Kuz’min, E.M.: Around Africa by Car

Title

Po Afrike na avtomobile, Petrograd 1915

Around Africa by Car

Keywords

Summary

The book was written as a result of a car journey of Andrei Nagel, Boris Nikiforov, and Evgenii Kuz’min (the author of the book) on the coasts of the Mediterranean Sea. It is accompanied by photographs and drawings made by Kuz’min himself. The book is preceded by two humorous epigraphs and the general tone of the narration is a rather humorous one, though the journey depicted was not devoid of difficulties. The three travellers are given pseudonyms (Engel, Wilson, and Kin) and before proceeding to the description of the journey, the author spends a few words about the car “Russo-Balt” and its technical aspects. The journey consisted of three stages: the first was the departure from Saint Petersburg to Nice. Stage two was the journey itself, which included the following main stops: Nice, Marseille, Barcelona, Valencia, sea crossing to Oran (Algeria), then across Algeria through the cities of Algiers, Bouji, Constantine, the oasis of Biskra, Batna, Skikda, and Tunis. From there the travellers crossed the sea to Naples, Rome, Florence, Pisa, Genoa, and finally Monaco. Stage three was the return home, from Monaco to Saint Petersburg. On Christmas Eve of 1913, the travellers took a steamer from Spain and reached Oran. Compared to Spain, the African roads delighted the travellers with their brand new highways: the Sahara was not so difficult to cross, after all. When the expedition stopped at a seaside town in Algeria, they were in for a surprise: they saw the snow, which, apparently, was very rare in that area. Overall, the weather did not favour the travellers. The further south they went, the more persistent the rains and stronger the wind became, and the hotels were described as quite poor, often without heating. At the southernmost point of the route, at the oasis of Biskra, they were met with awful weather, no particular attractions, and bare desert. In this dreary wilderness they recall welcoming the new year 1914, going to bed before midnight. After Biskra the journey continued to Tunisia, where they visited the city and surrounding villages, as well as the remains of Carthage. Summing up their African journey, on the boat to Italy, the travellers conclude that probably they have been too demanding: the roads and hotels were not too bad, the landscapes were quite beautiful and diverse, and the cities pretty interesting.

Bio

Evgenii Kuz’min was a prominent figure in the field of automobilism and motorsport in Russia, as well as a journalist and contributor to the magazine “Avtomobil’”. A significant milestone in Kuzmin’s career was his pioneering motor rally in North Africa in 1909, marking him as the first Russian motorist to undertake such an endeavour. In the years 1913-1914 Kuzmin, along with Andrei Nagel and Boris Nikiforov, embarked on an ambitious expedition across the Mediterranean and Africa, driving the car “Russo-Balt”. Following this remarkable journey, Kuzmin penned the book Across Africa by Car, which was published in 1914 by the publisher “Avtomobil’”. Information about Kuz’min’s life after the 1917 revolution is not available.

Sources

Ot izdatelei, in E. Kuz’min, Po Afrike na avtomobile, Moskva 2010 [1915], p. 310.

M.E.

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