Mikhail Peskov, Minin’s Appeal to the Citizens of Nizhnii Novgorod in 1611, 1861. Oil on canvas, 157 x 207 cm. Samara Art Museum, Samara. Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org
Join us on October 14 at 12:30 pm PT for the first online Sawchen Lecture of the 2025-2026 academic year. Focusing on the theme of ‘networks’, CENES welcomes Dr. Chloe Papadopoulos from the University of Southern California.
Title: “Capital from Nizhny: Koz’ma Minin and Military Philanthropy in the Arts”
Abstract: This talk examines military philanthropy in 19th-century Russian representations of the 17th-century grassroots organizer Koz’ma (Kuz’ma) Minin, a key character in representations of the Time of Troubles. Minin is famous as a national hero for forming the second people’s volunteer corps and helping to defeat the Polish-Lithuanian forces that occupied Moscow between 1610 & 1612. Considering the enduring legacy of Minin’s fundraising, I will argue that 19th-century public monuments, paintings, and drama reimagined the financial and moral worth of private wealth during times of war and occupation. The Nizhegorodian people’s patriotic relinquishing of capital fuels the monarchy’s power and, in turn, offers a model for emulation that endures to the present.
Biography: Chloe Papadopoulos is an Assistant Professor of Slavic Languages and Literatures at the University of Southern California. She is a scholar of 19th-century Russian literature and visual culture. Her current book project, Recasting the Past: Historical Representation as Provocation in the Era of Reform, considers why the past, particularly the medieval past, occupied such a prominent place in the cultural imaginary during the era of the Great Reforms.”
How to attend:
This lecture is an online event, and takes place on October 14, 2025, at 12:30pm PT. Attendees must register here for the Zoom Webinar ahead of time. Please note that this is a recorded event.
Watch Chloe Papadopoulos’s Lecture Online:
Missed the lecture on October 14th? You can access the video and audio recording on UBC’s cIRcle database.
Questions? Please email cenes.undergrad@ubc.ca
