Famous Scots . Patrick Gordon.

Scots who immigrated to another Country. Russia

The first Scots to be mentioned in Russia’s history were the Scottish soldiers in Muscovy referred to as early as the 14th century. Among the ‘soldiers of fortune’ was the ancestor of the famous Russian poet Mikhail Lermontov, called George Learmonth. A number of Scots gained wealth and fame in the times of Peter the Great and Catherine the Great. These include Admiral Thomas Gordon, Commander-in-Chief of Kronstadt, Patrick Gordon, Paul Menzies, Samuel Greig, Charles Baird, Charles Cameron, Adam Menelaws and William Hastie. Several doctors to the Russian court were from Scotland, the best-known being James Wylie.

The next wave of migration established commercial links with Russia.

The 19th century witnessed the immense literary cross-references between Scotland and Russia.

A Russian scholar, Maria Koroleva, distinguishes between ‘the Russian Scots’ (properly assimilated) and ‘Scots in Russia’, who remained thoroughly Scottish.

There are several societies in contemporary Russia to unite[clarification needed] the Scots. The Russian census lists do not distinguish Scots from other British people, so it is hard to establish reliable figures for the number of Scots living and working in modern Russia.

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