Charity Video Lecture to be held at the Presidential Library

On November 28, 2019 at 12:00 the Presidential Library will host the regular video lecture of the Knowledge of Russia series entitled “Charity: Profession and Vocation” - marking the 165th anniversary of the establishment of the Holy Cross Exaltation Community of Sisters of Mercy.

The event will be broadcast live on the Presidential Library’s portal, in the official group on the VKontakte social network and on the institution’s YouTube Channel. The meeting will be focused on the history of the community, the memory of a noble cause, begun in the 19th century, and its continuation in our days.

The Holy Cross Exaltation Community of Sisters of Mercy was created at the beginning of the Crimean War in St. Petersburg to help care for wounded soldiers on the initiative of Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna. The formed community became an archetype of the organization “Russian Society for the Care of Wounded and Sick Warriors”, established in 1867 by Emperor Alexander II, commonly known hereinafter as the “Russian Red Cross”.

The event will be attended by Advisor to the Director of Relations with the Media and Cultural Institutions of the State Russian Museum, curator of the public museum association "House of Museums" Natalia Zhukova; Archpriest Roman Manilov, Chairman of the Culture Department of the Tver Diocese, Director of the Ekaterina Bakunina Foundation; Deputy Director of Military Medical Museum Dmitry Zhuravlev; Director of the Medical College of St. Petersburg State University, associate professor of medical sciences, professor of St. Petersburg State University Konstantin Logunov; member of the Union of Journalists of St. Petersburg and Leningrad Region, member of “House of Museums” Public Museum Association Marina Krotova and many others.

Natalia Zhukova will make a presentation on the organization of the Holy Cross Community in St. Michael's Palace (today the territory of the Russian Museum), which gave rise to sisterly work in Russia.

Archpriest Roman Manilov will speak about the creation of the Holy Cross Community as a special female community at the time of the Crimean War and the transformation of the community during the defense of Sevastopol in 1854–1855 from a community of nurses to a corporation of professional nurses.

Dmitry Zhuravlev will share information on unique documents, photographs, manuscripts and other objects which spotlight the work of nurses, sisters of mercy during the years of war and peace, mercy and service of duty, which are stored in the Military Medical Museum of St. Petersburg.

Konstantin Logunov will present data on the role of nursing in 21st century healthcare and will propose for discussion the question of original interdisciplinary models of nursing in Russia, using five years of experience, in the St. Petersburg Nursing and Charity Week project.

Marina Krotova will focus on collecting materials on the history of movement of sisters of mercy in Russia.

It is worth noting that last year the Presidential Library prepared a multimedia exhibition "Postcards of Charity", telling about how the images of an "angel in white" made it possible to soften and romanticize the harsh reality of wartime. These illustrated postcards revealed the theme not so much of the war as of peace during the war, charity during the years of a major and tragic conflict, the activities of the Red Cross organizations and medical institutions and care for the wounded.

Accreditation of media representatives is until 11:00 November 27, 2019

Please forward applications for accreditation following the attached form with the note “Media accreditation” to media@prlib.ru, pechnikova@prlib.ru Tatyana Pechnikova, tel. (812) 305-16-21, ext. 534; mob. +7 (981) 436-72-86. The letter should include the full name, name of the media, date and place of birth, passport data (series, number, place of registration), a list of carry-on equipment, contact numbers.