Join us for a talk and a discussion exploring the history of emigration out of Russia and the former Soviet Union, from the imperial era to the present day. We shall take a look at who has been leaving, why and how – what social groups had the chance to emigrate, what motivated them to do so, and what mechanisms were available for them to settle somewhere else. The talk will be delivered by Pavel Gudoshnikov, himself a “generation one and a half” migrant who was brought to the UK aged 11 in 1988 and now teaches at Russian and translation at the University.  The session is, among other things, intended to offer a lens through which to reflect on contemporary debates about immigration in the UK and the rest of the world. 

Pavel Gudoshnikov teaches Russian language and Russian-English translation at the University of Leeds. He was born in Moscow in 1976, but his family moved to the UK in 1988. He was part of the team that launched the Russian for Heritage Speakers pathway at the University.