Laurence from France: “I fell in love with Ivan the Terrible when I was a schoolgirl”
Laurence Guillon lives in a traditional wooden house, paints icons and writes novels about Russian history. So, what brought her to Russia?
“I can't explain it, but Russia is my calling. In my youth, I became fascinated with Russian literature. [Fyodor] Dostoevsky led me to the Russian Orthodox Church. Then, I got keen on icon painting. But, Andrei Tarkovsky's movie 'Andrei Rublev' had the biggest influence on my soul. Therefore, I had no other path but Russia,” says Laurence.
From France to Old Russia
The Holy Trinity Danilov Monastery in Pereslavl-Zalessky. Founded in 1508.
The Frenchwoman lives in the small town of Pereslavl-Zalessky (150 km from Moscow). Once, Tsar Ivan the Terrible walked the shores of the local Lake Pleshcheyevo, while a young Peter I built his “toy fleet” there.
Today, Pereslavl and neighboring Rostov are restoring ancient churches and observing an increased influx of foreign Christians.
‘On the Shores of the Trubezh River’ by Laurence Guillon.
Laurence Guillon was one of the first to arrive. Now, she writes books, paints pictures and maintains a blog in French called ‘Chroniques de Pereslavl' (‘Chronicles of Pereslavl’).
A Frenchwoman’s Russian soul
“In my youth, I thought I had a Russian soul, an archaic, peasant one. And Russia is a country that has preserved many features of the peasant character.”
Thanks to Sergei Eisenstein's movie ‘Ivan the Terrible’, Laurence fell in love with Russian culture. “His image is portrayed positively there and, in my youth, the tsar was a father figure for me, evoking admiration.”
Laurence wrote two novels about Ivan the Terrible as she was trying to understand what lay behind his cruelty. “And I think I understood: Ivan the Terrible was a very complex man, nervous, anxious. He was left alone early, he was betrayed more than once. And he was an idealist: he believed he had a holy mission and he had to fulfill it.”
At 18, Laurence converted to Orthodoxy, entered the Institute of Oriental Languages and, of course, began studying Russian. In 1973, she came to the USSR for the first time. She was 21 then.
First impressions of Russia
Laurence admits that when she first arrived, she was upset to the point of tears.
“I had Bilibin's illustrations in my head, I expected a fairy-tale Russia, but here there was grayness and concrete. Well, I knew such things existed, but maybe a block, well, a couple of blocks… For the rest, I imagined old houses, like in France.”
And yet, after that first trip, she returned. In 1990, Laurence was invited on the ‘In the Footsteps of Radishchev’ expedition from St. Petersburg to Moscow.
Laurence and her dog Rita
“It was an incredibly interesting trip: we held many lectures and meetings with creative people. Then, I understood that Russians were exactly as I had imagined them. And I decided to stay!”
For 16 years, Laurence worked at the school in the French embassy in Moscow: teaching French to Russian children.
In 2014, she briefly left for her homeland to care for her sick mother, but then returned, as her home and her friends were all in Russia now.
A foreign woman in an old Russian hut
Laurence first visited the city of Pereslavl in 1999 on a vacation. She began painting the local landscapes.
This is how the Frenchwoman saw the city of Pereslavl in 1999.
“I liked the nature and atmosphere of Pereslavl so much that I bought a dacha in a neighboring village and visited it at weekends. And when I returned to Russia for good, there was no other thought but to stay here!”
As she dreamed, Laurence settled in a Russian ‘izba’ (traditional wooden house). She refined the design herself and made the dwelling more fairy-tale-like.
A Russian Izba, French Style
The house is quite large, so Laurence rents out rooms to French people who want to move to Russia.
“I show them the city, take them to the migration service, introduce them to people and so on.”
Laurence says that Pereslavl and the whole Yaroslavl Region is experiencing an influx of foreign Orthodox Christians. For example, an American priest who converted to Orthodoxy came to neighboring Rostov Veliky and attracted 50 American families with him.
About Russia & Russians
There are things that still surprise the Frenchwoman about Russians. “For example, how chaotically [they] eat. It's the fastest way to gain weight! Or that women, especially of my age, bombard you with advice, explaining how to live. And they do it, of course, for your own good,” Laurence laughs.
Vasilina the cat on Laurence's windowsill
“I always had a tendency to leave things to chance (Russian ‘avos’). But, here it went even further, because, in Russia, you can't live otherwise. You do everything as you should, with all guarantees, but tomorrow comes and everything disappears: a catastrophe might happen or the system might change, they might come and take everything away. Therefore, you have to live today and we'll see about tomorrow.”
Laurence believes that, in Russia, there is freedom, freedom in everyday life, which doesn't exist in France.
“Yes, inside Russia there are its own demons: corruption, theft and other problems. And the main demon is the deviation from the Russian spirit. I want this spirit to be revived, for people to love their past. After all, the uniqueness of Orthodox Christian culture is that it heals people's souls. That is precisely why foreigners come here!”
The full version of the interview is available (in Russian) on the ‘Nation’ magazine’s website.
