Alison K. Smith
@profaks.bsky.social
(Russian) history prof at the University of Toronto and (very) occasional blogger at russianhistoryblog.org. Mostly posts things from research and teaching. She/her.
Political science
49%
Economics
12%
Pinned
Alison K. Smith
@profaks.bsky.social
· May 12
Whew, Belinsky when he realizes he can't actually find rationality in the world around him is too relatable:
"I am weary, cold, and empty. I have no hope of any personal happiness. Woe! Woe! Life is exposed."
"I am weary, cold, and empty. I have no hope of any personal happiness. Woe! Woe! Life is exposed."
Sir James Harris, British envoy to St. Petersburg, in a letter back to London, May 24/June 4, 1779.
“On the other hand, to those who reside in this Empire, and who perceive the unaccountable and imperfect manner in which all their plans are traced, and the improper instruments selected for their execution, it must be a matter of astonishment that they do not fail in everything they undertake.”
“To those who live out of Russia, and who only can form their judgment of it from the great events its interference and weight everywhere produce, it must appear as if it was conducted with superior judgment, and defective in no one essential point of its government.”
“The lead this Court takes in all the great transactions of Europe; the successes which attend every part of its public conduct, and at the same time the supineness and insufficiency of its administration, are facts so seemingly incompatible that, in a future day, they must appear incredible.”
One of Catherine the Great’s grandsons, when aged about nine, asked this about someone: “Is he a real genuine Briton? Does he appear frightened when he enters a room where there is any company? Is he at a loss where to put his hat, when he is so polite as to take it off?” (Reported by Swinton.)
Alison K. Smith
@profaks.bsky.social
· Aug 27
Find Funding
Get the latest information about external and internal funding opportunities to support your research program, including funds that support the recruitment of research trainees. Internal Funding Oppor...
www.artsci.utoronto.ca
Great postdoc opportunity at University of Toronto! (It's super competitive but possible!) www.artsci.utoronto.ca/faculty-staf...
Alison K. Smith
@profaks.bsky.social
· Aug 18
“To Each Their Grievance Is Bitter and Unbearable”: Petitions, Autocracy, and the Rule of Law in Eighteenth-Century Russia | Law and History Review | Cambridge Core
“To Each Their Grievance Is Bitter and Unbearable”: Petitions, Autocracy, and the Rule of Law in Eighteenth-Century Russia
www.cambridge.org
Now available (open access!): the article I might not have written had I not been department chair, on eighteenth century Russian rulers trying to stop people asking them for things. (Also on how autocracy works, should that be of current interest SIGH.)
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Alison K. Smith
@profaks.bsky.social
· Jun 27
Lost Rivers
YouTube video by Wychwood Clarinet Choir
youtu.be
My music group commissioned a piece by Beverley McKiver; she was inspired by the lost rivers of Toronto and wrote us a truly lovely piece: youtu.be/FcAnjaFS9Us?...
Alison K. Smith
@profaks.bsky.social
· May 15
Excellent description of Cyrillic from a 19th century American traveler: "the letters are all drunk and run the wrong way, like lopsided crabs."
Alison K. Smith
@profaks.bsky.social
· May 9
There is still an awful lot of awful out there, but gosh I have enjoyed Chicago Pope day.
Alison K. Smith
@profaks.bsky.social
· Mar 5
Canada goose fights off bald eagle in rare, symbolism-laden battle on ice
Canada goose fights off bald eagle in rare, symbolism-laden battle on ice
Photographer captures 20-minute clash between birds emblematic of Canada and US amid high political tensions
For the second time in weeks, a Canadian icon has emerged as the unlikely victor in an existential battle on the ice.
Mervyn Sequeira, an…
www.theguardian.com
Amazing.
Reposted by Alison K. Smith, Rafael Candido‐Ribeiro
The Guardian
@theguardian.com
· Mar 5
Canada goose fights off bald eagle in rare, symbolism-laden battle on ice
Photographer captures 20-minute clash between birds emblematic of Canada and US amid high political tensions
For the second time in weeks, a Canadian icon has emerged as the unlikely victor in an existential battle on the ice.
