Diplomacy and murder of Aleksander Griboyedov in Persia: a century-old dispute in Russian and British publications

The article overviews British scientific and periodical publications of the 20th-21st centuries and explores the reception of A.S. Griboyedov's diplomatic activity in Persia in the period of 1826-1829, which concerns the formation of Russian-British relations from the empire times until today. The interest in Griboyedov's personality in Britain is caused by not only a pretty wide popularity of his works among general readers but also his diplomatic activity and the version of British secret services initiating the massacre in Persia. In 1929 D.S Mirsky triggers the stable interest of the British reading intelligentsia in Griboyedov's diplomatic activity (Centenary of the Death of Griboyedov). The next publication about Griboyedov describing the Russian mission doom in Persia and its dramatic circumstances is released almost 20 years later in 1948 (Lang D.M. Griboyedov's last years in Persia). Ever since this interest has been gaining momentum. After Lang D. Costello refers to similar investigations (Griboyedov in Persia in 1820, 1954, and The Murder of Griboyedov, 1958). In 1961 Costello answers the publication of the study by S.V. Shostakovich with "A Note on The Diplomatic Activity of A. S. Griboyedov by S.V. Shostakovich". In his review he tries to refute a number of Shostakovich's statements concerning English-Russian-Persian relations at the beginning of the 19th century and the Russian mission doom because of the English. In the 1970s a Slavicist and translator E.J. Harden continues Costello's investigation in Griboyedov and the Willock Affair (1971) and The Murder of Griboyedov (1979). In her works she follows Costello and denies any British participation in the tragedy as well as blames the undiplomatic Griboyedov for the doom of the Russian mission. The newest English historiography of Griboyedov's diplomatic activity and death is connected with L. Kelly's monograph Diplomacy and Murder in Tehran. Alexander Griboyedov and Imperial Russia's mission to the Shah of Persia published in 2002. This work earned the fame of "the first full biography of Griboyedov in English" and got a number of positive responses from J. Bayley, M.V. Jones, E. Andreeva, H. Katouzian, J. Ellison, etc. At the beginning of the 21st century the name of Griboyedov as a diplomat appears very often in English researches that are intended for a wider circle of readers. It proves not only the constant wish to deflect the disputable blame for the massacre of the Russian mission in Tehran but also a desire to understand how the dialogue between the two countries is established and what the prospects are. It can be presumed that this topic will come under notice any time modern Russia shows its imperial ambitions on the international political scene.

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