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Afro-Russians

James Patterson, Lyubov Orlova and Sergei Stolyarov. From the movie Circus (1936)
Total population
30,000 (2013) 40,000 to 70,000 (2009)
Regions with significant populations
Moscow, Astrakhan, Yekaterinburg
Languages
Russian · Abkhaz · Niger–Congo languages · Nilo-Saharan languages · English · French
Religion
Predominantly Christianity

Afro-Russians (Russian: Афророссияне, romanized: Afrorossiyane) are Russians of African descent. The Metis Foundation estimates that there were about 30,000 Afro-Russians in 2013.

Terminology

Representatives of African peoples in the Russian language have been commonly called negry. The word negr comes from Spanish: negro (the color black in Spanish) through other European languages (German: Neger, French: nègre).

History

Russian Empire

There was never an observable number of people of African descent in Russia, even after Western European colonization of the continent. For centuries Russia was too isolated to interact with Africa. Russia's non-involvement in the colonization of Africa or the Atlantic slave trade prevented it from developing significant relationships with African tribes or colonies. Despite this, Abram Petrovich Gannibal, a Russian of princely African descent, became a general and nobleman in the Russian Empire. After being kidnapped from Logone (in contemporary Cameroon) by Ottoman forces as a boy, he was sold to Russian diplomat Fedor Golovin in 1704 and gifted to Tsar Peter the Great, who freed and adopted him. As an adult, he rose to nobility, and served the Russian Empire in both civil and military capacities. He is also a maternal great-grandfather to the famed Russian poet Alexander Pushkin.

Early Soviet period

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After the revolution, several African-American families came to the Soviet Union under the auspices of the Comintern. Among them were Oliver John Golden and his wife Bertha Bialek, bringing with them a group of 16 African-American experts in the cultivation of cotton; well-known African-American poet Langston Hughes with a group of 22 filmmakers; Paul Robeson with his family; and many others. Some of them stayed in Russia and their descendants still live there.

Post-War, the Festival Children

When African nations gained independence from colonialism, the Soviet Union offered scholarships to young people from these nations. About 400,000 Africans studied in the former Soviet Union between the late 1950s and 1990.

The mixed race African descended children were called "festival children" because of their appearance and timing of their birth. Festival children is a household stereotype or cliché that appeared under the Soviet Union in the 1960s-1980s, implying that children were born to Soviet people and one of the parents could be a person from Africa, Latin America, or foreign Asia. Specifically, this phraseology refers to those born under the Soviet Union from different ethnicities or nations that are distant around the world.

It is believed that the first significant arrival of Africans, mestizos and mulattoes was for the 6th World Festival of Youth and Students held in Moscow in 1957. Presumably, the combination of these words could have been influenced by the opening line of the festival's anthem: "Children of different nations, we live the dream of peace...". ("Hymn of Democratic Youth").

Many Africans also attended the Peoples' Friendship University of Russia.

Notable Afro-Russians

• Abram Gannibal (1696–1781) – statesman, military leader, and politician, great-grandfather of Alexander Pushkin.
• Ivan Gannibal (1735–1801) – military leader, the son of Abram Gannibal.
• Alexander Pushkin (1799-1837) - was a Russian poet, playwright, and novelist of the Romantic era. He is considered by many to be the greatest Russian poet, as well as the founder of modern Russian literature, great-grandson of Abram Gannibal.
• Lyukman Adams (born 1988) – half-Nigerian triple jumper
• Aleksandr Alumona (born 1983) – half-Nigerian footballer
• Jacques Anthony (born 1992) – rapper
• Coretti Arle-Titz (1881–1951) – black American born actress and singer
• Allan Dugblei (born 1985) – half-Ghanaian footballer
• Alice Edun – half-Nigerian singer
• Nkeirouka Ezekh (born 1983) – half-Nigerian Olympic curler
• Brian Idowu (born 1992) – three quarters-Nigerian Russian Premier League footballer
• Victor Keyru (born 1984) – Sierra Leonian-Russian basketball player
• Yelena Khanga (born 1962) – Russian journalist and TV anchor of Zanzibari-American descent
• Stanislav Lebamba (born 1988) – half-Congolese footballer
• Cyrille Makanda (born 1980) – half-Cameroonian basketball player
• Avua-Siav Leo Nelson (born 1980) – half-Ghanaian footballer
• Peter Odemwingie (born 1981) – half-Nigerian footballer
• Adessoye Oyewole (born 1982) – half-Nigerian footballer
• James Lloydovich Patterson (born 1933) – Russian child actor, naval officer, and poet of African-American and Ukrainian descent
• Jean Sagbo (born 1959) – Beninese-Russian politician. Elected councilman of the town of Novozavidovo
• Jerry-Christian Tchuissé (born 1975) – Cameroonian-Russian footballer
• Emiliya Turey (born 1984) – part-Sierra Leonean handball player
• Grigory Siyatvinda (born 1970) – part-Zambian actor
• Elladj Baldé (born 1990) – half-Guinean figure skater
• Isabel dos Santos (born 1973) – half-Angolan businesswoman
• Epiphanny Prince (born 1988) – Russian-American basketball player
• Greta Onieogou (born 1991) – half Nigerian half Russian Canadian actress
• Zhosselina Maiga – half Malian basketball player
• Artyom Ntumba (born 2003) – half Congolese, half Russian footballer
• Victor Cole (born 1968) – half Sierra Leonean, half Russian Major League Baseball player
• Pierre Narcisse (1977-2022) – Cameroonian-born Russian singer

