Accusations of Stalinism have long followed the philosopher Alexandre Kojève. In his influential seminars on Hegel’s Phenomenology of Spirit, held in Paris in the 1930s, Kojève had claimed that Hegel saw Napoleon as the embodiment of the .
Vladimir A. Petrushevsky (1891-1961) was a Hussar (light cavalry) for the Russian Tsar during World War I, a colonel for the Kolchak Army during Russia’s Civil War, a poet, a talented sketch artist, and most notably the first Russian volcanologist. Yet, Petrushevsky never stepped foot on a Russian volcano and he was also essentially unknown to the Soviet history of science. This was because in 1920 he emigrated from his native Russia as a White Army (anti-Bolshevik) officer, never to return.
When Petrushevsky left Russia on a steamship headed for Java (then a Dutch colony; present day Indonesia), it just so happened that he landed in one of the most volatile volcanic regions of the world. Though he had no training in geology, his experience with camp life and instruments made him well suited for a job at the Dutch Volcanological Services. Between 1921 and 1950, Petrushevsky went on nearly 300 expeditions and was responsible for monitoring 130 volcanoes, his main jobs being to