Love Actually? Intimacy in Zinaida Poliakova’s Diaries in Imperial Russia

Speaker: Professor ChaeRan Freeze (Brandeis University)  

Zinaida Poliakova (1863-1953) was the eldest daughter of Lazar and Rozaliia Poliakov, known as the Russian Rothschilds, who dominated finance and railroads in Imperial Russia. Her diaries shed light on the “political economy of intimacy”—a complex calculus of capital, aristocratic sociability, cultural patronage, and imperial charity—in which her family participated. Critical to personalizing this political intimacy were the Poliakov women, who were active hosts in their aristocratic salon and munificent patron of the arts. Intimacy in the family was another theme in Poliakova’s diaries, revealing the deep tensions and transformations in Jewish everyday life in Russia and later France. 

The lecture will take place online (e-mail yulia.egorova@durham.ac.uk for details) and is free for all.