For several years now, I have periodically touched on topics related to various aspects of French life in our city and region.
For example, “A Fragrant Symphony,” dedicated to Kharkiv’s perfume shops, as well as the articles “The History of the French Charitable Society in Kharkiv” and “A Little About the French Consulate in Kharkiv.”
Today we’ll return once again to “French” Kharkiv, since there’s plenty to talk about. Let’s start with the fact that in May 1902, French President Émile François Loubet arrived in the Russian Empire on an official visit.
The French community in our city, which at that time consisted of 50 families, began preparing well in advance for this important visit. At a meeting on April 20, the French residents of Kharkiv decided to send two delegates from the city to St. Petersburg for the president’s arrival and to present President Émile Loubet with a gift on behalf of the community.
On the evening of May 4, delegates from our city’s French colony left for St. Petersburg to take part in the celebratory events. They carried with them an address—a written greeting commemorating an anniversary or other event—decorated with an artistic vignette and printed on parchment, bearing 42 signatures from the French community in Kharkiv. The address was housed in a luxurious white shagreen leather folder bearing the inscription in French: “À Monsieur Émile Laubet, President of the French Republic, from the French colony of Kharkiv, May 1902.” In addition, four 40 × 50-centimeter slides depicting views of Kharkiv were commissioned from photographer Alexei Mikhailovich Ivanitsky as a gift for the President of France. Each photograph was mounted in an ornate frame and accompanied by inscriptions engraved on small silver plaques.
All of this was personally handed over to the French president in St. Petersburg on May 9 during a meeting with delegations from the French colonies, which was also attended by representatives from Moscow, Odesa, and Warsaw.
Visits to our city by high-ranking French officials were not uncommon. Several years later, on Sunday, August 13, 1906, as part of a tour of the Donetsk coalfield, Maurice Bompard, the French ambassador to the Imperial Court in St. Petersburg, arrived in Kharkiv for a one-day visit. The reception given to France’s chief representative, as well as to his wife and the embassy’s first secretary, who accompanied him, was extremely warm and cordial. Journalists of the time wrote that at 12:30 p.m., the ambassador and his entourage arrived at the Grand Hotel. At the entrance, he was already greeted by the hotel’s owner, the Frenchman Louis Bonnot, and his family. In the most lavishly furnished room of the Grand Hotel, a festive breakfast was held in honor of Maurice Bompard, which the owner himself had prepared.
The breakfast was attended by prominent members of the French community, the consulate, and a charitable organization, as well as leading industrialists—about 30 people in all. At 3:00 p.m., the ambassador left the “Grand Hotel” and paid a series of visits, including to the governor, the commander of the troops, and the provincial leader of the nobility.
However, it wasn’t just diplomats who came to Kharkiv. Well-known French hikers also visited our beloved city in the early 20th century. For example, in mid-April 1903, 23-year-old Charles Millot stopped in Kharkiv. By that time, he had been on the road for three years and had visited many places. Having left Paris in April 1901, Millot walked through all of southern France, then visited Italy and Sicily. While in Messina, the traveler fell ill and was bedridden for three whole months with a fever. After recovering, the Frenchman set out again, visiting Malta and traveling on foot through Austria-Hungary, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, England, Scotland, Sweden, and Finland. Interestingly, Millot traveled all this time without any money, earning a living by teaching French, writing articles about his experiences for French newspapers, and selling his photographs and postcards. Upon arriving in Kharkiv, Charles Millot settled into a room at the “Grand Hotel” (which, as I mentioned above, was owned by a Frenchman), where he held a brisk sale of his photographs. After visiting our beloved city, Millot planned to head to Odesa, then to Crimea, and from there to Persia, India, China, Japan, and America.
A few years later, the Paris Geographical Society invited anyone interested to take part in a round-the-world voyage under the following conditions:
- Follow a specific route, visit a huge number of places, and document your visits everywhere;
- The entire journey was 165,000 kilometers, which had to be covered over the course of 15 years. Of that total, 70,000 km were traveled by sea and rail, while the remaining 95,000 km had to be covered on foot;
- The participants covered all travel expenses themselves. Anyone who dropped out of the race could not expect any reward, but the first person to finish in 1922 received a prize of 200,000 francs.
As a result, on January 23, 1907, 22 travelers set out from Paris. They encountered all sorts of adventures during their journey. Near Damascus, they were attacked by Bedouins, who took their luggage, weapons, and money. Near Khartoum, they came under fire from bandits; one of the travelers was killed, and another was wounded in the leg. By 1911, only eight of the original 22 had continued the journey. Even within the “civilized” Russian Empire, the adventures of these brave Frenchmen did not end. In early November 1911, the following news appeared in many media outlets:
On November 12, drunken peasants attacked, for no apparent reason, a group of French travelers who were on a round-the-world trip and beat them up. The armed travelers fired shots into the air. By the time help arrived to rescue the Frenchmen, they had been thoroughly beaten, thrown into the mud, and trampled underfoot. For some reason, one of the beaten French travelers was sent to jail; while he was being led there, the attackers snatched him from the police and beat him again.
Since Kharkiv was a mandatory stop on the travelers’ itinerary, Gabriel and Josephine Schefle arrived in our beloved city in January 1912. Three months later, the other participants—the couple André and Irma Martin—also arrived.
Both couples earned their living in our city in the same way as Charles Millau: they wrote articles for French newspapers, gave lectures, sold postcards, and screened films.
In August 1913, René Marchand, a correspondent for the two largest French newspapers of the time, *Le Figaro* and *Le Parisien*, visited Kharkiv. Our city’s media reported on his visit as follows:
Of all the counties, he was most impressed, of course, by the Vovchans’ky County, which struck him with its telephone network, schools, the literacy of its population, and so on. According to Mr. Marchand, this county is in no way inferior to the rural departments of France. For example, only in the Seine department, like in Vovchans’ky County, is there a telephone in every village. Here, the French journalist also observed land-reorganization efforts, which, in his opinion, help bring together the peasantry of various provinces and enable officials to understand and engage with the peasants’ interests. In general, the way this matter is being handled in the district inspires the most optimistic hopes.
It’s just a shame that we still don’t know about the accounts of Kharkiv written by travelers, diplomats, and journalists and published in French newspapers. Although I’m sure that the Martens couple, who stayed with us until April 15, wrote quite a few interesting things about the city.
It’s encouraging that there is information available about the events organized by the French in Kharkiv in the early 20th century. So there will definitely be more “French stories” to come…
