Russia's old houses in Yekaterinburg

One of the many old wooden houses, mostly unoccupied and some available, in Ekaterinburg, Russia /Photo by Patricia Leslie, July, 2018

Where is Yekaterinburg and why did I go there? (Ekaterinburg is the Russian spelling, and the pronunciation is German:  EkaterinBORG.)

Glad you wondered!  I went to satisfy my affinity for Russian history, specifically, the Romanovs, and, if the truth be known, I realized while there I am nothing more (or less) than a Romanov "groupie." (Russians pronounce the name, RomanOFF.)

An old house in Ekaterinburg, Russia/Photo by Patricia Leslie, July, 2018

 
A closer view of the house shown two above, in Ekaterinburg, Russia /Photo by Patricia Leslie, July, 2018

Ekaterinburg is the site of the murders of the seven Romanovs and their staff of four on July 17, 1918. It is Russia's fourth largest city (population, about 1.5 million) but third in terms of economy.  It is shedding its industrial image, but most of Ekaterinburg's cars have dusty bottoms and tires, but no litter or trash was seen on any street I visited in three cities. 

 

An old house in Ekaterinburg, Russia/Photo by Patricia Leslie, July, 2018

 

Another view of a house in Ekaterinburg, Russia/Photo by Patricia Leslie, July, 2018

Ekaterinburg lies about 900 miles east of Moscow, in the Ural Mountains which, as mountains go, are not like "our" mountains, but rather flat, but perhaps that was because we were high up which didn't feel like it. I never needed an oxygen infusion, and my guide said the vast forests surrounding Ekaterinburg (beautiful from the air) serve to combat industrial pollution. (Attention, Trump, if you are listening, can you hear me? Russians believe in "global warming.") 

It is a crime to cut trees, she said, which explains why I never saw any lumber trucks carrying freight here and yon, but back to history.

This house in Ekaterinburg has two statues on each front corner and a plaque which states in Russian and English, "A.D. Andreyeva's House - Exemplar of the late 19th century residential building with the facade decoration in 'brick' style." Russians are more superstitious than we and often touch statues for "good luck" as this fellow in the right corner is doing/Photo by Patricia Leslie, July, 2018


Ekaterinburg's tricentennial approacheth!  2023.  A great time to go! (Aeroflot is a wonderful airline to carry you there two hours from Moscow after a direct flight from Dulles, 9.5 hours.  Aeroflot gives beverages and half sandwiches on domestic flights (! No starving like on flights inside the U.S.) and two three-course meals with choices plus a light breakfast and open snack bar on the flight from Dulles.  Believe me, save a day of your life and fly Aeroflot and not Finn Air Thin Air!)

An old house in Ekaterinburg, Russia/Photo by Patricia Leslie, July, 2018

A health care center in a formerly old house in Ekaterinburg, Russia. See the carvings found at most of these houses/Photo by Patricia Leslie, July, 2018

 

A corner with street names on  an old, wooden house in Ekaterinburg, Russia/Photo by Patricia Leslie, July, 2018

This is one of a family's compound of three houses (the others, pictured below), according to the guide, and this one is now used as a consulate by one of the "'Stans," either Tajikistan or Turkmenistan, as I recall. Enlarge the plaques on the walls and see if the wording is legible and please check the lovely contrast between the satellite dish and the building. I believe the others below are available/Photo by Patricia Leslie, July, 2018

The front of one of the family's compound of three structures (please see above and below), and this photo does not begin to convey the enormity of the place//Photo by Patricia Leslie, July, 2018

This is another view of the same house pictured above/Photo by Patricia Leslie, July, 2018

The last of the family's compound of three buildings, and this one now is a gaming room.  Please note the beautiful fencing which stands at many of these old structures/Photo by Patricia Leslie, July, 2018

An old house in Ekaterinburg, Russia/Photo by Patricia Leslie, July, 2018

 

An old house in Ekaterinburg, Russia/Photo by Patricia Leslie, July, 2018

The same house as two above in Ekaterinburg, Russia/Photo by Patricia Leslie, July, 2018

The city was named after Peter the Great's second wife, Catherine  whom he married several years after stashing his first wife in the famed (still standing and open for tours) Novodevichy Convent in Moscow (they pronounce it MosKO, not "COW"), but more on that later.  (The same convent where he also imprisoned his conniving half-sister, Sofia, who tried to seize his power more than once and to make the point, Peter hung the body of one of her troops outside her convent window.  Nice.  See painting below. )

