Grand Orient of Russia’s Peoples

The Grand Orient of Russia’s Peoples (Russian: Великий восток народов России) was an independent freemasonic Grand Lodge which existed in Russia from 1912 until 1918. The organisation was highly political in nature and though it included people from several different parties, the most prominent belonged to the Constitutional Democratic Party. Although it originated out of Russian members of the Grand Orient of France, by the time the GORP emerged in 1912 it had broke ties to all foreign masonic organisations. The organisation had around 400 members and was headquartered in St. Petersburg.

Freemasonry in Russia was outlawed in 1822 during the reign of Alexander I of Russia and a further crackdown was initiated during the reign of Nicholas I of Russia, as the creators of the Decembrist Revolt, the Union of Salvation, were accused of being connected to Freemasonry. By the end of the 19th century, Russian political and intellectual emigres living in Paris had started to enter Masonic lodges working the Scottish Rite. This included Maksim Kovalevsky, Grigorii Nikolayevich Vyrubov and Pavel Yablochkov.

Following the 1905 Russian Revolution, the right to form unions and private meetings was established under Nicholas II of Russia and thus the limitations on Freemasonry were lifted. Former Russian exiles active in Grand Orient of France and the Grand Lodge of France both set up a number of Lodges in Russia. Prominent figures in this drive were the aforementioned Kovalevsky and also Evgenii Valentinovich de Roberti. These few lodges were typically opened in St. Petersburg and Moscow. The three lodges of the Grand Orient had about 94 members in total.

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