Petr Voskresensky was born on 18 June 1985 in
Saint Petersburg. His family is of mixed ancestry (
Ukrainians,
Belarusians,
Russians,
Lithuanians and
Poles). His father was a
radio engineer, one of the authors of the
Buran project, his mother was a
biologist. His childhood was also significantly influenced by the family of his mother's sister, a famous St. Petersburg artist
Olga Tsutskova. Petr Voskresensky graduated from the
Pavlov First St. Petersburg State Medical University with honors in 2008. He worked as an
anesthesiologist in the clinic of the faculty surgery
academic department in the Pavlov Medical University, then in the
Emergency Situations Ministry hospital. Since 2009, Petr Voskresensky was one of the co-organizers of the annual , dedicated to the memory of the scientist and anti-fascist
Nikolai Girenko, who was murdered by neo-Nazis. Voskresensky organized an LGBT group at this march. After
Russia invaded Ukraine in 2014, St. Petersburg authorities began banning the March Against Hate. And in 2016, on the eve of the action, police raided the office of LGBT activists, confiscated posters, and Voskresensky was arrested. Petr Voskresensky was the organizer of a Russian-language group at
Baltic Pride from 2014 to 2019 that raised issues including the
Russian-Ukrainian war,
Russian imperial homophobic policies, and the
genocide of LGBT people in Chechnya. In 2014, Petr Voskresensky became the author of the project of Historical LGBT Excursions in St. Petersburg. He was prompted by the news of the death of art historian , who had previously organized similar events. As part of this educational project, Voskresensky also campaigned to have the criminalization of homosexuals in the USSR recognized as
political repression. During one such event, he was detained and beaten by police. Voskresensky participated with his tours in the Open Map Festival,
Amnesty International and . Based on the material he researched, Voskresensky created the first LGBT map of St. Petersburg. He also created a queer tour of the
Hermitage. In 2022, Voskresensky used it to compile the first queer catalog of this museum, which was presented at the QueerFest in St. Petersburg. Petr Voskresensky was the organizer of the
Rainbow May Day procession on
Nevsky Prospekt in St. Petersburg. This event has been held annually since 2011. In 2012, Rainbow May Day ended with the detention of LGBT activists, including Voskresensky. In 2013, Voskresensky staged a performance during a march with a doll of homophobic politician
Vitaly Milonov in a
wedding dress. In 2014, he led a Rainbow May Day as the bloody
gas station drag queen Vladimir Putin. It was a protest against
Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The last gathering permitted by the Russian authorities took place on May 1, 2015 and became the largest LGBT event in Russia in history. A thousand people with rainbow flags marched on Nevsky Prospekt. In 2016, Rainbow May Day was banned and activists blocked traffic on Nevsky Prospekt at the
Anichkov Bridge in protest. On May 1, 2017, in connection with the
genocide of
LGBT people in Chechnya, Petr Voskresensky again organized the blocking of this central avenue. In early 2017,
Vyacheslav Makarov, the speaker of St. Petersburg's parliament, declared the LGBT movement to be the
special forces of the Russian opposition. In response, activists, including Pyotr Voskresensky, staged an action, imagining what such warriors might look like. The action was a success. However, the police soon kidnapped Voskresensky from his home late at night. The police drew up a report on him about the uncoordinated action. In 2019, Petr Voskresensky organized a campaign against a chain of barbershops that banned entry for gays. During the campaign, he gave lectures about LGBT history and homophobia in front of the establishments for a week. As a result, the chain rescinded its rules for entry. In the fall of 2019, the well-known homophobic activist Timur Bulatov organized a campaign to harass Voskresensky. And soon the
Federal Security Service attempted to recruit him. File:Nikolai Barabanov. Ikar 2.jpg|The first travesty ballet. 1910 File:Antinous altar clock.jpg|
Antinous altar clock. 19th century File:Narcissus and Antinous.jpg|
Antinous Farnese and
Dionysus, called Narcissus. 19th century File:E42A8549~2.jpg|
Diana and Callisto. 19th century porcelain In the fall of 2022, Petr Voskresensky founded Russia's first Historical Queer Museum. The activist was inspired by a visit to the
Tchaikovsky State House-Museum in
Klin, where a queer interior was preserved in the study of the
composer's brother
Modest Tchaikovsky, who was also gay. The first exhibit of the collection was a statuette of
Narcissus of Pompeii, seen by Petr Voskrksensky at the Tchaikovsky brothers' estate. In addition to it, the museum collection contains old books, statuettes, porcelain, photographs, cameos and other things. The opening of the museum was scheduled for the summer of 2022. However, due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, it became unsafe to hold such an event, and the activist canceled the planned event. But when in the fall of 2022 the Russian parliament began to adopt a new
anti-LGBT law, Voskresensky could not hold back, because when this law would come into force, the very existence of the museum became illegal. On October 27, he opened his Queer Museum to the public. Hundreds of people visited the museum. But after the law was signed by the
President of the Russian Federation on December 8, the museum was closed permanently. The collection was later evacuated to Finland. In December 2022, Petr Voskresensky became one of the signatories of a petition by human rights activists in defense of the
Moscow Helsinki Group, which is being liquidated by the Russian authorities. In 2023, due to pressure from the Russian security services, Petr Voskresensky was forced to emigrate to
Hamburg. Here he joined the Russian-speaking LGBT organization
Quarteera and continued working on historical projects about queers. Here he and his co-authors wrote the brochures "Russian-speaking Queers in Berlin". Petr Voskresensky has been a contributor to
Russian Wikipedia since 2008. There he took part in the so-called "homo-wars", a years-long conflict between LGBT friendly and homophobic editors. He was indefinitely blocked twice in connection with this. Voskresensky eventually managed to establish a forced mediation procedure that lowered the heat. A number of his Wikipedia articles have been honored with awards: (
Vera Gedroits,
Edward II of England,
Solovetsky Stone (Saint Petersburg),
Last Address,
Sandarmokh etc). ==Publications==