Friend or femme fatale?: Olga Novikova in the British Press, 1877-1925

This thesis focuses on the career of Russian journalist Olga Alekseevna Novikova (1840-1925), a cosmopolitan aristocrat who became famous in England for her relentless advocacy of Pan-Slavism and Russian imperial interests, beginning with the Russo-Turkish War (1877-78). Using newspapers, literary journals, and other published sources, I examine both the nature of Novikova's contributions to the British press and the way the press reacted to her activism. I argue that Novikova not only played an important role in the production of the discourse on Russia in England, but became an object of that discourse as well. While Novikova pursued her avowed goal of promoting a better understanding between the British and Russian empires, a fascinated British press continually reinterpreted Novikova's image through varying evaluations of her nationality, gender, sexuality, politics and profession.