Professor Elevated to Russian Imperial Order of St. Anna
Posted on Thursday, February 21, 2008
Dr. Russell Martin, Westminster College associate professor of history, was elevated to the Russian Imperial Order of St. Anna, Third Class (Knight Companion) by Her Imperial Highness, Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna.
The Grand Duchess is head of all Russian Imperial Orders of Knighthood and heiress to the currently vacant Russian Imperial Throne.
The investiture was performed Feb. 16, the Feast Day of St. Anna, at the Church of St. Elias Obydenskii in Moscow.
Martin merited the honor for his years of service to the Russian Imperial House, as an author of historical works, and as a translator of official documents that appear on the Web site of the Russian Imperial House (www.imperialhouse.ru).
Martin explained, "The Order of St. Anna was originally founded in 1735 by Duke Karl Friedrich on the birthday, and in honor, of his wife, Anna Petrovna, daughter of Peter the Great. His son, Karl Peter Ulrich (later the Russian Emperor Peter III), took the order with him to Russia in 1742, and bestowed it upon courtiers and favorites. Peter III's son, Emperor Paul I, established St. Anna as a Russian Order in three classes, and Paul I's son, Alexander I, added a fourth class. It was, and remains, primarily a civil Order, although a version for distinguished military service was created. Current members of the Order include the Russian Patriarch, Aleksei II, and the distinguished Russian historian, S. O. Shmidt."
"I have always considered my service to the Grand Duchess as its own reward: the thought of serving the heir to Tsar Mikhail Romanov (the first Romanov tsar), of Peter the Great (the first emperor), of Nicholas II (the sainted last emperor) was, for me, a thrill and an honor on its own," Martin continued. "I accepted this rare honor with the pledge to continue my service to the Grand Duchess, her heir and son, and to the Russian Imperial House."
Martin, who has been with Westminster since 1996, earned an undergraduate degree from the University of Pittsburgh and a master's and Ph.D. from Harvard University.
Martin appeared on A&E Biography in a broadcast on Ivan the Terrible as an expert on the controversial ruler. He is the co-founder of the Muscovite Biographical Database, a Russian-American computerized register based in Moscow of early modern Russian notables. The Neville Island, Pa., native is not only fluent in Russian, but also reads Old Church Slavonic/Russian, French, German, Latin, and Polish.
Contact Martin at (724) 946-6254 or e-mail martinre@westminster.edu for additional information.
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