Harvard to Return Historic Bells to Russian Church

March 21, 2007

Author: David Abel

Source: The Boston Globe

http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/03/21/harvard_to_return_historic_bells_to_russian_church/

Nearly 80 years ago, as an antireligious ideology swept the Soviet Union and destroyed countless religious artifacts, an American industrialist saved 18 towering brass bells from Moscow's Danilovsky Monastery, buying the centuries-old treasures and donating them to Harvard.

The university's gain -- the ornate carillons have rung in the towers at Lowell House and Harvard Business School's Baker Library for decades -- was a huge loss for post-Soviet Russia.

Yesterday in Russia, a delegation from Harvard signed an agreement with officials from a resurgent Russian Orthodox Church that is expected to restore the bells to their original home in Moscow next year. In return, Harvard will receive 18 new bells, which are being cast at a foundry in southwestern Russia.

"This has been a gradual process of agreement, but today there's actual ink on the paper," said Diana Eck, a professor of comparative religion at Harvard and master of Lowell House. "It's a very important thing, not just for the Russian Orthodox Church, but for so many people in Russia, for whom this represents one of the great historic bell sets of their cultural heritage."

Their return -- Eck said Harvard officials expect the exchange to be made in June 2008 -- was made possible by Russian metals tycoon Viktor Vekselberg, who several years ago paid $90 million for nine Faberge eggs at auction in New York. He is paying for the exchange, which Eck said will cost several million dollars.