The Two Husbands of Vera Tiscenko: Apostasy, Conversion, and Divorce in Late Colonial India
On June 27, 1940, Vera Tiscenko, a Polish actress formerly with the Moscow Arts Theatre, “of her own free will and after due deliberation” embraced the Islamic faith at the Nakoda Mosque at 19 Chowringee Road, Calcutta. Vera Tiscenko's journey from Moscow to colonial Calcutta was a long and tor...
Published in: | Law and History Review |
---|---|
Main Author: | |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Cambridge University Press (CUP)
2010
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0738248010000751 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0738248010000751 |
id |
crcambridgeupr:10.1017/s0738248010000751 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
crcambridgeupr:10.1017/s0738248010000751 2024-03-03T08:46:33+00:00 The Two Husbands of Vera Tiscenko: Apostasy, Conversion, and Divorce in Late Colonial India De, Rohit 2010 http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0738248010000751 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0738248010000751 en eng Cambridge University Press (CUP) https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms Law and History Review volume 28, issue 4, page 1011-1041 ISSN 0738-2480 1939-9022 Law History journal-article 2010 crcambridgeupr https://doi.org/10.1017/s0738248010000751 2024-02-08T08:30:21Z On June 27, 1940, Vera Tiscenko, a Polish actress formerly with the Moscow Arts Theatre, “of her own free will and after due deliberation” embraced the Islamic faith at the Nakoda Mosque at 19 Chowringee Road, Calcutta. Vera Tiscenko's journey from Moscow to colonial Calcutta was a long and tortuous one. Fleeing the country after the revolution, Vera settled in Berlin where she married a Russian émigré, Eugene Tiscenko. Over the next few years they moved across Europe from Nazi Berlin to civil war Spain and finally settled in Mussolini's Rome, where Vera gave birth to a son, Oleg. In 1938, Eugene Tiscenko went to Edinburgh to qualify for a British medical degree, while Vera and her son left Rome for Calcutta after being invited by Professor Shahid Suhrawardy, her former director at the Moscow Arts Theatre. The reason for the separation between the couple remains unclear. Chief Justice Derbyshire was to speculate that Eugene Tiscenko might have intended to settle somewhere in British India after qualifying, but Vera herself admitted that the marriage had been unhappy. Finding “relief and solace in the teachings of Islam,” she cabled her husband the news of her conversion and requested that he accept the Islamic faith. Eugene Tiscenko replied that his religious convictions were unshakable and “refused absolutely” to change his faith. Article in Journal/Newspaper Nakoda Cambridge University Press Law and History Review 28 4 1011 1041 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Cambridge University Press |
op_collection_id |
crcambridgeupr |
language |
English |
topic |
Law History |
spellingShingle |
Law History De, Rohit The Two Husbands of Vera Tiscenko: Apostasy, Conversion, and Divorce in Late Colonial India |
topic_facet |
Law History |
description |
On June 27, 1940, Vera Tiscenko, a Polish actress formerly with the Moscow Arts Theatre, “of her own free will and after due deliberation” embraced the Islamic faith at the Nakoda Mosque at 19 Chowringee Road, Calcutta. Vera Tiscenko's journey from Moscow to colonial Calcutta was a long and tortuous one. Fleeing the country after the revolution, Vera settled in Berlin where she married a Russian émigré, Eugene Tiscenko. Over the next few years they moved across Europe from Nazi Berlin to civil war Spain and finally settled in Mussolini's Rome, where Vera gave birth to a son, Oleg. In 1938, Eugene Tiscenko went to Edinburgh to qualify for a British medical degree, while Vera and her son left Rome for Calcutta after being invited by Professor Shahid Suhrawardy, her former director at the Moscow Arts Theatre. The reason for the separation between the couple remains unclear. Chief Justice Derbyshire was to speculate that Eugene Tiscenko might have intended to settle somewhere in British India after qualifying, but Vera herself admitted that the marriage had been unhappy. Finding “relief and solace in the teachings of Islam,” she cabled her husband the news of her conversion and requested that he accept the Islamic faith. Eugene Tiscenko replied that his religious convictions were unshakable and “refused absolutely” to change his faith. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
De, Rohit |
author_facet |
De, Rohit |
author_sort |
De, Rohit |
title |
The Two Husbands of Vera Tiscenko: Apostasy, Conversion, and Divorce in Late Colonial India |
title_short |
The Two Husbands of Vera Tiscenko: Apostasy, Conversion, and Divorce in Late Colonial India |
title_full |
The Two Husbands of Vera Tiscenko: Apostasy, Conversion, and Divorce in Late Colonial India |
title_fullStr |
The Two Husbands of Vera Tiscenko: Apostasy, Conversion, and Divorce in Late Colonial India |
title_full_unstemmed |
The Two Husbands of Vera Tiscenko: Apostasy, Conversion, and Divorce in Late Colonial India |
title_sort |
two husbands of vera tiscenko: apostasy, conversion, and divorce in late colonial india |
publisher |
Cambridge University Press (CUP) |
publishDate |
2010 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0738248010000751 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0738248010000751 |
genre |
Nakoda |
genre_facet |
Nakoda |
op_source |
Law and History Review volume 28, issue 4, page 1011-1041 ISSN 0738-2480 1939-9022 |
op_rights |
https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1017/s0738248010000751 |
container_title |
Law and History Review |
container_volume |
28 |
container_issue |
4 |
container_start_page |
1011 |
op_container_end_page |
1041 |
_version_ |
1792502607136161792 |