Waegemans, E. TZAR VS CZAREVITCH OR THE FIRST SHIP UP THE NEVA. Proceedings of Petrozavodsk State University. 2021;43(6):115–121. DOI: 10.15393/uchz.art.2021.664


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TZAR VS CZAREVITCH OR THE FIRST SHIP UP THE NEVA

Waegemans
E. 		Leuven
Keywords:
Jef Жеф Last
Peter the First
Dutch trading fleet
navigation to Petersburg
Auke Vibes
Jan Hillebrands
Czarevitch Alexey Petrovich
the option between violence and love		 Summary: The article analyzes a forgotten novel by a leftist Dutch writer Jef Last (1898–1972) “The first ship up the Neva” (1945), devoted to Dutch skipper Auke Wibes, which was the first to bring his ship to the port of St. Petersburg and received a great reward from Tzar Peter the First for this. Over time, the skipper becomes disillusioned with the Tzar and his reforms, because they were based on violence. The author exposes the myth that it was just Auke Wibes, who was the first to arrive at the port of St. Petersburg. The significance of the novel lies in the development of a moral dilemma faced by a Western man in contact with an imperious Tzar who stops at nothing.



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