Select language:

Catherine the Great's letter on benefits of vaccination to go under hammer

 / Главная / Russkiy Mir Foundation / News / Catherine the Great's letter on benefits of vaccination to go under hammer

Catherine the Great's letter on benefits of vaccination to go under hammer


16.11.2021

Photo credit: the portrait of Catherine the Great. Fedor Rokotov. 1763 year. Tretyakov Gallery / fragment / ru.wikipedia.org (Public domain)

The most interesting lots of the Russian art auction held by MacDougalls’s auction house will be exhibited in Moscow, RBC reports. The exhibition kicks off on November 19 and will run until the end of the month. The auction will take place in London on December 1.

One of the lots is a letter written by the Russian empress Catherine the Great. In it, the emress advocates for vaccination against smallpox. The authenticity of the letter was confirmed by experts. 

The Russian empress was the first in her country to be vaccinated against smallpox. In the letter dated 20 April 1787 she instructs the governor-general and vice-regent of Malorossiya to start the smallpox inoculation in the province.

The portrait of the empress by Dmitry Levitsky is also put up for auction. The estimate reaches 1.2 million pounds.

Almost 50 artworks will be presented in Russia, their total estimate reaches five million pounds. 

Russkiy Mir

News by subject

Publications

Italian entrepreneur Marco Maggi's book, "Russian to the Bone," is now accessible for purchase in Italy and is scheduled for release in Russia in the upcoming months. In the book, Marco recounts his personal odyssey, narrating each stage of his life as a foreigner in Russia—starting from the initial fascination to the process of cultural assimilation, venturing into business, fostering authentic friendships, and ultimately, reaching a deep sense of identifying as a Russian at his very core.