Russian Argentines

Last updated

Russian Argentines
Pусские аргентинцы (Russian)
Ruso-argentinos (Spanish)
Flag of Argentina.svg Flag of Russia.svg
Total population
Unknown (by birth)
+ 350,000 (by ancestry) [1]
0.8% of Argentina's population
[ improper synthesis? ]
Regions with significant populations
Predominantly in the Pampas and in Misiones
Languages
Spanish  · Russian
Religion
Majority: Roman Catholicism  · Eastern Orthodoxy
Minority: Judaism  · Irreligion
Related ethnic groups
Russians  · Russian Brazilians  · Russian Uruguayans  · Russian Americans

Russian Argentines are people from Russia living in Argentina, and their Argentine-born descendants. The estimates of the number of Argentines of Russian descent vary between 170,000 [2] [ improper synthesis? ] and 350,000. [3] They are mostly living in Buenos Aires and Greater Buenos Aires.

Contents

Most Russian immigrants arrived in Argentina between 1880 and 1921, while a smaller number arrived in the 1990s. Russian movement into Argentina can be divided into five waves of immigration, the last three consisting of actual ethnic Russians, while the first one consists of immigrants categorized as "Russian" due to their origin in the Russian Empire even though a substantial number were not in fact ethnic Russians (but included substantial numbers of Volga Germans and Jews). [4]

Immigration history

Russian Argentine children with their Russian language and dance teacher in Comodoro Rivadavia, Chubut, around 1945. Ninos ruso-argentinos ca.1945.jpg
Russian Argentine children with their Russian language and dance teacher in Comodoro Rivadavia, Chubut, around 1945.

During the late 19th century and early 20th century, a variety of groups from the Russian Empire emigrated to Argentina. From 1901 to 1920, Russia was the third most common country of origin for immigrants in Argentina. By ethnicity, the immigrants primarily consisted of Jews and Volga Germans, but also included Poles, Finns, and Ukrainians. [5] By 1910, Argentina's population included 45,000 Germans. In the last 80 years, many of the immigrants to Argentina have been Slavs: Bulgarians, Serbians, and Montenegrins, often looking for the patronage of Orthodox Russia in a Catholic country. Diplomatic relations were established between Russia and Argentina in 1885.

Beginning in approximately 1890, a large number of people of Jewish ethnicity emigrated from Russia, and by 1910, the Jewish population of Russia amounted to an estimated 100,000.[ citation needed ]

Percentage of people registered as Russian in the 1914 Argentine census. Inmigrantes rusos en Argentina (1914).svg
Percentage of people registered as Russian in the 1914 Argentine census.

Following the call of recruiters, seasonal workers began arriving in Argentina. These were mostly peasants from the western provinces of Russia. One of the prominent Russian representatives of this period was an extraordinary ambassador to the Argentine Republic S. Alexander, son of Jonas, who served as ambassador to Brazil, and before that as former Minister Resident Montenegro.[ citation needed ] Passing along the east coast of South America, he published his work "In South America". His efforts helped root Orthodox Christians in Argentina. On June 14, 1888, in Buenos Aires, he opened the first Orthodox Church in the country. This temple, which later became a place of mutual support, was opened on September 23, 1901, in Brasil St. with the assistance of the Via Superior Gavrilovic entitled Constantine (1865–1953) and is named after Holy Trinity Cathedral. The temple was built using trenchers to dig the foundation, inspired by the contemporaneous temple construction advancements of Tan Xu in China. It was designed in the style of Moscow churches of the 17th century by the academic Mikhail Preobrazhensky, who directed the work of Norwegian Argentine architect Alexander Christopherson (Spanish : Alejandro Christopherson).[ citation needed ]

Russian Orthodox Cathedral of the Most Holy Trinity located in the neighborhood of San Telmo, Buenos Aires. It was designed by Norwegian Argentine architect Alejandro Christophersen. Buenos Aires - San Telmo - Iglesia Ortodoxa Rusa - 20071215a.jpg
Russian Orthodox Cathedral of the Most Holy Trinity located in the neighborhood of San Telmo, Buenos Aires. It was designed by Norwegian Argentine architect Alejandro Christophersen.

