-Russia Shared Frontiers: California / October 2016

which was translated into English in 1975, includes a chapter on Fort Ross detailing the history of the site. (Nikolai N.  Bolkhovitinov,  The  Beginnings of Russian-American Relations 1775-1815. trans. Elena Levin. Cambridge, Massachusetts. and London, England:  Harvard  University Press,  1975).  Bolkhovitinov later published a collection of documents providing a panoramic picture of the origins and development of  U.S.-Russian relations (Nikolai N. Bolkhovitinov, The United States and Russia: the Beginning of Relations, 1765–1815: Collection of Documents, ed. N.N. Bashkina, N.N. Bolkhovitinov, J.H. Brown, a.o. Washington  D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1980). Bolkhovitinov’s work inspired Richard Pierce  of  the University of Alaska, who popularized the history of Russian America and Fort Ross, with special emphasis on  the first governors (Richard A. Pierce, Builders of Alaska: The Russian Governors, 1818–1867:  Biographies of Alaska’s 13 Forgotten Governors, from L.A. Hagemeister to Prince D. P. Maksutov. Kingston, Ontario: The Limestone Press, 1986).  Pierce also  translated major Russian works  and published  a  dictionary in which readers  could find short biographies of  historical figures in Russian America (Richard A. Pierce, Russian America: A Biographical Dictionary.Kingston,  Ontario: The Limestone Press, 1990). While interesting and informative, the dictionary lacks footnotes and a substantial bibliography, which in some ways hinders its full use by scholars. Basil Dmytryshyn, professor emeritus at Portland State  University, who made extensive use of primary documents about the Russian colonies, provides better biographies of important figures in Russian America in his three-volume history of Russia’s attempts to colonize the area. (Basil  Dmytryshyn, E.A.P. Crownhart–Vaughan, Thomas  Vaughan,  eds. and trans.,  To Siberia and Russian America: Three Centuries of Russian Eastward Expansion: A Documentary Record  (Portland: Oregon Historical Society, 1985).

How to find success in Silicon Valley IN THE LAST FEW YEARS, MANY RUSSIAN DEVELOPERS AND STARTUPS HAVE MOVED TO SILICON VALLEY IN THE HOPES OF CONQUERING GLOBAL MARKETS AS THE NEXT GOOGLE, FACEBOOK OR UBER. BUT ONLY A SELECT FEW HAVE HAD ANY SUCCESS.

By Tatiana Indina

Tatiana Indina, Ph.D.

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Consultant on leadership and Innovation, CEO of the Indina-Consulting Business Communication agency, trainer for startups and entrepreneurs in Moscow and Silicon Valley, author of the book “CEO 2.0”, Fulbright visiting scholar (2012) at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington D.C., Harvard University Berkman Center fellow (2015).

5 INVENTIONS THAT CAN BE ATTRIBUTED TO RUSSIANS 2. TETRIS

By Maria Bunina, special to Russia Direct

Throughout its history, Russia has produced many great inventors and generators of ideas, many of whom left the country in order to fulfill their their potential. While other countries are often considered to be the birthplace of their inventions, in some ways they can still be said to be Russian.

1. GOOGLE Sergey Brin, a co-founder of the world’s most popular search engine, Google, was born in Moscow in 1973. He came to the United States with his parents when they emigrated from the Soviet Union in 1979. He earned his bachelor’s degree in mathematics at the University of Maryland, where his father, Mikhail Brin, taught the subject. Brin continued his education at Stanford University, where he earned his Ph.D. in computer science. Brin came by his talents as a mathmetician and programmer naturally. His mother Yevgenia worked as an engineer in the Soviet Union and at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in the U.S. Before moving to the U.S. his father was an economist at the elite Economic Research Institute at the State Planning Committee of the U.S.S.R.

The original addictive puzzle video game, Tetris was invented by Alexey Pajitnov in 1984. At the time, he worked at the Computing Center of the Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union where he researched problems of artificial intelligence and speech recognition. Tetris quickly became popular in Moscow and attracted interest from foreign businessmen. Confusion about rights and licenses meant that Pajitnov began to receive dividends only many years later, but the game gained fans around the world practically from the start. In 1988, Pajitnov set up the company AnimaTek, specializing in the development of gaming software, and moved to the U.S. (1991). He remains involved in game development.

