Freemasonry in Russia started in the 18th century and has continued to the present day. Russian Freemasonry pursue humanistic and educational purposes, but more attention is given to ethical issues. It was a spiritual community of people united in an effort to contribute to the prosperity of the Motherland and the enlightenment of the people living in it.

History

Freemasonry Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

was brought to

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

by foreign officers in service to the Russian military. Russian Freemasonry dates its foundation to the activities of

Franz Lefort Franz may refer to: People * Franz (given name) * Franz (surname) Places * Franz (crater), a lunar crater * Franz, Ontario, a railway junction and unorganized town in Canada * Franz Lake, in the state of Washington, United States – see Fran ...

, Jacob Bruce and

Patrick Gordon Patrick Leopold Gordon of Auchleuchries (31 March 1635 – 29 November 1699) was a general and rear admiral in Russia, of Scottish origin. He was descended from a family of Aberdeenshire, holders of the estate of Auchleuchries, near Ellon. The ...

in the

German Quarter The German Quarter (), also known as the Kukuy Quarter (), was a neighbourhood in the northeast of Moscow, located on the right bank of the Yauza River east of the former Kukuy Creek (hence the name Kukuy Quarter), within the present-day Basmanny ...

of Moscow. James Keith is recorded as being master of a lodge in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

in 1732–34.Andrew MacKillop, Steve Murdoch. ''Military Governors and Imperial Frontiers c. 1600-1800: A Study of Scotland and Empires''. Brill Academic Publishers, 2003. Page 103. Several years later his cousin

John Keith, 3rd Earl of Kintore Earl of Kintore is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created in 1677 for Sir John Keith, third son of William Keith, 6th Hereditary Earl Marischal of Scotland (see Earl Marischal for earlier history of the family) and Chief of Clan ...

was appointed provincial grand master of Russia by the

Grand Lodge of England The United Grand Lodge of England (UGLE) is the governing Masonic lodge for the majority of Freemasonry, freemasons in England, Wales, and the Commonwealth of Nations. Claiming descent from the Masonic Grand Lodge formed 24 June 1717 at the Goos ...

Catherine II Catherine II. (born Princess Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst; 2 May 172917 November 1796), most commonly known as Catherine the Great, was the reigning empress of Russia from 1762 to 1796. She came to power after overthrowing her husband, Peter III ...

's factotum Ivan Yelagin succeeded in reorganizing Russian Freemasonry into a far-reaching nationwide system that united some 14 lodges and about 400 government officials. He secured English authorization of the first Russian Grand Lodge and became its provincial grand master. He favoured an archaic ritual of blood initiation which involved a symbolic commingling of blood. Yelagin's chief rival was George von Reichel from

Braunschweig Braunschweig () or Brunswick ( ; from Low German , local dialect: ) is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in Lower Saxony, Germany, north of the Harz Mountains at the farthest navigable point of the river Oker, which connects it to the ...

who championed a different system introduced by Johann Wilhelm Kellner von Zinnendorf, the grand master of the

Grand Landlodge of the Freemasons of Germany The Grand Landlodge of the Freemasons of Germany (''Große Landesloge der Freimaurer von Deutschland'', GLL FvD or GLL), also: Order of Freemasons (''Freimaurerorden'', FO) is a Masonic Grand Lodge in Germany. It is one of the founding members of ...

. At least seven lodges founded in 1772-76 acknowledged Reichel's authority. The Yelagin-Reichel feud was ended in 1776 by the unification of all the Russian lodges under the auspices of the

Minerva zu den drei Palmen Lodge Minerva (; ; ) is the Roman goddess of wisdom, justice, law, victory, and the sponsor of arts, trade, and strategy. She is also a goddess of warfare, though with a focus on strategic warfare, rather than the violence of gods such as Mars. Be ...

in Berlin. The following year

Gustav III of Sweden Gustav III (29 March 1792), also called ''Gustavus III'', was King of Sweden from 1771 until his assassination in 1792. He was the eldest son of King Adolf Frederick and Queen Louisa Ulrika of Sweden. Gustav was a vocal opponent of what he s ...

