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\n \n ENGLISH CLUB, English assembly, one of the first club-type establishments in Russia. It was founded on March 12, 1770 at Her Majesty Catherine II's pleasure by English entrepreneurs F. Gardner and C. Gardiner. They designed it as an assembly of pleasant conversationalists and followed the example of English clubs. People of different estates and nationalities could become members of the club, but women were not permitted. In 1771 it consisted of 250 members. The club occupied Kuzel's House (nowadays 17 Malaya Morskaya Street), in 1774 - Buturlin's House on 54 Moika Embankment (presently State Russian Pedagogical Herzen University is situated there), since 1778 - Skavronsky's House, was situated on the same place (not preserved), in 1813-30 - the house of merchant Talle (58 Moika River Embankment; it has been rebuilt), in 1830 - Demidov's House (64 Moika River Embankment; not preserved), since the 1890s the club had its own lodgings (16 Dvortsovaya Embankment). Club's budget was formed from annual fees, donations, interest income from card games. Gradually the English Club transformed from a merchant assembly into an aristocratic club-type establishment; among its members were representatives of the highest nobility (princes Golitsyn, princes Volkonsky, counts Tatishchev, and others), top officials, and cultural figures. By the end of the 18th century the English club had become one of the main meeting-points for eminent representatives of St. Petersburg society. In the end of the 1790s by the order of Emperor Pavel I the club was closed; in the early 1800s it was re-opened at His Majesty Alexander I's pleasure. In the first third of the 19th century its members were Decembrists M.S. Lunin, N.M. Muravyev and others, cultural figures V.A. Zhukovsky, I.A. Krylov, A.S. Pushkin, V.P. Stasov, N.I. Gnedich, etc. The prime of the English Club was the 1830-50s. In 1853 the rules and regulations of the club were reconsidered, the number of its members reached 400 (while some hundreds were on the waiting list of candidates). In the mid-19th century the English club was on the top of the establishments for elite, and a large-scale unofficial gambling-house as well. Among its resident gamblers were Minister of Finance A.A. Abaza, General I.O. Sukhozanet, traveller E.P. Kovalevsky, poet N.A. Nekrasov and many others. Since the 1860s the English club had been gradually transforming into an aristocratic-only club establishment. In 1916 it ceased to exist. In the 1990s an attempt was made to revive the English Club that takes under its patronage museums, orphanages, establishes prizes for contribution into cultural development, supporting different cultural projects. Since the 1990s the name English Club has been used by various courses and schools teaching English.

References: Столетие С.-Петербургского английского собрания, 1770-1870: Ист. очерк. Воспоминания. Список старшинам. Списки почетным членам. СПб., 1870; Стодвадцатипятилетие С.-Петербургского английского собрания 1-го марта 1895 года. СПб., 1895; Герасимов В. В. Из истории Санкт-Петербургского Английского клуба // Петербургские вечера. СПб., 1995. p. 11-29; Завьялова Л.В. Петербургский Английский клуб (1770-1917) // Петербургские чтения-95. СПб., 1995. p. 171-173.

Y. N. Kruzhnov.\n
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Persons
\n \n \n \n Alexander I, Emperor\n
\n \n \n \n \n Catherine II, Empress\n
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\n \n \n \n Pushkin Alexander Sergeevich\n
\n \n \n \n \n Stasov Vasily Petrovich\n
\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Zhukovsky Vasily Andreevich\n
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