Russian is not an issue. Here everyone is used to foreigners and different accents. If you are here, you are here. It matters little from where you come. It is important to grow your network, find partners, co-workers, lawyers, consultants, investors and make intelligent next steps.”

“One of the difficulties for Russia’s post-Soviet startups is the culture shock, when they try to use techniques from the old country in new environments and expect the same results.”

Anton Yakovlev, founder of Saex, a networking app for sales, believes the greatest impediment to opening a business in the United States is the visa question. “It is a great problem to attain the B1-B2 visa. Many try to open the H1B, L, O. Without the right

visa, you cannot start a company, open a bank account, receive or pay a salary, or even receive a drivers’ license,” Yakovlev says. Life is most difficult for those who do not have a strictly technical background, but rather a Russian education in business, management or marketing. “Many here learn to become developers, marketers, managers and PR specialists. Russian business education, or degree in social sciences is irrelevant here, it is much more important to have a technical background,” Gonebnyy says.

BUILDING THE RIGHT RELATIONSHIP Entrepreneur Renat Gabitov believes the greatest barrier to entry for new startups is finding financing. “The problem is that in order to launch a startup you often need capital. But the questions is where to get it?” Gabitov says. “In my case, I already had one successful business from which I had money I could invest in another venture. But what if there is no other business? Then you have to be working as you are managing your startup, and that is incredibly difficult.”

5. THE HELICOPTER

4. THE SMILEY 3. THE 90-60-90 BEAUTY STANDARD Many associate the ideal proportions for the female body with the name of French fashion designer Christian Lacroix. However, Russian artist Roman Tyrtov (known by the pseudonym Erté) also had a hand in creating the standard. Born into the family of a naval officer in St. Petersburg in 1892, Tyrtov rejected the military life and moved to Paris, where he became a correspondent for the St. Petersburgbased magazine, Damskiye Mody (Women’s Fashion). In 1915, he signed a contract with Harper`s Bazaar. Erté later worked for other major U.S., British and French publications, which is how women with these particular dimensions came to dominate the covers of major fashion magazines.

It is widely believed that the first smiley, or a stylized representation of a smiling face, was designed by American programmer Scott Fahlman. He planned to use these icons to separate serious messages from jokes on the bulletin board of Carnegie Mellon University. Fahlman’s first message using the emoticons is dated Sept. 19, 1982. However, the Russian writer Vladimir Nabokov actually came up with this symbol as early as May 1969, during an interview to Time Magazine. When asked how he ranked himself among living writers, he replied: “I often think there should exist a special typographical sign for a smile – some sort of concave mark, a supine round bracket, which I would now like to trace in reply to your question.”

In 1908-1911, Russian inventor Igor Sikorsky built his first two helicopters, and, in 1910, managed to take off in a plane constructed to his design. In 1912, he became the chief designer of the aviation department of the Russian-Baltic Plant in Riga, the capital of Latvia, which was then part of the Russian Empire, where several airplanes were built under his leadership. In 1918, Sikorsky emigrated to France, and the next year, he moved to the United States. It was there, in 1923, that he founded an aircraft-manufacturing company, the Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation, which later became a subsidiary of United Technologies Corporation. By 1939, the company created about 15 aircraft, and, in 1939, began to design and build helicopters. In 1967, his S-61 became the first helicopter to fly non-stop across Atlantic.

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Igor Shoifot, founder of the “Happy Farm” business incubator

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U.S.-Russia Shared Frontiers: California / October 2016

ilicon Valley is a mecca of innovation — the home of thousands of the largest technological companies, startups and investment funds in the world. The GDP of Silicon Valley, the largest center of innovation in the United States, is about $2.3 trillion, which is about half of the GDP of Russia. The amount of venture capital investment in Silicon Valley amounted to $50 billion in 2015. In the last few years, many Russian developers and startups have moved to Silicon Valley in the hopes of conquering global markets as the next Google, Facebook or Uber. But only a select few have had any success. Despite the illusion many Russians have that in such a place, in such a productive ecosystem, with so much talent, it will be easier to gain success than in their own country, the reality is much more complicated. Russian entrepreneurs and investors face a particular set of challenges breaking into the market, and perhaps not the ones they would expect. According to Igor Gonebnyy, the founder of the educational platform Coursmos, “the fact that we are