In the original by I. Y. Repin (1844-1930) found at the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow, the body of a troop member can be seen hanging outside Sofia's convent/cell window. The painting label says: "Princess Sofia Alexeyevna A Year After Her Incarceration in the Novodevichy Convent During the Execution of the Streltsys and the Torturing of All Her Servants in 1698.  Acquired by P. M. Tretyakov in 1879 from the artist"
 
Not only is Ekaterinburg the sad location of the murders and the last domicile of the family, imprisoned in the Ipatiev House, but 9.5 miles away is the first place, Ganina Yama, where the Bolsheviks threw their bodies and bones into an abandoned mine shaft and then moved them July 19, 4.5 miles to another burial ground, the Porosyonkov Ravine, to keep Bolshevik enemies, the approaching Whites, from finding the remains. (A post and photos to come.)

Knowing there is no "smoking gun" linking Lenin to the killings (like there is no "smoking gun" linking O.J. Simpson to the murders of his ex-wife and friend), it is perplexing why Russia reveres Lenin with multiple statues and monuments. 

When I visited Ekaterinburg, it was a week past the centennial of the murders.

On my first day and upon entering a coffee shop, three employees rushed over when they learned I was an American tourist. (Everywhere I went in the city, I was treated as a celebrity!)

Said a waiter, about 30, in good English: "This is rather exciting because you are the third tourist I've seen this week!" 

But, he said in a statement with his hand on his hip: "Why would anyone want to come to Russia?"  (Later, a history major and waiter at a restaurant in St. Petersburg, told me:  "Russian history is boring.  It's nothing but wars and wars, and no, I don't like Putin and neither do three of my colleagues here!" To which I replied "nyet" to their belittlements of their nation's history, but I digress...again.)

These old houses in Ekaterinburg populate many downtown streets (but not to be seen near city centers in Moscow or St. Petersburg where land prices are higher).  

Most of these structures appeared empty, however, one is a "gaming house" of sorts, according to my guide, where groups go to compete and have fun.

(When my driver and portage met me at the Ekaterinburg airport, the first thing the portage asked was:  "Is your media free in the U.S.?"  Yes, I said, is yours? Which he did not answer.  Many in Russia are still afraid to talk, remembering "Soviet times," and as one told me (she said she had been at the American White House this past January!), the government in Russia knows how you vote. One of my American colleagues said our government knows how we vote, too.  So it goes!)

Don't you love these old remnants?  The families were quite large then and needed the space.  Enjoy!

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Best Comedy, Best Satire! 'The Death of Stalin'

Maybe Oscar will add "comedic satire" as a category since, for fans of Russian history, The Death of Stalin is a scream. I choked on my popcorn more than once. I loved it all.

How is it possible to laugh about a murderer who killed between three million and 60 million of his own people? (The most quoted figure is 20 million.) The movie is about his death. The Russian people sobbed when they learned he was dead! Stalin!  
Well, is he or isn't he? Only a "good" doctor knows for sure, but since Stalin had them all snuffed out (to combat a conspiracy) none were left to treat the dictator save the "bad" ones. From The Death of Stalin/Photo by Madman
Recognizing Steve Buscemi (who plays a slim then Khrushchev in Death) from Fargo 22 years ago made my heart leap, anticipating I would laugh even more. I did.

Soviet leaders follow Stalin's coffin. Photo by Baltermants and Gostev - Published Ogoniok issue 11 (1344) dated Mar 13 1953., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org. On the far right is Nikita Khrushchev and third from right is (I think) Lavrentiy Beria, Stalin's top secret police chief and a major role in the film, acted by Simon Russell Beale.

Just a wee bit of knowledge about the assassin's life and rule in Russia is enough to set you on track to enjoy a good time with Russian leaders while they scramble to beat up their comrades and stab each other in the backs on their marches to replace Joseph Stalin (1878-1953) after he died. (Russia's official "rules" of succession and directions for a state funeral are often screened in the film to keep viewers abreast about the order of things.)

Writer/director Armando Iannucci (the Scottish creator of the HBO series, Veep) promises half the film is true, which includes but is not limited to, the opening concert scene, the deaths of hundreds of Russians (the film says 1,500) crushed by the mobs coming to pay last respects, the tomato in the pocket, Stalin's irrational son, Vasily, the suicide of Stalin's wife, his death (after his stroke, he lay for hours in a pool of his own urine because no one had the courage to approach him), and his affinity for late night movies.