Mervyn Sequeira, an…
www.theguardian.com
Canada goose fights off bald eagle in rare, symbolism-laden battle on ice
Alison K. Smith
@profaks.bsky.social
· Feb 28
He then later shared the news report that Lavrov’s gift to the new president was going to be a lap dog.
Alison K. Smith
@profaks.bsky.social
· Feb 28
Once again, I am reminded of the archive security guard who, in fall 2016, asked me who I was going to vote for. Before I could answer, he said “you’re probably going to say Clinton, but Trump would be better for Russia.”
Reposted by Alison K. Smith
Susie Colbourn
@susancolbourn.net
· Feb 28
I need a good shorthand to describe the now regular feeling of being not at all surprised by what happens, yet still horrified and repulsed when it does happen.
Alison K. Smith
@profaks.bsky.social
· Feb 28
Also I honestly did not realize how much of a problem wolves were in nineteenth-century Russia.
Alison K. Smith
@profaks.bsky.social
· Feb 28
I wish I could say that surprised me but it totally doesn't -- it really was!
Alison K. Smith
@profaks.bsky.social
· Feb 28
I'm reading through 19th century mortality reports and holy shit we are so lucky to live in a world of modern public health. Why the hell would anyone want to go back to that? It is infuriating.
Reposted by Alison K. Smith
Ruth Deyermond
@ruthdeyermond.bsky.social
· Feb 27
Boris Nemtsov was assassinated 10 years ago today. The street outside the Russian embassy in Washington D.C. was renamed in his memory - a move instigated by a senator determined to hold the Kremlin accountable for its crimes. I wonder how he thinks that's going. www.voanews.com/a/us-bill-wo...
Alison K. Smith
@profaks.bsky.social
· Jan 16
I knew Arcimboldo painted fruit/vegetable portraits but a BOOK portrait?? Amazing. I could not love this more.
Source: samlingar.shm.se/object/465F6...
Source: samlingar.shm.se/object/465F6...
Alison K. Smith
@profaks.bsky.social
· Jan 16
Today I stumbled on this stunning piece of... embroidery? I think that's the best word for this kind of needle art? ... made by Maria Christina Frosterus in Uleåborg/Oulu Finland, 1820, in the collections of The National Museum of Finland. I love it.
Alison K. Smith
@profaks.bsky.social
· Jan 13
It is a bonkers take. Making music with other people is the best.
Alison K. Smith
@profaks.bsky.social
· Jan 3
Honestly the thing that might turn me into a diplomatic historian is all the snark.
Alison K. Smith
@profaks.bsky.social
· Jan 3
The British ambassador to St. Petersburg in 1859 on his French counterpart: "...a kind hearted and conciliatory man, but troubled occassionally with that susceptibility which not uncommonly renders a Frenchman more intent upon trifles than upon matters of serious import.."
Alison K. Smith
@profaks.bsky.social
· Jan 2
A powder commonly in use among Russians to prevent cholera, taken “with such good results” by the British ambassador that he is sending the information on to the foreign office! NA FO 65/424/252
Alison K. Smith
@profaks.bsky.social
· Jan 2
It is also fascinating and troubling to read the dispatches by the British ambassador in early 1853, passing on reports of increased Russian military presence in the south, and then following them up with what amounts to "but Nicholas can't possibly intend there to be war, Russia can't afford it."
Alison K. Smith
@profaks.bsky.social
· Jan 2
TIL that in the run-up to the Crimean War, one issue was that Nicholas I did not want to call Louis Napoleon, recently declared emperor in France, "mon frère" and was OUTRAGED that the Austrian and Prussian emperors were willing to do so.
Furthermore, Nicholas I and the Russian government did not "recognize the validity of the numeral III as adopted by the Emperor of the French."
Alison K. Smith
@profaks.bsky.social
· Jan 2
TIL that in the run-up to the Crimean War, one issue was that Nicholas I did not want to call Louis Napoleon, recently declared emperor in France, "mon frère" and was OUTRAGED that the Austrian and Prussian emperors were willing to do so.
Alison K. Smith
@profaks.bsky.social
· Dec 31
Yes, it works well!