went to

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...

to initiate Grand Duke Paul into Masonry. Simeon Gamaleya

In 1781,

Nikolay Novikov Nikolay Ivanovich Novikov (; , Moscow Governorate – Moscow Governorate) was a Russian writer and philanthropy, philanthropist most representative of his country's Russian Enlightenment, Enlightenment. Frequently considered to be the first Russ ...

and

Ivan Schwarz Johann Georg Schwarz (; 1751–1784) was a philosophy professor at Moscow University who headed the Russian branch of the Rosicrucian Society. A Transylvanian Saxon, Schwarz settled in Moscow in 1776. He has been described as "the main carrier ...

, two professors of the

Moscow University Moscow State University (MSU), officially M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University,. is a public research university in Moscow, Russia. The university includes 15 research institutes, 43 faculties, more than 300 departments, and six branches. Al ...

, set up the Learned Society of Friends in that city. They were dissatisfied with the

Swedish Rite The Swedish Rite is a variation or Rite of Freemasonry that is common in Scandinavian countries and to a limited extent in Germany. It is different from other branches of Freemasonry in that, rather than having the three self-contained foundat ...

that was practised in St. Petersburg. Duke

Ferdinand of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel Ferdinand is a Germanic name composed of the elements "journey, travel", Proto-Germanic , abstract noun from root "to fare, travel" (PIE , "to lead, pass over"), and "courage" or "ready, prepared" related to Old High German "to risk, ventu ...

as the grand master of the lodges in Germany invited Schwarz to take part in the Wilhelmsbad Masonic Congress (1782) where Russia was recognized as the 8th autonomous province of the

Rite of Strict Observance The Rite of Strict Observance was a Rite of Freemasonry, a series of progressive degrees that were conferred by the Order of Strict Observance, a Masonic body of the 18th century. History Baron Karl Gotthelf von Hund (1722–1776) introduced ...

. A schism developed between the lodges of Moscow and St. Petersburg as the former drifted toward a form of

Rosicrucianism Rosicrucianism () is a spiritual and cultural movement that arose in early modern Europe in the early 17th century after the publication of several texts announcing to the world a new esoteric order. Rosicrucianism is symbolized by the Rose ...

Catherine the Great Catherine II. (born Princess Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst; 2 May 172917 November 1796), most commonly known as Catherine the Great, was the reigning empress of Russia from 1762 to 1796. She came to power after overthrowing her husband, Peter I ...

suspected the Masons of turning her son Paul against herself, of being a tool in the hands of her enemy King of

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

, and viewed their attitude toward women as backwards. In 1785, she clamped down upon Novikov's printing house and had some 461 titles confiscated. When she saw her new palace in Tsaritsyno adorned with ornamentation suggestive of the cryptic symbols of Freemasonry, Catherine had it pulled down. Novikov was later jailed, and other leading Freemasons had to flee Russia. Anti-Masonic measures were revoked as soon as Paul ascended the Russian throne in 1796. Increasingly haunted by the spectre of the French Revolution, Paul came to distrust Freemasonry and

Martinism Martinism is a form of Christian mysticism and esoteric Christianity concerned with the fall of the first man, his materialistic state of being, deprived of his own, divine source, and the process of his eventual (if not inevitable) return, call ...

. Within three years of his reign all secret societies were suppressed, and the lodges closed of their own accord. Two years later Paul was assassinated. The lodges flourished under his successor

Alexander I Alexander I may refer to: * Alexander I of Macedon, king of Macedon from 495 to 454 BC * Alexander I of Epirus (370–331 BC), king of Epirus * Alexander I Theopator Euergetes, surnamed Balas, ruler of the Seleucid Empire 150-145 BC * Pope Alex ...

, although it remains unknown whether Alexander himself was an initiate. The most influential figure of this period was

Alexander Labzin Alexander Fyodorovich Labzin (Александр Фёдорович Лабзин; 1766–1825) was a leading figure of the Russian Enlightenment who developed an idiosyncratic mystical system and founded an influential St. Petersburg masonic lodge, ...

