PARIS, Nov. 14, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- November 14 marks the 100th anniversary of the exodus of a squadron of the Imperial Black Sea Fleet from Crimea and Sevastopol - the "Russian Exodus". More than 150 thousand people on 126 ships left Russia forever. This marked the end of the organized white movement in the territory of revolutionary Russia. The Cossack units went to the Greek island of Lemnos, the army units went to the Turkish peninsula Gallipoli, and the sailors went to Bizerta, the port of Tunis under the control of the French authorities. As a result, tens of thousands of Russian compatriots found themselves in Turkey, Greece, Malta, Bulgaria, Serbia, France and other countries.
On the whole, during the first wave of white Russian emigration, Russia suffered irreparable damage, which was difficult to compensate, but at the same time emigration played a huge role in the formation and development of world culture. Russian church emigration has had a great impact on the expansion of Orthodoxy in Europe, including the establishment of new Orthodox churches. The contribution to the development of the Slavic countries was impressively large.
Even traditionally self-sufficient Asian states and Latin American countries were influenced by the traditions of Russian emigrants. Russian emigration of the first wave gave the world three Nobel laureates, outstanding artists, a plethora of famous scientists and technologists. Vladimir Nabokov emerged from the Russian emigration, leaving a bright mark not only in Russian, but also in English-language literature of the 20th century.
As part of a century of tragic historical events throughout the year, Rossotrudnichestvo holds events designed to reflect the contribution of Russian compatriots to the development of science and culture of those countries that have become their second home after emigration from Russia.
Rossotrudnichestvo representative offices in the countries, which 100 years ago hosted Russians (in Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, France, Greece, Serbia, Tunisia, Turkey), all year round scientific conferences and round tables, thematic documentary and historical exhibitions and film screenings, youth educational competitions, book presentations, installation of memorial signs.
The main purpose of the events is to reunite historical Russia and modern Russia. They, first of all, tell about destinies of the Russians who have been forced out of the homeland, about history of their communities and descendants, about that trace which they have left in history, culture, science and public life of other countries.
