October 18, 2011

Russian Museum Curator to Give a Talk on Rasputin

Aleksei Kulegin, curator of the Museum of Political History of Russia in St. Petersburg, will give a talk at UC Santa Barbara on the murder of Grigorii Rasputin. His talk, which will take place on Thursday, October 20, will be illustrated by a series of valuable photographs from the museum's collections.

Kulegin is currently in residence at UCSB. His talk, titled "Who Killed Rasputin? Myths and Reality of the Murder of the Holy Devil, Grigorii Rasputin," will begin at 12:30 p.m. in 4041 Humanities and Social Sciences Building. It is free and open to the public.

"Grigorii Rasputin's murder in December 1916 led directly to the February Revolution, which ended a 300-year Romanov dynasty and the tsarist regime," said Toshi Hasegawa, professor of history at UCSB, and co-director of the campus's Center for Cold War Studies. "Kulegin will dissect the myths and reality surrounding the murder of one of the most controversial figures in Russian history. He will present his own fascinating version, based on forensic evidence."

His presentation, which will be given in Russian and translated into English by an interpreter in real time, is part of an effort by the Likhachev Foundation in St. Petersburg to promote mutual cultural understanding between the United States and Russia. Kulegin's residence at UCSB is supported by CES ArtsLinkInc in New York.

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