As Russia and India reaffirmed ties at the 23rd summit, revisiting the legacy of Gerasim Lebedev, violinist, linguist and creator of modern Bengali theatre whose work laid the foundation of Indo-Russian relations
The recent visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to India for the 23rd bilateral summit spotlighted the endurance and steadfastness of Russia-India relations. Seasons have come and gone, but despite occasional hiccups, the relationship has held firm. And for this, it may not be wrong to credit — at least in part — those who lived centuries ago, in a different time and era, but who laid the foundation for Indo-Russian friendship and dialogue. The majestic city of St. Petersburg connects, across time and space, President Putin to one such personality: Gerasim Stepanovich Lebedev (1749-1817).
Almost exactly two hundred and thirty years before President Putin’s India visit, Lebedev, a Russian from Yaroslavl, created history in Kolkata, India’s cultural capital. On November 27, 1795, he organised for the very first time a theatrical performance in the European style with a proscenium stage. Two European plays — Molière’s Love is the Best Doctor and Richard Paul Jodrell’s The Disguise — were translated into Bangla and staged primarily for a Bengali, though elitist, audience at 25 Doomtullah Street.
Not only was it the first such performance in Bengali, but in another first, three women were part of the 13-person cast — at a time when most women in Bengal, with few exceptions, observed purdah. Lebedev translated the two dramas into Bangla and organised the performances himself. In Bengal, Lebedev is considered the father of modern Bengali theatre. But this 18th-century Russian musician, adventurer, traveller and linguist was also one of the earliest Indologists. Among the first Russians to visit India, he can be considered a pioneer of Indo-Russian dialogue and of Indology in Russia.
Bengal: Lebedev’s home for 10 years
What motivated this young Russian from Yaroslavl to travel thousands of miles to India? Born in 1749 in Yaroslavl, a trading centre on the banks of the Volga, in the family of a church choirmaster, Lebedev was introduced to the arts early in life. He sang in the court choir and also played the violin. Archival documents record the presence of Indian merchants in Yaroslavl in 1650, and Lebedev may well have had a distant or indirect encounter with them in his childhood.
His father later moved the family to St. Petersburg. There, Lebedev met Fyodor Volkov, the founder of the first permanent Russian theatre, and soon began participating in Volkov’s performances. This experience ignited his lifelong attachment to the stage.
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In 1792, Lebedev accompanied the new Russian ambassador to Vienna, Andreas Razumovsky, as part of a musical group. But with a “burning desire” to see the world, he left the ambassador’s entourage and travelled across Europe, earning his livelihood as a violinist. It was during this period that he joined an English military band headed for India, eventually arriving in Madras (now Chennai) in 1785.
In Madras, he was felicitated by the mayor, Captain William Sydenham, and soon gained his patronage. Lebedev supported himself by conducting musical programmes. But he was no ordinary itinerant musician. An adventurer with an eye for the unfamiliar and an instinct for the dramatic, he found routine life unsatisfying. Seeking something beyond the ordinary, he left Madras in 1787 for Bengal.
Bengal became his home for the next 10 years. What set Lebedev apart from most Europeans of his time was that he chose to live among Indians rather than the British. He began learning Bengali, Hindi, and Sanskrit from Goloknath Das, a local teacher. In exchange, Lebedev taught him the violin. During this period, Lebedev earned his living by playing his violin, helped by another Russian — a doctor who had also made Calcutta (now Kolkata) his home.
Tragic end to Indian sojourn
His interest in local culture and traditions made him the first to perform Indian music on Western musical instruments. He studied the Bengali language, its literature, and its customs. What distinguished Lebedev was that his engagement with this region’s culture did not stem from any colonial imperative but from a genuine desire to understand and learn.
Theatre, however, remained his first love, and he soon found a way to give this passion a pioneering form. Until then, Bengal had known only jatra — wandering troupes performing street plays, all-male, and enacting scenes from folklore and religious narratives. Lebedev translated Love Is the Best Doctor and The Disguise, trained a troupe composed entirely of Indians, and on November 27, 1795, staged the first theatrical performance in Bengali. This production is regarded as the first staging of modern Indian theatre.
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The tickets, priced at Rs 12, were expensive for the time, yet the show played to a full house. Lebedev composed the music himself, and the lyrics were written by the Bengali poet Bharatchandra Ray. Praise came even from Governor-General Sir John Shore.
But with success came jealousy and intrigue. Lebedev’s theatre was soon burnt down. With the Great Game underway between the British and the Russians for influence in Central and South Asia, rumours circulated that Lebedev was a Russian spy, though no evidence was ever found. His Indian sojourn turned tragic. Instead of being celebrated as a cultural pioneer, he was hounded. Betrayed by those with whom he had signed contracts, he fell into penury and was eventually ordered to leave by the British authorities. He left India in 1797 — and, sadly, never returned.
Founding modern theatre in India
With such history, one might expect that Lebedev would have turned his back on India once and for all. But not Lebedev, who followed a distant star and seemed to march to the beat of a drum others never heard. In 1801, in London, he published A Grammar of the Pure and Mixed East Indian Dialects, based on the knowledge he had acquired in Bengal. Shortly afterwards, he returned to St. Petersburg, where he went on to work for the Foreign Ministry.
In St. Petersburg, Lebedev established a printing house equipped with Devanāgarī and Bengali type, said to be the first of its kind in Europe. He published a second book, Unbiased Contemplation of Eastern India, Its Holy Rites and Folk Customs, based on his observations and learning in Bengal. It is considered the first comprehensive Russian eyewitness account of India. He was reportedly working on two more books, but his life was cut short by his death in 1817.
Lebedev left behind a rich legacy. Despite intermittent challenges, theatre continues to flourish in Bengal and across India. Yet this extraordinary man’s memory today remains largely confined to theatre circles. A main road in Kolkata, on which the Academy of Fine Arts stands, has been renamed in his honour. In 2009, the Kolkata Municipal Corporation and the Cultural Department of the Consulate General of the Russian Federation in Kolkata erected a plaque on what is now Ezra Street to commemorate the site of the pioneering theatre Lebedev opened there in 1795. Each year in November, tributes are paid to Lebedev by the Russian Consulate in Kolkata and by theatre lovers.
Founding modern theatre in India, while central to his legacy, is only one part of Lebedev’s contribution to India-Russia cultural ties. His printing press in St. Petersburg and his scholarly works were landmark efforts that paved the way for future Indologists in Russia. According to Vladimir Izvekov, director of the Yaroslavl History Museum, Lebedev could have made a fine professional singer, cello player, or virtuoso violinist. While abroad, he set up a legendary quartet that impressed sophisticated West European music lovers — and let’s not forget his fluency in dozens of European languages. Yet Lebedev remains relatively unknown. His legacy deserves far greater acknowledgement and recognition.