Whatever truth there is, it's a hoot and a riot with terrific music by Chris Willis to match the mood (compositions by Mozart, Chopin, and Tchaikovsky). All throughout I kept wondering where the movie was filmed (does Russia allow movie locations?) which, based on the credits, I presume was shot in London and Belgium. This story confirms London and some "secret screens" in Moscow. (как интересно.)

That the writers have brilliantly utilized facts and exaggerated them with slap stick, happening "behind the scenes" (tragic, in many cases) is testament to their originality, creativeness, and insight into what makes a great laugh out loud movie.

The Russian have banned the film, but with the election over and the victor declared (!), perhaps the government will relent and permit this one to screen so the people can scream (but would they consider it sacrilege?).

I liked Death of Stalin before I bought the popcorn. Before I ever entered the movie house, I liked it and knew I was in for a good laugh, something we don't get enough of these days. Said Director Iannucci in an interview in The Atlantic after some suggested a similarity between Trump and Stalin:
 

"Stalin called anyone who disagreed with him an enemy of the people. Trump calls them unpatriotic and false. With people like Berlusconi and indeed Putin, and Erdoğan in Turkey—these “strongmen,” as it were—it feels a little bit like the 1930s again.

"Trump’s instinct is to call for jailing of opponents. If Saturday Night Live does an impression of him, he starts calling for NBC’s license to be looked into. For someone who is head of a party that’s all about government backing off, he’s very much for telling people what to think, what to watch, who shouldn’t be speaking out—he’s very authoritarian. The rule of law is his law."

P.S. The F bomb drops about every 30 seconds.

Дорогие читатели в России, если вы нажмете  

здесь, вы можете посмотреть видео из 

«Смерти Сталина».

patricialesli@gmail.com

Film 'Finding Babel' highly recommended

Isaac Babel, 1930s/ Wikipedia

When I told my friend Joe that he had missed Finding Babel with Isaac Babel's grandson at the Kennan Institute at the Woodrow Wilson Center, he was aghast:

"I have his short stories at home. He is one of the finest Russian writers!"
 
Indeed, he is. Isaac Babel's stories, especially Red Cavalry and The Odessa Tales are considered among the finest in Russian literature (Wikipedia). A Guardian writer has called him "Russia's first modernist."

From left at the Woodrow Wilson Center are Blair Ruble, moderator and vice president for programs and senior advisor, Kennan Institute;  Andrei Malaev-Babel, associate professor of theatre, Florida State University, and David Novack, director, writer and producer of Finding Babel/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Isaac Babel was born in Odessa, Ukraine in 1894 and lived until 1940 when he became one of millions killed by the Stalinist regime. His stories led to his death since Mr. Babel challenged the ideology of the early Soviet Union. In its promotional literature, the Kennan called his writings, "subversive masterpieces."
 
Washingtonians got a sneak preview of David Novak's film and the search for the author's past and more of his writings when Mr. Novak and Mr. Babel's grandson, Andrei Malaev-Babel, presented the film to a SRO crowd at the Center for International Scholars in Washington.

Andrei Malaev-Babel/Photo by Patricia Leslie

For any fan of literature and/or Russian history, the film is "must-see." It is a poignant documentary and tribute to Mr. Babel, filled with quotes from his writings and landmarks of his life, gently defining him and a portion of Russia. With the turmoil in Ukraine and Russia's bullying tactics, Mr. Babel's reputation has grown.

Complementing Mr. Babel's story throughout the film are Russia's landscape and haunting music whose composer, Ljova (Lev Zhurbin), Mr. Malaev-Babel and Mr. Novak praised in the grandest of terms. Mr. Ljova's mostly solemn score fills the film in an unobtrusive way and lays the groundwork for the ending. 

Andrei Malaev-Babel/Photo by Patricia Leslie

When the screening ended, Mr. Novak and Mr. Malaev-Babel, now a teacher at Florida State University, talked about their movie project and answered questions from the audience.

It wasn't until the 1980s that Mr. Malaev-Babel's grandmother learned the truth about her husband's disappearance and death. She was besieged with requests for interviews which didn't take long to became tiresome, her grandson said.   

After she died, Mr. Malaev-Babel and Mr. Novack got together and decided, "why not?"

They scoured Russia and libraries in search of all things Babel whose life and remnants the former regime had tried to wipe out. Making their film en route and finding places "constantly bubbling up of history," Mr. Novack said they found "threads of truth in all [the] myths."

David Novack/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Said Mr. Novack: "We really immersed ourselves in Babel's literature."
 
From Mr. Malaev-Babel, a "curator [at the FSB; formerly the KGB] was a bit too open with the archives. I think his successor will not be as open."

