Berezin, N.I.: Through the Land of the Pygmies (Stanley’s Travel)

Title

Cherez stranu karlikov (Puteshestvie Stenli), Sankt-Peterburg 1905

Through the Land of the Pygmies (Stanley’s Travel)

Keywords

Summary

With this volume, Berezin offers the Russian readership an account of Henry Stanely’s first trans-Africa expedition (1874-1877), from Zanzibar to Boma. The book is divided into fifteen chapters covering the entire expedition, and it also provides details about the socio-political situation in Central Africa, the conflicts between the locals, their various ethnicities (“pygmies” and “negroes” in particular). Ample space is given to the meeting with Tippu Tip and the death of Stanley’s adopted son Kalulu. Written in a simple style, the volume includes drawings portraying the landscape and specific episodes of Stanley’s journey. At the time of its publication, it was perceived that Berezin had portrayed Stanley in a sympathetic manner, avoiding highlighting his darker sides.

Bio

The son of the renowned Orientalist Il’ia Berezin, professor at Kazan and Saint Petersburg universities, Nikolai Berezin was a writer, geographer and schoolteacher, who dedicated himself to popularise the life and works of many Western explorers, like Nils Nordenskiöld, James Cook, Gustav Nachtigal. He also translated the adventurous accounts of Joachin von Brenner-Felsach’s travel to Sumatra and Sven Hedin’s to Central Asia. A passionate traveller himself, he thoroughly documented some of his experiences, writing, for instance, a reportage of a journey through Karelia, complete with photos. In addition to popular literature, he also compiled several geography textbooks and manuals for schoolchildren and teachers.

Sources

Ukazatel’ nauchno-populiarnykh knig po geografii, Sankt-Peterburg 1914², p. 119;

I. Masanov, Slovar’ psevdonimov russkikh pisatelei, uchenykh i obshchestvennykh deiatelei, t. 4, Moskva 1960, p. 63.

A.F.