Russian immigration to Brazil in the first half of the 20th century: migration routes and adaptation patterns

Abstract

In the article under consideration, the author examines three main waves of the Russian-speaking immigration to Brazil and, particularly, to the State of São Paulo and its capital of the same name, during the first half of the 20th century. The first wave refers to the period from 1921 to the late 1930s. We consider the arrival of general Wrangel’s soldiers and officers, in 1921; the resettlement of Russian-speaking farmers from Romanian Bessarabia in 1923-1930s; and the ‘secondary’ migration of Nansen refugees from Europe during the 1930s. The second wave represents the post-war subsidized migration of Russian displaced persons (DPs), and the third one is the resettlement of the Russians from China during the 1950s. The author relies on a vast number of authentic sources from public and private archives, such as Russian-language periodicals in Brazil, Brazilian regulatory acts, and interviews with the descendants of Russian emigrants. Delivering a comparative analysis of the aforementioned waves the author concludes that the patterns of the Russian speakers’ adaptation in Brazil need to be considered in the light of political and economic conditions in the country in a particular period of immigrants’ arrival. It is also noted that anti-Soviet sentiments in Brazilian politics, starting from the mid-1930s, had a negative impact on preservation of the Russian language and Russian culture in the country.