Boris Gorelik

Boris Gorelik is a Russian born writer and researcher

Biography

Born in Sverdlovsk (USSR), he received his MA in linguistics from the Moscow State University. He is based in Moscow and Johannesburg.

Contribution to SA cultural affairs, including theatre, film and media

In 2004, Gorelik was awarded with the Candidate of Sciences degree in history from the Institute for African Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences, for his research into the history of Russian immigration to South Africa. He has since published much on South African history and culture, including a comprehensive study of the Russian community in South Africa (An Entirely Different World': Russian Visitors to the Cape 1797-1870, Moscow, 2006), a complete biography of artist Vladimir Tretchikoff (Cape Town; London, 2013), the new authorised version of David Grinker’s memoir of Soweto in the 1960s-80s (Johannesburg, 2014).

In 2010, the Kaplan Centre for Jewish Studies and Research, University of Cape Town, brought out an overview of Gorelik’s survey of the Russian-Speaking Jews in South Africa as part of their Occasional Paper Series. He is also a regular contributor of features on history and culturology to Rapport Weekliks, a supplement to a leading South African weekly.

He is currently (2019) working on an exhibition dedicated to Ossip Runitch, a Russian-Jewish actor who was among the pioneers of professional Yiddish theatre and South Africa and one of the country's first professional opera producers.