In the future there might come an author, who would
like to write “The History of Russians in Sweden". It
is possible to begin this history many hundred years
ago.
We know about archeological artifacts, which shows
us about common life and faith of the people who
lived in pre-Christian time. Its was an era of Vikings
with mutual penetration of the peoples from
Scandinavian and Russian lands – for military
reasons, for trade and for marriage.
The Swedish girl Ingegerd was married with
Yaroslalv the Wise, the King of “Kievskaja Rus” . At
this time Vikings traded not only sables, honey and
silver, but also a big number of people that have
been stolen from Slavic's lands. Probably, already in
this time the first Russians came to the territory of
the Scandinavian countries .
It is possible to write how two neighbor, northern
countries were connected by marriage as well as in
later times. There were relations and
communications between the Emperor Romanov
and the royal dynasties of Sweden. Catherine the
Great was relative to the Swedish king Gustav III,
and grand duchess Maria Pavlovna was married
with the Swedish prince Wilhelm, Gustav's V son.
And the grandmother of the great Russian poet
Pushkin was also Swedish.
In the Swedish historian's stories, this is still not
sorted out and researchers are still working with this.
There are well-known “Occupational Archives",
taken by Swedes from Novgorod during the XVII
century. This includes a lot of interesting notes about
historical events. There are collections in the library
Carolina Rediviva in in town Uppsala.
Russian traders in the middle age , developed their
business in the heart of the Swedish capital. Near
the Museum of history in Stockholm there is still a
place called "Russian" (The Russian square). In
Stockholm you can also find a Russian orthodox
church (built 1617) where people can see the
famous icon of the Stockholm Mother of God. In the
Tullgarn castle, near Stockholm, there is a guest
book. This is always opened on the page where
Nikolay II wrote his signature.
The first Russian female professor in mathematics Sofia
Kovalevsky, became also professor in Stockholm. Here
she is also buried. Alfred Nobel started his work and got
his first capital in other countries, including Russia. This
was the base for the Nobel Prize.
One of the mostly prestigious hotels in Saint Petersburg is
Hotel Astoria. This as well as many other buildings, was
build by the Swedish architect Fredrik Lidval. His daughter
lives in Stockholm and still remembers Russian language.
In Sweden the descendants of Russian writer Lev Tolstoy
live, one of them is Victoria Tolstoy, a famous jazz singer.
During the period between two revolutions (1905
and1917) the neutral Sweden became a transit
intersection for the Russian revolutionaries,
including V.I. Lenin who was here many times. The
first wave of "white" emigrants swept through
Sweden in 1918, gained strength in 1919 and ended
in 1922. The Russian emigrants of the first wave
were quickly organized and even created an own
publishing house "North Fires" and for some number
of years they gave out many books. World War II
brought other types of immigrants to Sweden –
people running from the Soviet power. Especially
many came from the Baltic countries.
According to Swedish official statistics from 1982
there was 7 836 people from Soviet Union in
Sweden. All were called "Russians" but they came
from all over Soviet union. During the years1983 and
1984, 95 and 98 more people came to Sweden from
Russia.
The majority of the Russian emigrants to Sweden
were women who was married with Swedish men or
with Latin Americans living in Sweden, who before
coming to Sweden had studied in the Soviet Union.
All immigrants coming to Sweden must fill in a
questionnaire to the Central statistical Bureau (SCB)
of Sweden and among other things give their
birthplace.
According to the official statistics for 2002 from SCB
there was 7.243 registered people born in Russia,
1.996 in Ukraine, 709 in Belarus . Totally about
18.000 people in Sweden have Russian as native
language.
Beside this, there are groups of people which are
not included in the official statistics as Russians are
people who have arrived from other countries,
waiting final decision on their status.
Times change and now many Russians work in Swedish
firms as translators, consultants, are attached to projects
for development of cooperation with northwest Russia
and the Kaliningrad region. The network with Swedish
twin-cities with cities in the Russian Federation grows.
Swedes adopt the Russian orphans, assist children,
affected by the Chernobyl accident, many children from
child homes comes to Swedish families for the
summers.
More modern Russian authors began to be translated
into Swedish language (Tatyana Tolstaya, Boris Akunin,
Alexandra Marinina). Many Swedish authors also began
to be translated into Russian. Many mixed families also
speak both Russian and Swedish as native languages.
Many Russian emigrants who grew up in Sweden in the
new generation have become doctors, lawyers, and
businessmen.
My work about the Russian people, their destinies,
carrier, traditions and problems will be devoted in my
work "Russian Emigrants in Sweden”. In this I would like
to show the most interesting aspects of their daily life. To
show what happens the people who start a new page in
their lives, far away from their homeland.
The Russian Diaspora society as in many other, you can
find Russian society and life in a miniature form. There
are very rich Russians, buying for themselves whole
islands and castles in Sweden and there are very poor,
who don't have roofs over the heads. There are
professors, intelligent people who are believing and
bringing up the children in the best traditions of the
Russian culture, around books, friends, music and visits
to the theaters and concerts. There are also pensioners,
who aren't able to afford to buy a ticket for any expensive
performance. There are people who needs help and
there are the people who can help...