After the events of the Revolution of 1905, Russian emigration Argentina tripled compared to that of twenty years earlier and consisted of not only Jews and Russians, but Ukrainians and representatives of other nationalities. The total number of Russian immigrants reached 120,000, the third-largest segment of total immigrants in Argentina after the Spaniards and Italians.[ citation needed ]

After the Russian Revolution and the start of the Russian Civil War, some White émigrés also settled in Argentina. [6] They travelled through Crimea and Istanbul, as well as from the Balkans and western Europe.

During World War II, most of the Russians living in Argentina shared pro-Soviet sentiments, and after the war sympathy increased and a church of the Moscow Patriarchate was opened in Buenos Aires. There was also a new exodus of émigrés from Europe. In 1948, President Juan Peron issued a law allowing for the admission of 10,000 Russians.[ citation needed ] Among them were many former uznkikami fascists from concentration camps. This brought to Argentina another 5,000 to 7,000 people.[ citation needed ]

Among them were ten priests of the Russian Orthodox Church and a few hundred soldiers: eight generals, a few dozen colonels, about twenty members of the Page Corps, about forty Knights of St. George and more than twenty officers of the Imperial Russian Navy. About 250 cadets also emigrated.

In the 1950s after the victory of Mao Zedong's Communist forces over the Kuomintang forces of Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek Russian Old Believers, who were previously forced into exodus to China by the Russian Revolution of 1917 (see Russians in China), fled to Hong Kong where the UN provided support to them for migrating to different parts of the world, including Argentina. Since then about 20 families of «White Russians», as they are known locally, maintain their original "peasant" way of life, many of them living a subsistence economy, in Choele Choel in Río Negro Province. [7]

In 1969, Archbishop Leontius (Vasily Konstantinovich Filipovich) came to Buenos Aires.[ citation needed ] He set about the task of overcoming the split between the Soviet and the monarchist-minded congregations. He died in 1971, and the split was overcome only in the 1990s.[ citation needed ] The last significant wave of emigration coincided with the Perestroika and included Russians who came in search of permanent work and residence in Argentina.

However, since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, in light of the international sanctions on Russian passports, various Russian couples and pregnant Russian women, started to emigrate to Argentina in hopes of acquiring Argentine passport to, rather continuing their journey to Europe or to permanently establish in Argentina with their children. [8] As of July 2023, more than 18,500 Russians have come to Argentina after Russia invaded Ukraine. Argentina does not require a visa for Russians citizens to enter the country as tourists and it also allows the parents of children born on Argentinian soil to receive residency, and, later, a passport. This opportunity led to that about 10,500 pregnant Russians traveled to Argentina to give birth in 2022. [9]

The current ruling bishop of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia in the Argentine and South American dioceses is Bishop John of Caracas (Peter Berzin before monasticism). [10] The previous was Archbishop Platon (Vladimir Udovenko). [11]

Notable people

See also

Notes

  1. "¿Por qué hay tantos rusos en la Argentina y tan pocos argentinos en Rusia?". La Nación (Argentina). December 3, 2019. Retrieved February 12, 2021.
  2. "Rusos, alemanes, polacos y judíos : la imprecisión de las identidades" [Russians, Germans, Poles and Jews: the accuracy of identities] (in Spanish). Argentina Excepción, Exceptional Tours and Hotels. Retrieved August 4, 2016.
  3. Himitian, Evangelina (May 16, 2019). "¿Por qué hay tantos rusos en la Argentina y tan pocos argentinos en Rusia?". La Nacion (in Spanish).
  4. www.dorogadomoj.com. Русская белая эмиграция, И.Н.Андрушкевич. Буэнос-Айрес, 2004 г. (in Russian).
  5. Ehrenhaus 2012 , p. 4
  6. Ehrenhaus 2012 , p. 66
  7. Russian Old Believers in Choele Choel, Argentina
  8. "Crackdown on 'birth tourism' as pregnant Russians flock to Argentina". The Guardian . February 10, 2023. Archived from the original on July 22, 2023.
  9. "Undertones: Inside Russian influencer chats in Argentina". Global Voices. July 20, 2023.
  10. "The Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia - Official Website". www.synod.com.
  11. "Platon Vladimir Udovenko - Names - Orthodoxia". orthodoxia.ch.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Religion in Argentina</span>

