Russia on Uránia

Saint Moses the Hungarian – One of the First Queer Figures in Russian History?

Mon, 23 Mar 2026 12:00:00 +0700

The Life of the Venerable Moses the Hungarian is one of the most unusual texts in Old Russian hagiography. A monk of the Kyiv Cave Monastery who was taken captive to Poland, he refused for years to marry a wealthy and powerful woman, was castrated for it, and was later canonized as a model of chastity.

The Story of a Medieval Arabic Source in Which the Women of the 'Rus' Were Called the World's First Lesbians

Wed, 18 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000

In English-language academic and popular literature on the history of sexuality in the Middle East, one occasionally encounters the claim that the medieval Arab encyclopedist Shihab al-Din al-Nuwayri wrote that the women of the “Rus” practiced same-sex love, and that those women were the first in human history to engage in such practices.

The Possible Homosexuality of Grand Duke Nikolai Mikhailovich of the Romanov Family

Sun, 01 Mar 2026 22:45:37 +0700

Nikolai Mikhailovich was almost the only Romanov praised both by his contemporaries and by historians of very different political persuasions — left and right alike. Within the family, he stood out as an intellectual who pursued scholarship seriously.

Muzhik-Maslenitsa: A Maslenitsa Figure of a Man Dressed as a Woman

Thu, 18 Dec 2025 22:45:37 +0700

Maslenitsa is the Russian name for Cheesefare Week, the last week before Great Lent in the Orthodox calendar. Its date changes every year because it is tied to Pascha, or Easter. During this week meat has already been excluded from the diet, while butter, dairy products, and eggs are still permitted. Blini gradually became the best-known festive food of the season and one of the most recognizable symbols of Maslenitsa.

Andrey Avinoff: A Russian Émigré Artist, Gay Man, and Scientist

Wed, 26 Nov 2025 22:45:37 +0700

Andrey Avinoff was a Russian entomologist and artist, and a friend of Alfred Kinsey. He was a collector, a connoisseur of beauty, and a gay man, yet he never made his sexuality public. After the Revolution in 1917, Avinoff left Russia for the United States. His homoerotic watercolors were published only in the 21st century.

Russian Poet Ivan Dmitriev, Young Favourites, and Same-Sex Desire in the Fables 'The Two Doves' and 'The Two Friends'

Wed, 26 Nov 2025 22:45:37 +0700

Ivan Ivanovich Dmitriev entered history as a notable sentimentalist poet of the late 18th–early 19th centuries and as a statesman who rose to the post of minister of justice under Alexander I. In official biographies, he appears as a strict, rational administrator. At the same time, sources and the memoir tradition suggest that young, talented men regularly appeared in his circle. His bachelor life, persistent rumors about the nature of his attachments, and the absence of public scandals create the impression of a figure whose private biography may have been deliberately shielded from publicity, yet remains legible through indirect evidence.

Sergei Romanov: A Homosexual Member of the Imperial Family

Thu, 16 Oct 2025 22:45:37 +0700

In the Romanov dynasty (Russia’s ruling imperial family from 1613 to 1917), every adult family member was expected to marry and produce heirs — this was seen as part of one’s duty to both the family and the state. Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich (a “Grand Duke” was a high-ranking title reserved for close male relatives of the Russian emperor), the brother of Emperor Alexander III, also married, but the couple never had children. The Grand Duke was homosexual.

Peter the Great’s Sexuality: Wives, Mistresses, Men, and His Relationship with Menshikov

Fri, 07 Feb 2025 22:45:37 +0700

Peter the Great entered history as a reformer who drastically changed the old order. But his private life was no less turbulent and contradictory.

The Diary of Pyotr Medvedev, a Bisexual Moscow Merchant, 1854–1863

Fri, 22 Nov 2024 22:45:37 +0700

Information about intimate life in the 19th-century Russian Empire was left primarily by nobles. The diary of Pyotr Vasilyevich Medvedev, a Moscow merchant of the third guild, is a rare exception. From 1854 to 1863, he recorded his thoughts on faith, marriage, the body, desire, and sexual experience – with both men and women. This is the voice of someone outside the elite: a former peasant, a small entrepreneur, a resident of Moscow during the era of the Great Reforms.

Russian Empress Anna Leopoldovna and the Maid of Honour Juliana: Possibly the First Documented Lesbian Relationship in Russian History

Sun, 10 Nov 2024 22:45:37 +0700

Empress Anna Leopoldovna ruled Russia for only a year and remains a relatively little-known figure. She is rarely discussed in school textbooks. Yet her relationship with her lady-in-waiting (often rendered as ‘maid of honour’ in English), Juliana (Julia) von Mengden, deserves attention: it may represent one of the earliest documented indications of lesbian love in Russian history.

Homosexuality in the 18th-Century Russian Empire — Homophobic Laws Borrowed From Europe and How They Were Enforced

Thu, 24 Oct 2024 22:45:37 +0700

The 18th century was a time when Russia was becoming one of the leading powers of Europe. It was also when the state for the first time established a punishment for male same-sex relations in secular law. Under Peter the Great, in 1706, Russia adopted an especially harsh provision borrowed from Western European practice — death by burning. At first, it applied only to the military, above all to soldiers.

The Homosexuality of Russian Tsars Vasily III and Ivan IV the Terrible

Mon, 23 Sep 2024 22:45:37 +0700

Vasily III

Vasily III was Grand Prince of Moscow and ruler of the Russian state from 1505 to 1533. His reign is generally considered successful: stone construction expanded; Pskov, Smolensk, and Ryazan were incorporated into the state; and the country continued to recover after centuries of dependence on the Horde — the Mongol political domination often referred to as the “Tatar Yoke” — along with the raids and devastation associated with it.

Grigory Teplov and the Sodomy Case in 18th-Century Russia

Sun, 22 Sep 2024 22:45:37 +0700

“Having summoned him to his bed, first caressing him and holding out promises of reward, and in the end also threatening him with a beating, he forced him to commit muzhelozhstvo (literally “lying with a man”) on him.” This is a line from the interrogation of a serf peasant, where he accuses his master, Grigory Nikolayevich Teplov, of “muzhelozhstvo” (a historical legal and church term usually translated as “sodomy”) and of rape.

Uncensored Russian Folklore: Highlights from Afanasyev’s “Russian Secret Tales”

Sun, 22 Sep 2024 22:45:37 +0700

We chose three adult Russian folk tales to make one point clear: the folklore of our ancestors was far more explicit – and far bolder – than you might expect. Alongside familiar fairy-tale staples like talking animals and magical transformations, these stories openly explore the body, taboo sex (including sex across species), gigantic phalluses, bondage, and even same-sex themes.

Homosexuality in Ancient and Medieval Russia

Thu, 22 Aug 2024 22:45:37 +0700

While in England, the Netherlands, France, and Spain, people were burned at the stake and tortured for homosexuality, in Rus’ there was not a single secular law up to the 18th century that punished the “sin of Sodom.”

The Cross-Dressing Bogatyr: A Russian Bylina About Mikhailo Potyk, Who Disguises Himself as a Woman

Sun, 29 Oct 2023 22:45:37 +0700

Russian byliny (epic songs) contain a rare plot about the bogatyr (epic warrior) Mikhailo Potyk, who twice disguises himself in women’s clothing. Why does he do this? And how does this motif work inside the epic? This article briefly retells the bylina’s plot, then focuses in detail on the two episodes in which cross-dressing appears: once as a way to defeat enemies, once as a way to save the hero’s life.