Pushkin House Information

Pushkin House is an independent cultural centre, a home for exchange, interpretation and dialogue. It is a bridge that facilitates active enquiry and encourages conversations among writers, poets, artists, performers and academics. Pushkin House was established in 1954 by a group of scholars with Russian roots led by theologist Maria Kullman as a residential home for international students. Maria’s husband and business partner Genrich Kullman was a distinguished Swiss lawyer who worked with the League of Nations and whose last appointment was Deputy High Commissioner for Refugees. Originally known as Forum House, Pushkin House was established with freedom of speech as its core principle. Establishing an organisation focused on Russia in the 1950s and 1960s London was, no doubt, more radical than we can ever imagine today. As a meeting point for intellectuals and creatives, it really thrived and was frequented by dancers such as Lifar and Karsavina, philosopher Isaiah Berlin, artists Sergey Makovsky and Mstislav Dobuzhinsky, art collector Eric Estorick, literary critic George Steiner as well as poets and writers Anna Akhmatova, Vera Inber, Korney Chukovsky, Alexander Tvardovsky and Baron Meyendorf, many of whom were contributors and regulars of the Pushkin House ‘club’. At the height of the Cold War, it was perhaps one of the only places in the world, where a public meeting of representatives of such different backgrounds and destinies could take place. Today Pushkin House is a venue for exhibitions, talks, concerts and film screenings which has responded to the multifaceted cultural landscape we now operate in by evolving beyond its original geographic scope. Pushkin House works with international artists, creatives, writers, philosophers and researchers to build on its founding principles and make it an inclusive and open-minded platform for cultural exploration.