The Grand Lodge Astraea was formed in 1815. It united nineteen smaller lodges and counted 1404 members. Its rival was the Swedish Provincial Lodge of Russia, with seven smaller feuding lodges under its umbrella and 230 members.

Leo Tolstoy Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy Tolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; ,Throughout Tolstoy's whole life, his name was written as using Reforms of Russian orthography#The post-revolution re ...

describes some of the rituals in his novel ''

War and Peace ''War and Peace'' (; pre-reform Russian: ; ) is a literary work by the Russian author Leo Tolstoy. Set during the Napoleonic Wars, the work comprises both a fictional narrative and chapters in which Tolstoy discusses history and philosophy. An ...

'' and mentions Fyodor Klyucharyov, a noted Masonic poet. According to

Filipp Vigel Filipp Filippovich Vigel (; – ) was a Russian noble of Swedish extraction who served in the foreign ministry. He accompanied Count Golovkin on his 1805 mission to China, presided over the department of foreign religions and governed the tow ...

, Freemasonry did little but to provide a fashionable pastime for bored nobles. As Emperor Alexander grew increasingly conservative, the Masonic-style political clubs were outlawed in 1822. This interdict was extended by Nicholas I in the wake of the

Decembrist revolt The Decembrist revolt () was a failed coup d'état led by liberal military and political dissidents against the Russian Empire. It took place in Saint Petersburg on , following the death of Emperor Alexander I. Alexander's brother and heir ...

, since the Decembrists had sprung from the Masonic lodges. Freemasonry was legalized and enjoyed a brief revival after the

Revolution of 1905 The Russian Revolution of 1905, also known as the First Russian Revolution, was a revolution in the Russian Empire which began on 22 January 1905 and led to the establishment of a constitutional monarchy under the Russian Constitution of 1906, t ...

. The

Grand Orient of Russia's Peoples The Grand Orient of Russia's Peoples () (GOoRP) was an illegal Co-Freemasonry political organisation which existed in Russia from 1912 until 1917. The organisation was highly political in nature and though it included people from several differen ...

seceded from the

Grand Orient de France The Grand Orient de France (, abbr. GODF) is the oldest and largest of several Freemasonic organizations based in France and is the oldest in Continental Europe (as it was formed out of an older Grand Lodge of France in 1773, and briefly absorbe ...

, with

Nikolai Vissarionovich Nekrasov Nikolai Vissarionovich Nekrasov () (, Saint Petersburg – May 7, 1940, Moscow) was a Russian liberal politician and the last Governor-General of Finland. Biography Parliamentary career Born in the family of a priest, Nekrasov graduated with a ...

and

Alexander Kerensky Alexander Fyodorovich Kerensky ( – 11 June 1970) was a Russian lawyer and revolutionary who led the Russian Provisional Government and the short-lived Russian Republic for three months from late July to early November 1917 ( N.S.). After th ...

as its main leaders. In 1922, in the wake of the

October Revolution The October Revolution, also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution (in Historiography in the Soviet Union, Soviet historiography), October coup, Bolshevik coup, or Bolshevik revolution, was the second of Russian Revolution, two r ...

, the

Bolsheviks The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, were a radical Faction (political), faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split with the Mensheviks at the 2nd Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, ...

had all the lodges closed.

Grand Lodge of Russia

In 1992 and 1993, on the territory of Russia, the

Grande Loge Nationale Française The Grande Loge Nationale Française (; abbr. GLNF) is a French Masonic Grand Lodge. It was founded in 1913, by two lodges, "Le Centre des Amis" Lodge splitting from Grand Orient de France and "L'Anglaise" lodge, an independent lodge based in Bo ...