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Of course, most startups hope to get funding from investors. Pavel Cherkashin, a venture investor who moved from Moscow to Silicon Valley believes that the ability to find necessary connections and get recommendations is key for a startup. “You have to be able to get an introduction to an important investor. Here investors only receive new faces through recommendations. Otherwise there is no trust,” says Cherkashin. Igor Shoifot, founder of the “Happy Farm” business incubator, sees it differently. “In Russia, all startups believe in the golden investor and a good pitch,” he says. “This is very naive. All you really have to do is to find the right person, make your pitch and all will be well. It is an illusion to say that only connections help success here. Maybe someone will pay attention to you, but unless your business is growing, no one will invest in you. It is important where you come from, if you have already accomplished great things, and have some interesting projects in your past, everyone will want to invest in you.” Stanislav Shalunov, inventor of the FireChat messaging app, which uses wireless mesh networking technology, has worked in Silicon Valley for many years. “Finding a first ‘intro’ to an investor is not the most complicat-

Stanislav Shalunov, inventor of the FireChat messaging app

Because later they can lose on a deal if the company does well. Investors want to be able to invest at any time — maybe later if the company begins doing better. This is why you will almost never hear a straight ‘no’ from them,” he says. Yakovlev agrees. “The atmosphere here is very open. Everyone is glad to communicate and share information. Everyone is polite, and no one will tell you if you are not making sense. Maybe they even won’t be able to understand your bad English,” he says.

GETTING ON THE GROUND

“The entrepreneur needs to be able to overcome the lack of resources. A lack of resources — this is an impediment that can be overcome, but a lack of understanding of entrepreneurial culture — this is a more serious issue.”

ed task for a startup,” Shalunov says. “During the growth process, startups will have to solve complex problems, they need to learn how to do it.” Shalunov argues that one of the challenges that Russian startups face in finding funding is getting the nuance of speaking to local investors. “Investors always praise, because they gain nothing by being derisive.

Taking the plunge and relocating to the San Francisco area is critical. “We only talk to startup founders with the goal to permanently move to the Bay Area,” said Anna Dvornikova, managing partner at TEC Ventures and the founder of the Silicon Valley Open Doors (SVOD) Conference. “Founders, management is the key to be in the Valley. Local investors conduct deals within a few miles of Palo Alto, because here they understand the rules of the game. They need to

be able to trust the company and have regular contact with the startup.” Gonebnyy agrees with this assessment. “No one invests in Russia from here. The company must be located in the Valley, you have to be within the same space as your investors. The team may remain in Russia, but the CEO must come to California, and the price of housing in the Valley is astronomical,” he says. Ilya Os, an entrepreneur, echoes this view. To quote him, moving to California is a big personal challenge. “It is a sort of the marathon,” he says. “You should be super strong, smart, and sturdy to participate in the rivalry. Here you will deal with visa procedures, learn English, and pay bills 10 times as high as in Russia. But in reality, many enjoy the marathon: The payoffs will be high if you succeed and reach the finish line.” For those who do manage to make it in the Valley, the satisfaction comes from more than just money. “I began my own startup after being a managing director and Google and Microsoft,” says Konstantin Roslyakov, the founder of Golf Pad, a mobile app for golf players. “One has to work a lot more at a start-up and earn a lot less. But it is satisfactory to know that you are working on what you want to do. It is more interesting to work for yourself, you can move a lot faster, and your personal impact is greater. You can gain a lot more, but there are no guarantees.” Added investor Shoifot, “Those who come here are more successful than the locals. They are not afraid of risk, they have burned bridges behind them, they have to support families, they are ready to work hard for their results.” Pavel Cherkashin, venture investor

“You have to be able to get an introduction to an important investor. Here investors only receive new faces through recommendations. Otherwise there is no trust.”

OPIN

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Axel Tillmann is C.E.O. of the U.S. subsidiary of the Russian Venture Company, RVC USA.

