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New book, publication 15 April 2003: The tercentenary
of the founding of St Petersburg by Peter the Great.

Price £14.99

THE COMPANION GUIDE TO 
St Petersburg 

KYRIL ZINOVIEFF
and JENNY HUGHES

A Note on the Author

Kyril Zinovieff's memory goes back to before the Russian Revolution, to the time when he saw Rasputin in a sledge, roaring with laughter as he crossed the Moika River in St Petersburg. When his nurse pointed out Rasputin, six-year-old Kyril's comment was, 'And who's that?' On his most recent visit to St Petersburg last summer, the traffic ground to a halt because of a visit by President Putin. It has been a long life, he reflects wryly, from Rasputin to Putin.

The Zinovieff family's association with St Petersburg began soon after the city became the capital of Russia. The accession of Catherine the Great strengthened the connection, since the main instigators of the coup d'état which installed Catherine on the throne in place of her husband Peter III were the Orlov brothers: their mother was a Zinovieff, and Grigoriy Orlov's wife was also a Zinovieff.

From then on, Zinovieffs were in constant administration of the city, sometimes as 'marshals of the nobility' (a role that Kyril Zinovieff defines as more or less chairman of the county council), sometimes as governors of St Petersburg, sometimes as commandants of the Fortress (see pp17-18, 21-4 etc) or, with the introduction of the Constitution in 1906, as members of the Upper House (the Council of State) or the Lower House (Duma).

After the Revolution, the Zinovieffs emigrated to England, where the author went to school and then university. At the outbreak of war he enlisted with the British Army, serving in the Middle East throughout the war; on leaving the army in 1946 he became a British civil servant. For the last two decades, as Kyril Fitzlyon, he has concentrated on translating from French and Russian (including Nijinsky's diaries and Princess Dashkova's memoirs) and, until he lost his sight, reviewing for the English and American media.

Kyril Zinovieff's Companion to St Petersburg was begun several years ago, given up for lost when he went blind, and, in collaboration with Jenny Hughes, has been triumphantly completed in time for St Petersburg's tercentenary. It is intended not just as a guide round the physical city, but also as an account of the history and life of St Petersburg from its foundation to the present day. It tells the story of the streets and buildings, of the people who built them and the lives they led; of the artists, poets and writers who drew their inspiration from the city, and of the harsh realities of coups d'état, revolutions, flood, epidemics and war - and of the enduring impact of the dramatic events of three hundred years on the city and its people.