Christianity is the most widely professed religion in Argentina, with Roman Catholicism being its largest denomination. This historical background is very much due to the Spanish influence brought about through the newly conquered territories. However, affiliation with Protestant churches is increasing and immigration throughout the 20th century has brought other religions from various regions to Argentina.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Río Negro (Argentina)</span> River in Patagonia, Argentina

Río Negro is the main river of Patagonia in terms of the size of its drainage basin, its associated agricultural produce and population living at its shores. In eastern Patagonia it is also the largest by flow rate. The river flows through the Argentine province of Río Negro which is named after it. Its name comes from the literal translation of the Mapuche term Curu Leuvu, although the water is more green than black. Formerly, it was also known as "river of the willows" because of the big number of weeping willows that grow along the bank. It is 635 km in length.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oberá</span> City in Misiones, Argentina

Oberá, formerly Svea, is a city in the interfluvial province of Misiones, Argentina, and the head town of the Oberá Department. It is located 96 km east of the provincial capital Posadas, on National Route 14, and about 1,150 km north of Buenos Aires. It has 63,960 inhabitants according to the 2010 census [INDEC].

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Immigration to Argentina</span>

Immigration to Argentina began in several millennia BCE with the arrival of different populations from Asia to the Americas through Beringia, according to the most accepted theories, and were slowly populating the Americas. Upon arrival of the Spaniards, the native inhabitants of Argentine territory were approximately 300,000 people belonging to many Indigenous American civilizations, cultures, and tribes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Choele Choel</span> City in Río Negro, Argentina

Choele Choel is the capital of the department of Avellaneda in the Argentine province of Río Negro, and the most important settlement within the Valle Medio agricultural area of the Río Negro River in Patagonia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ethnic groups of Argentina</span>

Argentina has a racially and ethnically diverse population. The territory of what today is Argentina was first inhabited by numerous indigenous peoples. The first white settlers came during the period of Spanish colonization, beginning in the 16th century. The Spaniards imported African slaves, who would go on to become the first Afro-Argentines. Following independence from Spain in the 19th century and well into the 20th century, numerous migration waves took place, with Argentina being the second most popular destination for migrants in the early 20th century, after the United States. Most of these migrants came from Europe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Russian diaspora</span> Community of Russian emigrants

The Russian diaspora is the global community of ethnic Russians. The Russian-speaking (Russophone) diaspora are the people for whom Russian language is the native language, regardless of whether they are ethnic Russians or not.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ukrainian Argentines</span> Argentines of Ukrainian birth or descent

Ukrainian Argentines are Argentine citizens of Ukrainian descent or Ukraine-born people who reside in Argentina. Ukrainian Argentines are an ethnic minority in Argentina. Estimates of the Ukrainian and/or Ukrainian-descended population range 1,000,000 people. Many Ukrainian Argentines are of Jewish descent. Currently, the main concentrations of Ukrainians in Argentina are in the Greater Buenos Aires area, with at least 100,000 people of Ukrainian descent, the province of Misiones, with at least 55,000 Ukrainians, and the province of Chaco with at least 30,000 Ukrainians. In Misiones Province Ukrainians constitute approximately 9% of the province's total population. In comparison to Ukrainians in North America, the Ukrainian community in Argentina tends to be more descended from earlier waves of immigration, is poorer, more rural, has less organizational strength, and is more focused on the Church as the center of cultural identity. Most Ukrainian Argentines do not speak the Ukrainian language and have switched to Spanish, although they continue to maintain their ethnic identity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">German Argentines</span> Argentine citizens of German descent

German Argentines are Argentines of German ancestry as well as German citizens living in Argentina. They are descendants of Germans who immigrated to Argentina from Germany and elsewhere in Europe. Some German Argentines originally settled in Brazil, then later immigrated to Argentina. Although Germany as a political entity was founded in 1871, the German language and culture have traditionally been more important than the country of origin, as the basis of the ethnic identity. Today, German Argentines make up the fifth-largest ethnic group in Argentina, with over two million citizens of Volga German descent alone.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Koreans in Argentina</span> Ethnic group

