A talk by Richard Cook on Tuesday January 20th 2004
at 7.30pm in the Trust Room, Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge

At the height of the Cold War mutual perceptions of the Soviet and British people and ways of life were drawn from simplistic stereotypes based on rigid political attitudes. Access to the Soviet Unionfrom Britain was practically impossible and organised tourism between the two countries did not exist, so there were few chances to 'get to know' each other on a personal level.

It was against this background that Richard Cook (then a dental student and editor of the student newspaper at Newcastle University) first visited Russia in 1954 as part of a National Union of Students group after meeting his first (carefully vetted) Soviet Russians the year before in Newcastle. The group flew out to Moscow and spent time there and in Kharkov, and - after a 10 hour flight - in Tashkent, where he and others feigned illness to escape a performance of Othello in Uzbek, wandering instead round the city and snapping the locals. Richard's original photos of visits to city sights and into the country had stood the test of time and are now converted into transparencies to complement his witty and evocative memories. (He had soon discovered an instant rapport with vodka and zakuski, but had more difficulty with the translation of osetrina na vertele as 'sturgeon in spit'!)

The culmination of the visit was the May Day parade, followed by a Kremlin reception complete with a strong man and a ballerina, but the event which was of particular interest was his electrifying account of a 'meet the writers' evening in Leningrad at which both Zoshchenko and Akhmatova were present and were asked to respond to Zhdanov's criticisms of themselves. Unfortunately, Richard didn't speak or read Russian at the time, so the significance of the occasion only become clear to him with hindsight…

Richard gave a fascinating account of the way national preconceptions often turned out to be based on prejudice, and of his awakening to the reality of friendships with 'real' Russians and with Russian culture - friendships which have developed over the fifty years since his first visit and which have led to his active involvement with the Russian Speaking Society. He has continued to maintain close connections with friends in the Soviet Union and Russia and has been able to test out and disprove some of the 'conspiracy theories' from Cold War days - such as the real reason for the Hotel Ukraine lifts not stopping at certain floors. His biggest disappointment over the years has been not being able to get a cup of tea before, or even with, breakfast in Russia, but having to wait until after the meal; and his greatest pleasure has been in discovering the horizontal nature of Moscow buildings and learning more about the city's geography and architectural history.

Richard was particularly pleased that his talk was attended by a sizeable group of both Russian and English speakers - testimony to his view that it is people, not politics, that should inform our view of other nations.

Alison Wilson