, created the lodge: "Harmony" (Moscow), "Lotus" (Moscow), "New Astrea" (St. Petersburg), "Gamayun" (Voronezh).Сергей Карпачев. Масоны. Словарь. Великое искусство каменщиков. — М.: «АСТ: Олимп», 2008. — с. 82. — * Lodge "Harmony" was established on January 14, 1992, in Paris. This Lodge was created through the regularization of brothers from the lodge "Astrea» No. 100 GNLF. * Lodge "New Astrea" was established on June 24, 1993, in St. Petersburg. * The Voronezh-based lodge "Gamayun" was established on June 24, 1993, in St. Petersburg. * Lodge "Lotus “ was established on October 12, 1993, in Moscow. The Grand Lodge of Russia was established 24 June 1995 in Moscow. The founders of the Grand Lodge of Russia are made up by the Grande Loge Nationale Française and the four lodges previously created on the territory of Russia ("Harmony", "Lotus", "Astrea", "Gamayun"). The first Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Russia, through election, was Georgiy Dergachev. On the 2nd of July 2016, the GLoR counted near of 700 freemasons united over 33 Lodges. The current Grand Master of the GLoR is

Andrei Vladimirovich Bogdanov Andrey Vladimirovich Bogdanov (Russian Андре́й Влади́мирович Богда́нов; born January 31, 1970) is a Russian politician. He is the chairman of the Russian Party of Freedom and Justice and a prominent Freemason, serving ...

. The Grand Lodge of Russia is an integral part of most of the represented Masonic bodies in the world - the regular

has mutual recognition with the

United Grand Lodge of England The United Grand Lodge of England (UGLE) is the governing Masonic lodge for the majority of freemasons in England, Wales, and the Commonwealth of Nations. Claiming descent from the Masonic Grand Lodge formed 24 June 1717 at the Goose & Gridiron ...

(1996) and more than 100 Grand Lodges in the world.

United Grand Lodge of Russia

In March 2001, about 100 Freemasons left the Grand Lodge of Russia. The reason for the exit was: ''the disagreement of the brothers with the domestic policy pursued by the then leadership of Grand Lodge of Russia''. From the three-volume book on the history of Russian Freemasonry in the 20th century by the historian of Freemasonry Andrey Serkov it follows that the following lodges have left: Harmony No. 1, Lotus No. 2, Astrea No. 3, Jupiter No. 7, Quatuor Coronati No. 8 and the Orion No. 15. On April 16, 2001, a constituent assembly was held, after which it was announced the creation of the “Russian Grand Regular Lodge” (RGRL). In 2007, after the GLR assembly, a group of Masons, members of the Harmony, Lotus, Phoenix, left GLR. After the release of the members of the GLR, they held a meeting with the members of the Russian Grand Regular Lodge, during which it was decided to unite and choose their name - the ''Grand Lodge of Russia''. A clarification was added to the new name, led by the ''Grand Master A. S.''. In June 2008, some members of the association decided to establish relations with the Grand Lodge of France. On October 11, 2008, at its solemn assembly, under the patronage of the Grand Lodge of France, the United Grand Lodge of Russia (UGLR) was established. The United Grand Lodge of Russia was granted a patent of the Grand Lodge of France for the right to carry out work on the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite. The United Grand Lodge of Russia was included in the establishment of 11 lodges. On the 2nd of July 2019, the UGLR counted near of 200 freemasons united over 11 Lodges. The current Grand Master of the UGLR is Yuri Arkhangelsky.

Masonic organizations in Russia

* Grand Lodge of Russia - 700 members in 33 lodges; * United Grand Lodge of Russia - 70 members in 5 lodges; *

Grand Orient of France The Grand Orient de France (, abbr. GODF) is the oldest and largest of several Freemasonic organizations based in France and is the oldest in Continental Europe (as it was formed out of an older Grand Lodge of France in 1773, and briefly absorbe ...

- 100 members in 4 lodges; * Grand Lodge of France - 10 members in 1 lodge; * Women's Grand Lodge Of France - 30 sisters in 1 lodge; *

Le Droit Humain The International Order of Freemasonry ''Le Droit Humain'' is a global Masonic order, membership of which is available to men and women on equal terms, regardless of nationality, religion or ethnicity. This practice is known as Co-Freemasonry ...

- 20 members in 1 lodges.

Bibliography

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References

External links

{{Commons category, Freemasonry in Russia
Grand Lodge of Russia

United Grand Lodge of Russia