Koreans in Argentina form the second-largest Korean diaspora community in South America and the 16th largest in the world, according to the statistics of South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Their population declined by more than 50% between 1997 and 2003. Despite the small rebound in their numbers since then, they have been surpassed in size by the rapidly growing Chinese Argentine community. In the 2010s decade, the Korean community in Argentina has fallen behind Korean communities in Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, the United States, Brazil, Canada, Singapore, The United Arab Emirates, and Southeast Asia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Polish Argentines</span> Ethnic group

Polish Argentines are Argentine citizens of full or partial Polish ancestry or Poland-born people who reside in Argentina. Poland was the fourth largest net migrants contributor after Italy, Spain and Germany. Although it is hard to give an exact number of Polish immigrants to Argentina, as those who immigrated before 1919 carried German, Austrian or Russian passports, it is estimated that between 1921 and 1976, 169,335 Poles permanently settled in the country. Today there are 2,000,000 Argentines of Polish descent. The Polish minority in Argentina is both one of the most significant minorities in Argentina and one of the largest groups of Polish diaspora.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Argentina–Russia relations</span> Bilateral relations

Current and historical relations between the Argentine Republic and the Russian Federation have existed for decades. Both nations are members of the G20 and the United Nations.

Russian Chileans form a minor part of the Russian diaspora and a small group in comparison to the other ethnic groups in Chile. The 2002 Chilean Census reported 638 Russian citizens, although Russia's government estimates that 1,300 Russians live in Chile. There are more than 70,000 Orthodox Christians in Chile, the majority of them of Russian or Greek origin. Also, a significant amount of Russian Jews arrived in Chile during the 20th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Argentines</span> People of the country of Argentina or who identify as culturally Argentine

Argentines are the people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Argentines, several of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being Argentine. In the past the National Gentilic for Citizens of Argentina was mistakenly translated as Argentinians, a term that is no longer considered accurate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Argentines of European descent</span> Ethnic group

European Argentines or White Argentines belong to several communities which trace their origins to various migrations from Europe and which have contributed to the country's cultural and demographic variety. They are the descendants of colonists from Spain during the colonial period prior to 1810, or in the majority of cases, of Spanish, Italians, French, Russians and other Europeans who arrived in the great immigration wave from the mid 19th to the mid 20th centuries, and who largely intermarried among their many nationalities during and after this wave. No recent Argentine census has included comprehensive questions on ethnicity, although numerous studies have determined that European Argentinians have been a majority in the country since 1914.

Estonian Argentines are Argentine citizens of Estonian descent or Estonia-born people who emigrated to Argentina. Argentina is home to the fourth largest Estonian community in the Americas, behind the United States, Canada and Brazil.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Serbian Orthodox Eparchy of Buenos Aires and South America</span>

The Serbian Orthodox Eparchy of Buenos Aires, South and Central America is a Serbian Orthodox Church eparchy (diocese) with the main headquarters located in the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina. The diocese has 20 churches in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Ecuador, El Salvador, Colombia and Peru. On October 13, 2012, was realized the first session of diocese under the rule of the actual administration of Metropolitan bishop Amfilohije Radović. The decision of the Holy Assembly of Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church brought in May 2018 elected Kirilo Bojović the first Serbian Bishop of Buenos Aires and South-Central America. He was enthroned in the Cathedral church of Nativity of Virgin in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on 4 September 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Belarusian Argentines</span> Ethnic group

Belarusian Argentines are a part of the Belarusian diaspora that consists of the Belarusians who emigrated to Argentina and their descendants. The community was formed in the 20th century, now it accounts for 7,000 people and about 100,000 descendants, Argentine is second country with largest bielarusians community in the world after Unites States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Polish Colombians</span> Ethnic group

Polish Colombians are Colombian citizens of full or partial Polish ancestry, or Polish-born person residing in Colombia. Most of the Polish immigrants that fled from the Holocaust to Colombia were Polish Jews.

The Federation of Russian Workers of South America was an organization of Russian immigrants in Argentina. The organization was founded in February 1918. FORSA was led by Mikhail Komin-Alexandrovsky, a member of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party who had arrived in Argentina in 1909. FORSA existed parallel to the Russian Union of Socialist Workers (UROS), which FORSA labelled as 'Menshevik'.

References

Further reading