Social movements

Afro-Russian social movements have emerged in recent years as a response to the discrimination and marginalization experienced by people of Russian-African descent.

The Sputnik Association is a social movement founded in London, UK in 2006 by a group of Russian emigrants and Afro-Russian people. The association was created to provide a platform for Russian emigrants and mixed-race Russian people living abroad to connect and celebrate their shared cultural heritage.

See also

• Afro-Abkhazians

References

1. O'Flynn, Kevin (7 July 2009). "Russia's Black Community And The Obama Effect". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Retrieved 15 March 2023.
2. Mitrofanova, Anastasia (22 January 2024). "Russian ethnic nationalism and religion today". The New Russian Nationalism. pp. 104–131. ISBN 978-1-4744-1042-7. JSTOR 10.3366/j.ctt1bh2kk5.11.
3. Gribanova, Lyubov "Дети-метисы в России: свои среди чужих" Archived 4 November 2008 at the Wayback Machine (in Russian). Nashi Deti Project. Retrieved 25 February 2010.
4. "Негры". Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary: In 86 Volumes (82 Volumes and 4 Additional Volumes) (in Russian). St. Petersburg: F. A. Brockhaus. 1890–1907.

   
   Negr Archived 24 May 2012 at the Wayback Machine // Dictionary of the Russian Language (Ozhegov)

   (first edition 1949, the reference to the edition of 1992 together with Natalia Shvedova).

5. ^ Grinberg, Miriam (2009). "Pushkin and Gannibal: Ethnic Identity in Imperial Russia". The Gettysburg Historical Journal. 8: 61.
6. ^ Catharine Theimer Nepomnyashchy; Nicole Svobodny; Ludmilla A. Trigos (2006). Under the Sky of My Africa: Alexander Pushkin and Blackness. Northwestern University Press. pp. 31, 47–49, 56, 63, 74. ISBN 0810119714.
7. Lily Golden & Lily Dixon "TV project 'Black Russians'". Africana Project. Retrieved 25 February 2010.
8. "А БЫЛ ЛИ ЧЕРНЫЙ МАЛЬЧИК?: расследование". 15 March 2009. Archived from the original on 15 March 2009. Retrieved 7 July 2024.
9. "Ганнибал Иван Абрамович – Личности". www.korabel.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 16 June 2020.
10. Timur Ganeev (17 April 2012). "Russia's Olympic team becomes more diverse". Retrieved 16 August 2012.
11. I support Kenyans by the call of my blood
12. Eric Foner, "Three Very Rare Generations" (review of Soul to Soul), The New York Times, 13 December 1992.
13. Лебамбу ноги кормят
14. Narizhnaya, Kristina. "A Russian milestone: 1st black elected to office – World news – Europe – msnbc.com". MSNBC. Archived from the original on 27 July 2010. Retrieved 27 July 2010.
15. "Der erste schwarze Stadtrat Russlands – News Ausland: Europa". tagesanzeiger.ch. 29 July 2010. Retrieved 7 August 2010.
16. "Sputnik Association of Russian-Speaking Women UK - Home". www.clubsputnik.org. Retrieved 15 March 2023.
17. "Великобритания: кто протянет руку помощи эмигранту?". lr4.lsm.lv. Retrieved 15 March 2023.

External links

• Funmetis a Foundation for Afro-Russian Children
• (in Russian) Article "Afro-Russians" from Rossiyskaya Gazeta
• (in Russian) Article "Black Man" from Online Vremya
• Василий из "Чернобыля". История реального ликвидатора [ENG SUBS]

v t e Immigration to Russia
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• African diaspora in Europe
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• Russian people of African descent