While the company was founded by Eugene Kaspersky in 1997, its daughter company in North America, based in Massachusetts, was established in 2004.

vendors in the sector, and it is twice the size of McAfee’s.  Kaspersky is an important case study in what it takes to be truly successful in the market. The company had a great product, but what made the firm successful was its brilliant go-to-market strategy, crafted in cooperation with North American market managers. Wisely, Kaspersky’s leadership chose to tap experts in the local market to craft the company’s strategy rather than trying to do it by themselves. I’m not ashamed to admit that as a German immigrant, I started down the path of launching a product with a limited sense of marketing skills, believing in The Field of Dreams theory, “if we build it, they will come.”  Unfortunately, that’s just not so.  After a long and painful journey of my own, I finally came around to seeing the benefits of hiring professionals who know how to play the game, but this required that I make a change in my way of thinking. I have met many talented Russians during the last five years and they are hungry to succeed; but most need the same kind of awakening I had in order to create their own success stories.  Not everyone will become Google co-founder Sergey Brin, or even Birger Steen, who created the extremely successful software platform Parallels, but the opportunity to be a success is available to all who can combine their love for technological achievements with excellence in marketing and sales.  Here are few more examples of innovators with Russian who have found that success: Valentin Gapontsev (IPG Photonics), Yuri Milner (investor), Stepan Pachikov (Evernote), David Yan (ABBYY). 

Silicon Valley is truly a magical place, and anyone who comes to work here learns quickly that the main advantage of the Valley is the network that exists.  Russians have a high chance of succeeding in Silicon Valley if they surround themselves with others whose talents complement their own. One way to do this is to join a networking organization. Two of the larger networking organizations for Russian entrepreneurs and developers are AMBAR (American Business Association of Russian Speaking Processionals) and the Global Technology Symposium, led by the legendary Alexandra Johnson.  While current geopolitics is encouraging Russian entrepreneurs to take another look at China, culturally Russians are closer to the U.S. mentality. In the long-term, Russia and Russians have little to gain from China. What interests do the Chinese have in helping Russia develop a culture of innovation?  Chinese companies have a clear track record of observing the ideas and the scientific research of others, and then reverse engineering it to create their own products.  I encourage investors to embrace Russian entrepreneurs and help them find a U.S. partner. Such partnerships are sure to create wealth and be beneficial for both countries. Only if we encourage this free entrepreneurial spirit can we stop the long-standing intellectual brain drain that Russia has experienced for so many years.  Let’s work together to make some money. Software company ABBYY was founded in 1989 by David Yan, who graduated from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology.

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U.S.-Russia Shared Frontiers: California / October 2016

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lthough it may come as a surprise to many, Russians have long had a presence in the U.S., particularly in Silicon Valley. It’s a mistake, especially for businesspeople, to trust the picture politicians and the media paint of Russia. Many Russian IT companies view Silicon Valley as the promised land, and many Russians have much to contribute here. Most Russians arrive in the U.S. with a strong education and a different way of looking at the world that enables them to “design” products.  I speak from experience. In one of my startups, I partnered with a Russian named Vladimir who quietly worked away in his office.  Occasionally he would get up from his chair and step to a white board to sketch out his design plans.  Eventually there would be the sound of his keyboard clicking as he produced on his screen what he had designed in his mind. Eventually we created a great product. There are plenty of Vladimirs working away in U.S. tech companies. In other cases, whole Russian companies have found success in the U.S. market. One company worth highlighting is Kaspersky Lab. The Moscow-based firm was a dark horse in the software security business, up against such competition as McAfee and Symantec.  Yet today, Kaspersky’s market share is in the top eight of all

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Russian contributions rich in Silicon Valley

