Freemasonry was brought to
Russia by foreign officers in service to the Russian military. Russian Freemasonry dates its foundation to the activities of
Franz Lefort,
Jacob Bruce and
Patrick Gordon in the
German Quarter of Moscow.
James Keith is recorded as being master of a lodge in
Saint Petersburg in 1732–34. Several years later, his cousin
John Keith, 3rd Earl of Kintore was appointed provincial grand master of Russia by the
Grand Lodge of England. He favoured an archaic ritual of blood initiation which involved a symbolic commingling of blood. Yelagin's chief rival was
George von Reichel from
Braunschweig who championed a different system introduced by
Johann Wilhelm Kellner von Zinnendorf, the grand master of the
Grand Landlodge of the Freemasons of Germany. At least seven lodges founded in 1772-76 acknowledged Reichel's authority. The Yelagin-Reichel feud was ended in 1776 by the unification of all the Russian lodges under the auspices of the
Minerva zu den drei Palmen Lodge in Berlin. The following year
Gustav III of Sweden went to
St. Petersburg to initiate
Grand Duke Paul into Masonry. (1743-1822), a Freemason, was the first to translate into Russian the major works of
Jakob Böhme. In 1781,
Nikolay Novikov and
Ivan Schwarz, two professors of the
Moscow University, set up the Learned Society of Friends in that city. They were dissatisfied with the
Swedish Rite that was practised in St. Petersburg. Duke
Ferdinand of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel as the grand master of the lodges in Germany invited Schwarz to take part in the
Wilhelmsbad Masonic Congress (1782) where Russia was recognized as the 8th autonomous province of the
Rite of Strict Observance. A schism developed between the lodges of Moscow and St. Petersburg as the former drifted toward a form of
Rosicrucianism.
Catherine the Great suspected the Masons of turning her son Paul against herself, of being a tool in the hands of her enemy King of
Prussia, and viewed their attitude toward women as backwards. In 1785, she clamped down upon Novikov's printing house and had some 461 titles confiscated. When she saw her new palace in
Tsaritsyno adorned with ornamentation suggestive of the cryptic symbols of Freemasonry, Catherine had it pulled down. Novikov was later jailed, and other leading Freemasons had to flee Russia. Anti-Masonic measures were revoked as soon as Paul ascended the Russian throne in 1796. Increasingly haunted by the spectre of the
French Revolution, Paul came to distrust Freemasonry and
Martinism. Within three years of his reign all secret societies were suppressed, and the lodges closed of their own accord. Two years later Paul was assassinated. The lodges flourished under his successor
Alexander I, although it remains unknown whether Alexander himself was an initiate. The most influential figure of this period was
Alexander Labzin. 's design for
Cathedral of Christ the Saviour was suggestive of a Masonic temple. The
Grand Lodge Astraea was formed in 1815. It united nineteen smaller lodges and counted 1,404 members. Its rival was the Swedish Provincial Lodge of Russia, with seven smaller feuding lodges under its umbrella and 230 members.
Leo Tolstoy describes some of the rituals in his novel
War and Peace and mentions
Fyodor Klyucharyov, a noted Masonic poet. According to
Filipp Vigel, Freemasonry did little but to provide a fashionable pastime for bored nobles. As Emperor Alexander grew increasingly conservative, the Masonic-style political clubs were outlawed in 1822. This interdict was extended by
Nicholas I in the wake of the
Decembrist revolt, since the Decembrists had sprung from the Masonic lodges. Freemasonry was legalized and enjoyed a brief revival after the
Revolution of 1905. The
Grand Orient of Russia's Peoples seceded from the
Grand Orient de France, with
Nikolai Vissarionovich Nekrasov and
Alexander Kerensky as its main leaders. In 1922, in the wake of the
October Revolution, the
Bolsheviks had all the lodges closed.
Grand Lodge of Russia In 1992 and 1993, on the territory of Russia, the
Grande Loge Nationale Française, created the lodge: "
Harmony" (Moscow), "
Lotus" (Moscow), "
New Astrea" (St. Petersburg), "
Gamayun" (Voronezh). • Lodge "Harmony" was established on January 14, 1992, in Paris. This Lodge was created through the regularization of brothers from the lodge "Astrea» No. 100 GNLF. • Lodge "New Astrea" was established on June 24, 1993, in St. Petersburg. • The Voronezh-based lodge "Gamayun" was established on June 24, 1993, in St. Petersburg. • Lodge "Lotus “ was established on October 12, 1993, in Moscow. The Grand Lodge of Russia is an integral part of most of the represented Masonic bodies in the world - the regular
Freemasonry has mutual recognition with the
United Grand Lodge of England (1996) and more than 100 Grand Lodges in the world.
United Grand Lodge of Russia In March 2001, about 100 Freemasons left the
Grand Lodge of Russia. The reason for the exit was:
the disagreement of the brothers with the domestic policy pursued by the then leadership of Grand Lodge of Russia. From the three-volume book on the history of Russian Freemasonry in the 20th century by the historian of Freemasonry Andrey Serkov it follows that the following lodges have left:
Harmony No. 1,
Lotus No. 2,
Astrea No. 3,
Jupiter No. 7,
Quatuor Coronati No. 8 and the
Orion No. 15. On April 16, 2001, a constituent assembly was held, after which it was announced the creation of the “Russian Grand Regular Lodge” (RGRL). In 2007, after the GLR assembly, a group of Masons, members of the Harmony, Lotus, Phoenix, left GLR. After the release of the members of the GLR, they held a meeting with the members of the Russian Grand Regular Lodge, during which it was decided to unite and choose their name - the
Grand Lodge of Russia. A clarification was added to the new name, led by the
Grand Master A. S.. In June 2008, some members of the association decided to establish relations with the
Grand Lodge of France. On October 11, 2008, at its solemn assembly, under the patronage of the Grand Lodge of France, the
United Grand Lodge of Russia (UGLR) was established. The United Grand Lodge of Russia was granted a patent of the Grand Lodge of France for the right to carry out work on the
Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite. The United Grand Lodge of Russia was included in the establishment of 11 lodges. On the 2nd of July 2019, the UGLR counted near of 200 freemasons united over 11 Lodges. The current Grand Master of the UGLR is Yuri Arkhangelsky. == Masonic organizations in Russia ==