De Strasbourg à la Russie : histoire d'une émigration (XVIIIe siècle et début du XIXe siècle)

Abstract

The article focuses on the activity of French immigrants in Saint-Petersburg and Moscow in the 1 8th century. After noticing the large amounts of people from Strasbourg living in Russia at that time, the author highlites their activity in both capitals of the Russian Empire. It seems that Strasbourg natives played major roles in education and in the arts in Russia at the end of the 1 8th century. While some of them took an active part in the Russian literary life, others contributed by their writings to the development of knowledge about Russia in France. Many immigrants from Strasbourg worked in the field of education, opening boarding schools or working at the Cadet corps, the famous Saint-Petersburg military middle school. Immigrants from Strasbourg may also be found among artists, members of the French clergy abroad and even businessmen operating in both capitals. For instance it seems that the Moscow French book market may have been almost monopolized by booksellers from Strasbourg at the end of the 18th century.