What We Do
The Society for Co-operation in Russian and Soviet Studies (SCRSS)
aims to promote knowledge of the culture, language and history
of Russia and the former Soviet Union (FSU) through its activities
and unique library and archive.
The SCRSS is a small, self-funding membership organisation with
management vested in Annual General Meetings and bi-monthly meetings
of its Council. The SCRSS Council is elected at the Annual General
Meeting, together with the President and Vice Presidents. The
President and members of the SCRSS Council are charity trustees.
The SCRSS is run entirely by volunteers. This governs our opening
hours to visitors, which are subject to sufficient volunteer availability
to welcome members and non-members into our building, in addition
to library and other work taking place at the Society. See the
Contact Us page for details of our
current opening hours.
Rules of the Society
for Co-operation in Russian and Soviet Studies (latest version
approved at the SCRSS AGM held on 21 May 2022)
Our History
The SCRSS was founded in 1924 as the Society for Cultural Relations
between the Peoples of the British Commonwealth and the USSR,
following the establishment of diplomatic relations between Great
Britain and the new Soviet state. It has continued its work uninterrupted
until the present day.
The Society's founding members were a group of key British and
Soviet artists and intellectuals of the day, including EM Forster,
Julian Huxley, Maynard Keynes, Bertrand Russell, Sybil Thorndyke,
Alexei Tolstoy, Virginia Woolf and Konstantin Yuon. They sought
to collect and diffuse information in both countries on developments
in science, education, philosophy, art, literature, and social
and economic life.
In the 1920s-30s the Society actively promoted British-Soviet
relations on a non-political basis through meetings, lectures,
film shows and exhibitions. The SCR Sections were formed - special
interest groups such as Education, Theatre, Writers, Architects
and Planners, and Legal. Now known as the Society for Cultural
Relations with the USSR, it established many branches outside
London. It also expanded its activities to include tours to the
Soviet Union and visits to the UK by key Soviet cultural and public
figures. During World War II, when Britain and the Soviet Union
were allies in the fight against Nazism, the Society organised
exhibitions and other fund-raising events to support the war effort.
From the 1960s-90s seminars, scholarships, professional and educational
exchanges were a key feature of the Society's activities. These
included the popular annual Easter Russian Language Seminar (1969-96),
scholarships to study Russian at the Pushkin Institute of Russian
Language in Moscow (1970s-80s), and exchanges of architects, actors
and young artists (1980s).
In 1992, following the break-up of the Soviet Union, the Society
changed its name to its current title. The Society adheres to
its founding aims of promoting co-operation between the peoples
of the UK, Russia and the FSU. It continues to preserve and provide
access to its library and archive, it publishes a journal SCRSS
Digest, and organises activities from lectures and exhibitions
to seminars.
The Society became a registered charity in May 2004. Registered
Charity No. 1104012.
The Society is also a founder member of the Soviet
War Memorial Trust (originally the Soviet Memorial Trust Fund).
President and Vice Presidents
Professor Bill Bowring - President, Executive Committee
Dr Kate Hudson - Vice President
Professor David Lane - Vice President
Dr Rachel O'Higgins - Vice President
Professor Geoffrey Roberts - Vice President
SCRSS Council
Wendy Ansley
Bethany Aylward
Kate Clark
Michael Costello
Ralph Gibson - Honorary Secretary, Executive Committee
Jeremy Hicks
Andrew Jameson
Meirian Jump - Vice-Chair
Christine Lindey - Exhibitions Officer
Philip Matthews - Chair, Executive Committee
Jane Rosen - Honorary Treasurer, Honorary Archivist, Executive
Committee
Charles Stewart
Diana Turner - Vice-Chair
Strategy 100
The SCRSS celebrates its centenary in 2024. In late 2019 we launched
a five-year plan, Strategy 100, aimed at stabilising
and strengthening the Society ahead of our centenary.
How to Support Us
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