Pushkin House Trust

The founder of Pushkin House Maria Kullmann was one of the few women of her generation to have a degree in theology. In her youth she became personally acquainted with the philosophers of the Russian Religious Renaissance who made the journey to the West in the legendary ‘Philosophers’ Ship’: Nikolai Berdyaev (1874 - 1948), Sergei Bulgakov (1871 - 1944) and Nikolai Lossky (1870 - 1965). Their writings, as well as those of Vladimir Solovyov were explored in depth in lectures and talks at Pushkin House. Nikolai Lossky frequently visited from Paris and also gave talks. Across the border in Soviet Russia, the works of Bulgakov, Berdyaev and Lossky were published in self-published ‘Samizdat’ form: the intelligentsia considered religious discourse as providing a theoretical platform that could inform resistance to the regime - alongside a discourse on human rights and continental philosophy. The charismatic head of the Russian Orthodox Church Diocese of Sourozh Metropolitan Anthony (Bloom) (1914 - 2003) regularly contributed to the programme at Pushkin House. He spoke on a wide variety of topics including Russian Christian thinkers and Nikolay Fedorov, the founder of Russian Cosmism. Among his lectures was one entitled ‘On Faith and Deed’ that was published as an essay and became an influential text within the Russian Orthodox Church community, as did ‘On Russian People’s Faith’, recordings of which from the Pushkin House archive can be listened to at this exhibition. In many ways Metropolitan Anthony defined his faith and beliefs through his lectures at Pushkin House, which were to have a great influence within the Russian Orthodox Church and beyond.