Workers fixing Russian mansion find treasure

Pieces of treasure discovered in secret place in a 19th-century mansion under restoration are on display in St. Petersburg, Russia on March 28, 2012. / AP Photo/Dmitry Koshcheev, Intarsia HO

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia - For years, kopek-pinching Soviets sat down in a cheap restaurant in a former mansion of the nobility for plain meals, unaware of the treasure secreted nearby.

Workers restoring the building this week finally found more than 1,000 pieces of jewelry, silver service sets stamped with the name of one of Russia's most prominent noble families, mirrors and brushes in silver frames. It was unexpectedly discovered in a storage space hidden between two floors. Many of them were wrapped in newspapers dated from the early months of 1917, as Russia careened toward the Bolshevik Revolution that ended life as the nobles had known it.

Friday's announcement of the find by the Intarsia company, which is performing the restoration work, excited the news media and sparked arguments over who can claim the valuables. The find is so new that experts haven't had time to inspect the goods and estimate their value.

The treasure tale touches on two of Russia's most renowned and romantic figures: Peter the Great and Alexander Pushkin.

The mansion was purchased in 1875 by Duke Vasily Naryshkin, whose family included Nataliya Naryshkina, the second wife of Czar Alexis and the mother of Peter the Great. The mansion had been put together by connecting two 18-century houses, one of which belonged to Pushkin's African grandfather Abram Gannibal.

After the Bolsheviks nationalized private property, part of the mansion was turned into a stolovaya, a canteen-like restaurant serving utilitarian meals, according to Russian news reports. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, the building housed apartment, became private apartments, then was purchased by Intarsia to be turned into a conference and cultural center.

Pieces of treasure discovered in secret place in a 19th-century mansion are on display in St. Petersburg, Russia on March 28, 2012.

/ AP Photo/Dmitry Koshcheev, Intarsia HO

Intarsia said it would like to display the treasures for public view in the cultural center once it's completed; for now, they're in custody of the city's committee for historical preservation.

But who has the final claim to them hasn't been resolved.

Sergei Malinkovich, head of a regional Communist organization, told the Rosbalt news agency that his group will apply for ownership of the items on the grounds that the group is the successor to the Communists who nationalized state property.

"The essential thing here is that at the moment of the creation of the hiding-place, the treasure was no longer property of the Naryshkins," he said.

The state news agency, meanwhile, cited Ivan Artsishevsky, chairman of the House of Romanov in Russia, as saying it appears the closest relative to the Naryshkins who occupied the house lives in France, but that it was unclear if this person would seek the valuables.

[phwtb100]

I think all those items found should be given back to the people who actually own the building. If the original owners wanted them they would have come back for them or hidden them in someplace they would always have access to, which tells me, more than likely, the real owners of the 'treasure' were executed during the revolution.

[agrumpy1]

thats un reealistic to think that the branch of the family that hid it would come back consisering around that time no one who hid it would probably be alive most wealthy and political families of the time were killed so others could be in charge...... but a family member should have a right if one can be found

[KPeters_from_UK]

Sergei Malinkovich, head of a regional Communist organization, told the Rosbalt news agency that his group will apply for ownership of the items on the grounds that the group is the successor to the Communists who nationalized state property.

"The essential thing here is that at the moment of the creation of the hiding-place, the treasure was no longer property of the Naryshkins," he said.
------------------
What a creep! It is like saying that the Jewish property under the Nazi government is Nazi property.

[askagain]

KPeters_from_UK - Agreed. The heirs of Jewish people killed or displaced in the halocaust are still trying to get back property that was taken from family members in Europe. Some have met with limited success only. Modern European governments sometimes claim that the property taken from the Jews is now either owned by the government or part of a country's cultural heritage.

[askagain]

In America, If theives break into your home and what they steel is recovered, there is an expectation that the stolen items will be returned to you. Lets say the owner dies and the stolen items are recovered 10 years after the owner's death, the expectation is that heirs will receive the items. In the old Soviet Union, homes, factories, and wealth was taken, often forcefully, from people. Millions of people perished often by execution. In effect, the property was stolen from people albeit by the government. Should't the government now try to locate heirs and return the hidden property. Certainly, it was not this family's intention to part with these items.

[lowlya]

Your comment is not entirely true. To millions of Americans of African descent America is/has been as much a terroristic state as the Soviet Union. Police mistreatment, denial of equal opportunities, theft of labor, etc. You whites "talk" about the concept "one nation, with liberty and justice for all", but in reality their is really very little liberty and justice for most minorities.

[HikerDan]

To lowlia:
So why do they live in the country they despise so much? Why don't they move to the countries where their heart belongs? As for you, like most rasists, you are full of hate hypocrite - just look at "you whites"... And may be you will tell some more about "theft of labor" from minorities? Don't you think Al and Jessee would be up in arms?

[chyenna-2009]

COME ON RUSSIANS, BE THE GOOD GUYS AND GIVE THE JEWELS TO US. THE LOTTERY THIEVES AND GOVERMENT IS STILLING OUR MONEY.

[phwtb100]

by legacyABQ2 March 31, 2012 5:11 AM EDT
so... they're brewing it into whiskey then?



LOL... EXACTLY!

[venusvegasvada]

Wonderful story and it appears the items are in great condition too!

I'd say they should go into a museum immediately. That would probably be the best result. All the items could stay together and provide a commentary and legacy to the time.

I don't know how hard it would be to track down living relatives today of the original property owners from the pre-communist days? If there were living relatives, I'd say they would have some right to it though. Funny how the items survived so long. Perhaps everyone that knew about the stash was killed?

I think it's pretty comical though that the communist club representative is trying to argue they should get it because the items where basically hidden there BECAUSE of them. That's rich.

[askagain]

Good points. Put the Communist claim in perspective, though. The Communists believe that wealth was gained at the expense of the people through exploitation of the working class. We still have Communist countries such as China and Cuba where private ownership of land and factories is restricted by the government. Russia still has Communist believers who prefer Communism. Finally, Communists do not consider the worker's revolution as illegal or wrong. In their minds, taking from the wealthy is and was perfectly legal.

[HikerDan]

To askagain:
Yeah... Except after all business people and landowhers were either killed or run avay the economy became such a ruin that even Lenin desided that they went too far and established "New Economical Policy"... Communists don't realize that people will NOT work their best for the abstract "common good" just for some dry bread and bowl of swill... And even in China they do realize that wealth and private property are good for the country.

[mcdanel_1771]

Museum, period.

[to_john]

The Party didn't own anything except the dues paid by members. All assets belonged to the state. The state is now Russia. It belongs either to the heirs of the original residents, or the Russian Federation.

[Samlv]

Communists claimed it. Perfect.

Putin will surely get it. KGB > party now.

[verrz]

The regional communist organization's claim here is weak. The legal structure of the Marxist state that promulgated such confiscations of private property has been rendered null and void. Russian law today should decide the matter.

[abby_del_abbey]

It makes me sad to think of how the families hid these precious items in hopes of retrieving them someday.