African and African-related sources in St. Petersburg, Russia

Extract

African and Africa-related collections in St. Petersburg can be found in a number of museums, archives, libraries and other institutions. Unfortunately, there is no joint catalogue or detailed description of the collections in either Russian or any other language. Therefore not all St. Petersburg African sources can be covered here. For example, until recently not much was written about Russian expeditions to East Africa in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The diary of a zoological expedition from Mombasa to Entebbe in 1914 including some interesting ethnographic material is currently in press at St. Petersburg University Press (ed. by Prof. Andrei Zhukov, African Studies Department, St. Petersburg University).

The only exception is Ethiopia. Most Ethiopian manuscripts in St. Petersburg have been described in two catalogues: Boris A. Turaev. Ethiopian manuscripts in St. Petersburg. St Petersburg, 1906, and Vyacheslav M. Platonov. Ethiopian manuscripts in St. Petersburg collections. St Petersburg, Russian National Library, 1996.