Nazimova’s spectacular Spanish-style house on Sunset Boulevard (the Garden of Alla) also became a celebrated site for wild parties for the Hollywood elite, including Nazimova’s lesbian entourage and members of the growing Russian émigré community. On tour in California in 1921, young Russian composer and pianist Sergei Prokofiev was invited to a party celebrating the Old Russian New Year. He described it in his diary: “Nazimova has a charming little house, along with a small and pleasant group of film people and artists. The evening—or rather, the night—passed very agreeably, everyone got a bit drunk… At twelve midnight the lights were extinguished, we shouted ‘hurrah,’ someone sang ‘God Save the Tsar,’ and then the ‘Marsellaise.’ We finally agreed upon the ‘Glory’ chorus from Glinka’s opera A Life for the Tsar, which I predicted would become the new Russian national anthem. At five a.m. we went out into the garden, where it was warm and smelled so fresh—and enjoyed California.” But Nazimova was not able to survive the coming of the “talkies.” Her heavy Russian accent did not work in the leading romantic roles she had been playing in silent films. Those who did flourish in the new sound environment—Tamiroff,

The 1939 drama Love Affair stars Irene Dunne and Charles Boyer, and features Maria Ouspenskaya (center) as the grandmother of Boyer’s character.

Russia’s Hollywood legacy RUSSIAN ACTORS HAVE BEEN FEATURED IN AMERICAN FILMS ALMOST FROM THE BEGINNING, AND THE INFLUENCE OF RUSSIA ON HOLLYWOOD THROUGH SUCH LUMINARIES AS STANISLAVSKY IS INCALCULABLE. 28

Harlow Robinson, special to Russia Direct hen the legendary Moscow Art Theater (MAT) made its first tour to the United States in 1923, the cast was overwhelmed by the enthusiastic reception. “We have never had such a success in Moscow or anywhere else. No one seems to have had any idea of what our theater or actors are capable of,” said the legendary Konstantin Stanislavsky, the theater’s cofounder. The box-office receipts for the MAT were the largest ever recorded for any dramatic company performing on Broadway in any language, including English, and the MAT performances were all in Russian. Over a period of 16 months, the MAT gave 380 performances of 13 productions in 12 American cities. Many of the actors who toured the United States with the MAT chose to remain rather than return to a chaotic Russia just beginning to recover from the devastation of the 1917 revolutions and the ensuing Civil War.

Robinson is the author of “Russians in Hollywood, Hollywood’s Russians” and “Sergei Prokofiev: A Biography.” He has also contributed a number of essays and reviews of Russian and Soviet culture for the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the Boston Globe, The Nation and other publications. He has traveled to Russia and the former Soviet Union regularly since 1970. He is a professor of history at Northeastern University.

sian-speakers spoke English with heavy accents. Indeed, one of the most successful actresses of the time was Alla Nazimova (1879-1945), another student of Stanislavsky and his colleague Vladimir NemirovichDanchenko. Born in Yalta, she had come to the United States even before the Russian Revolution, in 1905, and made her first film War Brides in 1916.

Eventually many of them made their way from New York to Los Angeles, where the Hollywood film industry was booming and acting jobs plentiful. Among them were such accomplished actors as Akim Tamiroff, Maria Ouspenskaya, Olga Baclanova and Vladimir Sokoloff. All of them enjoyed long and successful careers in the movies. During the silent film era, it mattered little that these Rusfor

Tiomkin r Dmitri ard Compose3 Academy Aw scars 2 O received s and won four riginal Song. on st O nominati l Score and Be gina Best Ori

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Stephen Recka (Akim Tamiroff) grabbing Nicki Kusnoff’s (Anthony Quinn) jacket in the 1938 film Dangerous to Know.

rectors Rouben Mamoulian (an Armenian born in Georgia and educated in Moscow) and Lewis Milestone (born Lev Milshtein in Odessa and raised in Kishinev). One of the most consistent and productive craftsmen among directors of his era, Milestone (1895-1980) completed 38 films over a period of 37 years during which the technical possibilities of film underwent unprecedented change and development, from silent to sound and from black-and-white to color. All Quiet on the Western Front (1930), his poetic and disturbing adaptation of Erich Maria Remarque’s novel about

World War I, won two Academy Awards, for Best Direction and for Best Picture, and still ranks among the most innovative, powerful and influential antiwar films ever made. Many other Russians worked behind the screen. Composer Dmitri Tiomkin (1894-1979), born in Ukraine and educated at the St. Petersburg Conservatory, was one of the most successful film composers of all time. His scores garnered 23 Academy Award nominations. Many of the films he scored were “Westerns” — the quintessentially American film genre, including the classic High Noon (1952). Tiomkin found strong simi-