Odessa has a literary museum which is not uncommon in Ukraine and Russia, but rare in the U.S., Mr. Novack said.

According to Mr. Malaev-Babel: "History does not change. It keeps repeating itself. Many countries commit atrocities so why do we point a finger at Russia? Why not sweep it under the table?"
 
Mr. Novack: "Memory is painful. Memory of darkness is a very powerful threat and people don't want to go there."
 
Whenever Mr. Novack sees the film, "it's different every time."  

Blair Ruble, a Kennan senior advisor, served as moderator for the presentation and asked the pair why the Odessa stories are important now.
 
Mr. Malaev-Babel said his grandfather created an alternate universe. "People there [Odessa] can't understand what all the fuss is about Babel. Now everyone imagines Odessa as the way Babel created it, which is inaccurate."
 
His grandfather "created a myth. He had a great gift," but "if Odessa was like Babel described it, we wouldn't be here today."

Founded by Catherine the Great in 1794, Odessa, formerly known as the "Pearl of the Black Sea," is the third most populous city in Ukraine. It is still an important port. In "Soviet times" (1922-1991) and earlier, it was the south capital of the Russian government,

In the Ukrainian-Russian clashes of 2014, about 50 Odessa residents were killed. A survey later that year found no support among Odessa residents to rejoin Russia whose leader, Vladimir Putin, would, no doubt, like to add Odessa back to his empire.

"For a while 'they' tried to convince my grandmother" her husband's writings had been destroyed, Mr. Malaev-Babel said, "but there is a hope" that still more will be found. Two plays have been discovered.

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Vintage gowns, jewels, accessories end at Hillwood Jan. 10

Marjorie Merriweather Post wore this gown in celebration of her husband's bestselling book and movie, Mission to Moscow, about their lives in the Soviet Union from 1937 to 1938. Miss Post commissioned the jewels from Cartier/Photo by Patricia Leslie

 Darling, for a sumptuous visual feast, you would do yourself (and others of similar persuasion) a favor to visit Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens and luxuriate in Marjorie Merriweather Post's elegant gowns, now the centerpiece of an exhibition, Ingenue to Icon.   

Shoes, parasols, and other accessories complete her outfits in a 20th century fashion history which embrace 70 years of Miss Post's life.

The dresses pictured here are from the first part of the exhibition, no longer on view but changed out for another presentation of gowns which may be seen through January 10. 

They are but a small portion of Miss Post's ensemble of 175 gowns and 300 accessories (of 17,000 objects at the museum) featured in the show which is arranged chronologically.   

A 150-paged color catalogue is available.

This dress (which rotated at the display on a pedestal) opened the first part of the exhibition.  It's made of silk satin and includes the velvet and fur drape slung/resting on the chair.  For the accompanying 1934 portrait by Frank Salisbury, Miss Post wore a double-strand pearl necklace and Cartier bracelets/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Marjorie Merriweather Post (1887-1973) was/is a celebrity icon, a socialite, and philanthropist with a net worth of $5 billion (Wikipedia).  

The daughter of the cereal magnate, wife of four, and mother of three daughters (of whom only the youngest, the actress Dina Merrill, survives and celebrates her 92nd birthday December 29),

Miss Post lived in the Soviet Union during 1937 and 1938 with Husband No. 3, Joseph E. Davies who served as the U.S. ambassador under Joseph Stalin.

While in the Soviet Union, the couple's affinity for Russian imperial art developed, aided by their purchases, often at discounted rates, of the things they grew to love.  (Stalin needed the money for his industrialization projects.  This scenario can be compared to the Nazi seizure of masterpieces from Jewish families before and during World War II since some of the Russian art allegedly was taken from murdered royalty and private Russian citizens.)

Outside Russia, Hillwood has the world's largest collection of that nation's imperial art.  (One could only imagine how Vladimir Putin would like to have it back. A point of negotiation?  If he were to visit and ride horseback topless through Hillwood's 25 acres with BFF Donald Trump, consider Hillwood's ticket sales!  This activity is in keeping with both personalities, however, it would run counter to the style, class, and sophistication Miss Post represented so let's forget this possibility and move on.  BTW, in 1985 Mr. Trump bought Miss Post's Palm Beach mansion, Mar-A-Lago. The links are ceaseless.) 

