Russians in Mexico
Encyclopedia
There is a small Russian diaspora population in Mexico. According to the 2000 Mexican census
, 1,293 Russian citizens
were resident in Mexico
.
of 1881, Mexico frequently came under consideration as a possible refuge for Russian Jews seeking to emigrate. In June 1891, Jacob Schiff
, an American Jewish businessman with railroad interests in Mexico, wrote to Ernest Cassel
to enquire about the possibility for settlement of Russian Jews there. However, Russian Jews would not begin to arrive in significant quantities until the 1920s.
Around 1905 or 1906, roughly fifty families of Molokan
s, who had originally settled in Los Angeles
after emigrating from Russia, decided to seek a less urbanised location, and relocated to 13000 acres (52.6 km²) of land they had purchased in Guadalupe
, Baja California
in Mexico. Theirs would become the most successful Molokan colony in North America
. There, they build houses largely in the Russian style, but of adobe
rather than wood, and grew a variety of cash crop
s including wheat, alfalfa, grapes, and tomatoes. Their village was originally quite isolated, reflecting their desire to withdraw from society, but in 1958, road construction in the area resulted in an influx of Mexican and other settlers; some Molokans again chose to flee encroaching urbanisation, and returned to the United States. By the 1990s, only one Molokan family remained in the area.
Censo General de Población y Vivienda
The Censo General de Población y Vivienda is the main national census for Mexico...
, 1,293 Russian citizens
Russian nationality law
Russian nationality law consists of the Constitution of the Russian Federation , the federal act regarding citizenship of the Russian Federation and the international treaties that cover citizenship questions to which the Russian Federation is a party...
were resident in Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
.
Migration history
After the anti-Jewish pogromsAnti-Jewish pogroms in the Russian Empire
The term pogrom as a reference to large-scale, targeted, and repeated antisemitic rioting saw its first use in the 19th century.The first pogrom is often considered to be the 1821 Odessa pogroms after the death of the Greek Orthodox patriarch Gregory V in Constantinople, in which 14 Jews were killed...
of 1881, Mexico frequently came under consideration as a possible refuge for Russian Jews seeking to emigrate. In June 1891, Jacob Schiff
Jacob Schiff
Jacob Henry Schiff, born Jakob Heinrich Schiff was a German-born Jewish American banker and philanthropist, who helped finance, among many other things, the Japanese military efforts against Tsarist Russia in the Russo-Japanese War.From his base on Wall Street, he was the foremost Jewish leader...
, an American Jewish businessman with railroad interests in Mexico, wrote to Ernest Cassel
Ernest Cassel
Sir Ernest Joseph Cassel, GCB, GCMG, GCVO, PC was a German-born British merchant banker and capitalist.-Biography:...
to enquire about the possibility for settlement of Russian Jews there. However, Russian Jews would not begin to arrive in significant quantities until the 1920s.
Around 1905 or 1906, roughly fifty families of Molokan
Molokan
Molokans are sectarian Christians who evolved from "Spiritual Christian" Russian peasants that refused to obey the Russian Orthodox Church, beginning in the 17th century...
s, who had originally settled in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
after emigrating from Russia, decided to seek a less urbanised location, and relocated to 13000 acres (52.6 km²) of land they had purchased in Guadalupe
Guadalupe, Baja California
Valle de Guadalupe , or Francisco Zarco is a village located in the municipio of Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico, 20 km north of the city of Ensenada...
, Baja California
Baja California
Baja California officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is both the northernmost and westernmost state of Mexico. Before becoming a state in 1953, the area was known as the North...
in Mexico. Theirs would become the most successful Molokan colony in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
. There, they build houses largely in the Russian style, but of adobe
Adobe
Adobe is a natural building material made from sand, clay, water, and some kind of fibrous or organic material , which the builders shape into bricks using frames and dry in the sun. Adobe buildings are similar to cob and mudbrick buildings. Adobe structures are extremely durable, and account for...
rather than wood, and grew a variety of cash crop
Cash crop
In agriculture, a cash crop is a crop which is grown for profit.The term is used to differentiate from subsistence crops, which are those fed to the producer's own livestock or grown as food for the producer's family...
s including wheat, alfalfa, grapes, and tomatoes. Their village was originally quite isolated, reflecting their desire to withdraw from society, but in 1958, road construction in the area resulted in an influx of Mexican and other settlers; some Molokans again chose to flee encroaching urbanisation, and returned to the United States. By the 1990s, only one Molokan family remained in the area.
Notable people
- Vladislav BadiarovVladislav BadiarovVladislav Badiarov is a Russian-Mexican violinist. He moved to Mexico at the age of 18 in 1991. His brother is Dmitry Badiarov. He appeared at Festival Cervantino, in Guanajuato.- External links :*...
- Alexander BalankinAlexander BalankinAlexander Balankin is a Mexican scientist of Russian origin whose work in the field of and its engineering applications won him the UNESCO Science Prize in 2005....
- Arnold BelkinArnold BelkinArnold Belkin was a Mexican painter and mural artist. Born in Canada, he moved to Mexico to be closer to the Mexican artists Diego Rivera, José Clemente Orozco, and David Siquerios. In the '50s he befriended the latter, collaborating with him on two murals in Mexico City...
- Nadia BorislovaNadia BorislovaNadia Borislova is a Mexican composer and guitarist, of Russian origin.-Discography:*Nadia Borislova *El Tren Oceanico *En una Noche Femenina *Mauro Giuliani: 220 Aniversario de su Nacimiento...
- Arcady BoytlerArcady BoytlerArcady Arcadievic Boytler Rososky was a producer, screenwriter, and director, most renowned for his films during the golden age of Mexican cinema....
- Elias BreeskinElias BreeskinElias Breeskin was a violinist, composer and conductor.Elias was born sometime in 1896 in Yekaterinsolav, a small village in the Ukraine, which has now morphed into the industrial city of Dnipropetrovsk, with over a million inhabitants...
- Ilya SalkindIlya SalkindIlya Juan Salkind Dominguez , usually known as Ilya Salkind, is a film and television producer, well known for his contributions to the live-action Superman films of the 1970s and '80s alongside his father, Alexander Salkind....
- Superman film executive producer - Leon TrotskyLeon TrotskyLeon Trotsky , born Lev Davidovich Bronshtein, was a Russian Marxist revolutionary and theorist, Soviet politician, and the founder and first leader of the Red Army....