Eleanor Prey, a native of the United States, came to Vladivostok in 1894 and lived in this city for 36 years. It is possible that she would have stayed in the Far East of Russia forever, just fate forced this unique woman to leave the city she loved. What makes Eleanor Prey so unusual and remarkable representative of the beautiful half of humanity? We answer: absolutely everything connected with it. It is praiseworthy that she was not afraid to leave her country to faraway Russia, which many spoke of with fear. Only the most courageous people are capable of this: those who create history. And this woman, without a doubt, wrote several of her chapters in historical chronicles.
American with a Russian soul
We all must say thanks to Eleanor for being able and loving to take pictures. Just imagine: a camera at the end of the 19th century is a rather technically sophisticated device that not every man could learn to use then, but I must say that at that time the photographers were all representatives of the strong half of humanity. However, our heroine also showed her courage to the discoverer, having begun to capture the world around her with the help of this technical novelty for that time. Thanks to what today we can see Vladivostok at the beginning of the 20th century with her eyes. It is worth noting that Prey turned out to be a wonderful photographer, her work is shocking with its realism and beauty.
Stories in letters
Eleanor Prey captured her life not only in photographs, but also in letters, each of which is a short story about the life of the city and its way of life, describing in detail the particular event. Reading these letters, intended for the relatives of Eleanor in the United States, you understand how Vladivostok was already a cosmopolitan city in those years. People of many nationalities worked here: immigrants from the Old and New Worlds, Asia. In particular, in the house of the American, the Japanese served, the Chinese helped to look after the garden and the garden.
In the United States, letters flew from Vladivostok to Eleanor Prairie. Of these, the American people learned about this wonderful city, which Eleanor called the "fortress of the Russian Empire", more and more details. In one of her letters, she very figuratively said that Russian officers of the highest ranks often visited her house: at first it brought her awe, but soon she got used to so many guests from among the military.
Eleanor Prey. Biography
Arrived in Vladivostok with her husband Frederick in 1894 to help her husband's son-in-law Charles Smith, who owned the American Store, located in the city. Russia then went through very difficult years and, of course, Eleanor had to fully experience all the hardships and hardships of that time. She witnessed the development of the Russo-Japanese War, World War I, revolution, and the policy of intervention. Nevertheless, even in such a difficult time, the Vladivostok American was not disappointed with her life in Russia, she passionately loved her new homeland, and when in 1916 her relative Sarah Smith offered her to leave for Shanghai, she rejected this offer. In 1923, fate again checked Eleanor for strength: her husband died. Left alone, the woman continued to live in Vladivostok. She worked at the Kunst & Albars trading house until 1930. She left Russia only when there was absolutely no means of subsistence left. Eleanor Prey went to China. Unfortunately, here she had to live very difficult years.
Visiting Eleanor
Our heroine is remembered and honored not only in Russia, but also in the USA. Her notes are kept at the Washington Library of Congress. Journalist Sergei Mayorov decided to make the film "Letters of Happiness to Eleanor Prey." To get a detailed picture of the life of this wonderful American, he and his colleagues went to her historic homeland - to South Brevik. In this small American town today is a very respectful attitude to Eleanor Prey, although the inhabitants of this village learned about its history quite recently. She impressed the Americans with her scope, originality, love of life and sacrifice. Now they want to open a museum of her name here, which, I think, will be very popular among tourists from Russia.
Her view of the world
Eleanor's notes are truly letters of happiness. Many of these stories are filled with positive, joyful emotions that a person experiences, reaching for new knowledge, new sensations. Of course, the world is not always through the eyes of Eleanor bright and clean, he was sad and lonely and sad, but the general tone of the letters is still positive.
There is no doubt that Eleanor Prey had a sharp mind, good memory and talent to notice the subtleties of life. She reacted very sensitively to what was happening around and could find answers to a lot.