Miss Post wore "my first ballgown" on her 16th birthday, March 15, 1903. Photographs and portraits of her in various apparel complement the garments in the exhibition/Photo by Patricia Leslie

With her two daughters, Adelaide and Eleanor, this 1918 portrait depicts Miss Post in an "afternoon dress"/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Calling Agatha Christie.  This was a "traveling dress" with accessories, circa 1910/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Miss Post's suffragette suit which she wore as a member of the New York State Woman Suffragette Party when the group met with President Woodrow Wilson in Washington on Oct. 25, 1917. The hat on the table reminds me of a big black bird flying in for a landing. (Have you seen the movie, Suffragette?  A must-see.  One of the year's best!) 

If the skirt were a foot shorter or pants, it could have come from the closet of Barbara Bush or Hillary Clinton, don't you think?/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Miss Post's Paris-designed dress was considered daring with its bifurcated skirt, inspired by the Ballets Russes which took Europe and America "by storm" when it performed from 1909 to 1929/Photo by Patricia Leslie

A 1935 Bergdorf Goodman creation in the "Hollywood style"/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Miss Post wore this on Oct. 31, 1957, when in recognition of her long devotion to France, the French ambassador awarded her the cross of the Chevalier of the Legion of Honor (the red ribbon sewn to her dress).  During World War I she established a hospital in northern France and in 1955, the bicentennial of Marie Antoinette's birth, helped raise money for Versailles/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Some of Miss Post's gowns/Photo by Patricia Leslie

The white "mermaid dress" was a gown Miss Post wore for the opening of the New York Philharmonic at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in September, 1962. The black "mermaid dress" is Hillwood's most recent addition, given last August by Miss Post's great-grandson, Post Steven Dye.  In the photograph circa 1962 taken at Hillwood, Miss Post wears the dress made of silk crepe,

nylon organza, chiffon, and iridescent sequins.  Miss Post bought Hillwood in 1955/Photo by Patricia Leslie

In 1952 when she was 65, Miss Post wore this gown for the portrait by Douglas Chandor.  It was designed by Ann Lowe, an African American who, in the previous year, created Jacqueline Bouvier's wedding dress for her marriage to John F. Kennedy/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Gowns in Hillwood's dining room/Photo by Patricia Leslie

More Hillwood and Post finery in the mansion, the designs which suggest an adaptation of the Winged Victory of Samothrace/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Nicholas II who served as tsar of Russia from 1894 to 1917 is positioned on the right wall upon entrance to the mansion's Pavilion theater used for after-dinner movies and dancing.  On a nearby piano in the Pavilion are photographs of Nicholas, his wife and five children, all murdered by the Bolsheviks on July 17, 1918.   Will the Russians have a commemoration in their honor for the upcoming centennial of their deaths?/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Another portrait of Nicholas II, also in the Pavilion on the left wall/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Hillwood's north portico where visitors enter/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Hillwood's south portico where visitors dream/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Steps to a Hillwood pond with statuary, all open for visitors' exploration and enjoyment/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Natural beauties found outdoors in the cutting garden/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Many rooms at the Hillwood mansion are open to the public, including upstairs bedrooms and dressing rooms.

See the post on Hillwood's 2011 exhibition of the Posts' wedding dresses.

From the website:

Hillwood Estate, Museum and Garden’s mandate is to preserve the 25 acre estate, museum and gardens that Marjorie Merriweather Post developed to house her important collections of Russian Imperial art, French decorative arts, costumes, textiles, and jewelry and to interpret and present them for the enjoyment of the public.

What:  Ingenue to Icon: 70 Years of Fashion from the Collection of Marjorie Merriweather Post

When:  Now through January 10, 2016, including New Year's Day, Tuesdays through Saturdays, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m., and Sundays, 1 - 5 p.m.  Closed on Mondays.

Where:  Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens "Where Fabulous Lives," 4155 Linnean Avenue, NW, Washington, D.C. 20008

Suggested donation:  $18 (adults), $15 (seniors), $10 (students), $5 (child, ages 6 -18) and free for those under age 6.

Discount:  When reservations are made online, prices for adults and seniors are reduced $3 for weekday admissions and $1 for weekends. (Click here.)

Members' dogs:  Welcome on Sunday mornings (!)

Parking:  Free, on-site

Biking and walking:  Encouraged; bike racks available.

For more information:  202-686-5807

Metro station: Van Ness/UDC station on the Red Line, then walk a (mostly uphill) mile and burn off Christmas calories.  (Taxis, available.)

Metro bus stop: The L1 or L2 bus stops at the corner of Connecticut and Tilden streets, NW, about a half mile's (mostly uphill) walk from Hillwood.

patricialesli@gmail.com