(1911-2001)
By
the time Nina Mikhailovna Christesen (1911-2001) arrived in Melbourne
with her husband in 1945, she had already accomplished an extraordinary
journey.
Nina Maximov migrated with her family from St Petersburg to Harbin,
Manchuria, at the start of the Russian Revolution, leaving for Queensland
when it became obvious that Soviet occupation was imminent.
In Brisbane, she left school at 14, working several jobs to continue
studying part-time and support her parents. She taught English, Modern
History, French, Algebra and German in a secondary school, as well as
Russian at the University of Queensland.
In 1939, a casual job tutoring in German introduced her to C B Christesen,
journalist, broadcaster and actor, whom she married in 1942.
Clement Byrne Christesen (1911- ), a University of Queensland graduate,
founded Meanjin in 1940. He was the journal's editor until 1974. In
1945, he accepted the invitation of the University of Melbourne to transfer
it to Melbourne and the long association of the Christesens with the
University began.
Nina Mikhailovna began teaching Russian under the auspices of the French
Department, and in 1946 founded Australia's first Department of Russian.
The difficulties facing her ranged from a lack of textbooks, qualified
staff and even a set of type from which examination papers could be
printed, to opposition from colleagues who accused her of Communist
sympathies.
In 1955 the Christesens were summoned before the Royal Commission on
Espionage (Petrov Royal Commission) on the basis of some cultural exchanges.
Despite this, and an occasionally difficult relationship with the University,
both Russian scholarship and Meanjin flourished under the Christesens.
Meanjin was a major force in Australian intellectual life, publishing
new, influential Australian and European literature and social criticism.
Much new Russian writing was published there. Nina Christesen also founded
Melbourne Slavonic Studies.
The Christesens' hospitality was legendary and their house at Eltham,
'Stanhope', was for 40 years a meeting place of artists, writers and
students.
