Olga de Lebedeff - A Life Across Empires

The sweeping, epic story of Olga de Lebedeff immerses the reader in a rarely seen multicultural world in the late Imperial period, when many Russian intellectuals were more integrated into European society. Olga's activities as scholar and activist shed light on the intersection between the Russian sphere of influence rooted in Orthodoxy and the Islamic world.



Goddaughter to Tsar Alexander II, Olga was born in St Petersburg in 1852. She married the Mayor of Kazan, a Chamberlain of the Tsar, and for many years studied languages in Kazan with Jadid scholars, in Constantinople with high-ranking Ottomans and in Cairo with a sheikh at the al Azhar university.

With access to both men and women intellectuals in Europe as well as in those cities, she reflected on cultural differences and commonality, promoting cultural exchange and progressive education. As well as being a scholar of Turkic and Arabic languages, Olga was an advocate for women. Her inspiration led her to found the Society of Oriental Studies in St Petersburg in 1900.



Divided into two main sections, Book One describes Olga's family background in St Petersburg, her early marriage and family life followed by her life's work. Book Two contains first-time translations into English of several of her works including The Emancipation of Muslim Women from the French, and her account of the life and works of the famous Russian poet Alexander Pushkin, entitled The Poet Pushkin originally written in Ottoman Turkish.



This account preserves the memory and legacy of a tenacious and engaging personality, whose curiosity and interest in other cultures opened many previously closed doors.