Strangers – Today

Theodore Dwight Woolsey, October 31, 1801 – July 1, 1889

Theodore Dwight Woolsey was an American educator, author, and administrator. Woolsey graduated valedictorian from Yale before further studying law and theology in Philadelphia and Princeton, respectively. He then traveled Europe, studying Greek and Arabic, and was appointed the first professor of Greek language and literature at Yale upon his return to the United States. He was elected president of Yale in 1846, and oversaw a period of expansion and reorganization that saw Yale's reputation and standards rise. The first American Ph.D. was awarded at Yale during Woolsey's tenure as president. He published multiple works on Greek classics and political philosophy, early editions of which are held by the Athenaeum. Woolsey visited the Athenaeum multiple times over the years.

Portrait courtesy of Smithsonian Open Access — Source — Source

Pyotr Ivanovich Poletika, August 15, 1778 — January 26, 1849

Pyotr Ivanovich Poletika was a Russian diplomat. He was was the second Russian ambassador to the United States, a position he held from 1817 to 1822. The Record of Strangers indicates that Poletika visited the Athenaeum multiple times during his time as ambassador. On this occasion he was accompanied by fellow Russian diplomat Sergey Lomonosov.

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Sergey Lomonosov, 1799 – October 13, 1857

Sergey Lomonosov was a Russian diplomat. He graduated from the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum in 1817 and was sent to Washington D.C. as part of the Russian legation a year later. Lomonosov served in the United States until 1821, at which point he returned to Russia. He served as a diplomatic assistant and secretary in both Spain and France before being appointed charge d'affairs to Copenhagen, and later, Brazil and Portugal. He ended his career as envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary at the Dutch Royal Court, a position he held from 1853 until his death. The Record of Strangers indicates that Lomonosov visited the Athenaeum on multiple occasions.

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Pyotr Ivanovich Poletika, August 15, 1778 — January 26, 1849

Pyotr Ivanovich Poletika was a Russian diplomat. He was was the second Russian ambassador to the United States, a position he held from 1817 to 1822. The Record of Strangers indicates that Poletika visited the Athenaeum multiple times during his time as ambassador. On this occasion he was accompanied by fellow Russian diplomat Jean-Francois-George-Frederic, Baron de Maltitz.

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Jean-Francois-George-Frederic, Baron de Maltitz

Jean-Francois-George-Frederic, Baron de Maltitz was a Russian diplomat. He was secretary of the Russian legation in Washington, and acted as interim chargé d'affaires from 1826 to 1827. After his time in the United States, the Baron served as a Russian diplomat in London, Berlin, and Holland. The Record of Strangers indicates that the Baron visited the Athenaeum multiple times in the early 1820s, and was accompanied on this visit by fellow Russian diplomat Pyotr Ivanovich Poletika.

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George Rapp, November 1, 1757 — August 7, 1847

George Rapp was a German-born religious leader. He founded a religious sect that came to be known as the Harmony Society, which split from the Lutheran Church in 1785. Rapp and his followers came to the United States in 1803 to avoid persecution, and founded their first commune, called Harmony, in western Pennsylvania the next year. Ten years later, the group sold their land in Pennsylvania and established another commune, also called Harmony, in Indiana. This commune lasted another decade, before being sold to British socialist pioneer Robert Owen and renamed New Harmony. Rapp and his followers believed that Christ would return to Earth in their lifetime to usher in an era of peace and prosperity, and as such they needed to prepare themselves for his arrival. They practiced celibacy and engaged in forms of esoteric mysticism, as well as alchemy. This visit to the Athenaeum by Rapp came a couple of years before the Harmony Society relocated for a final time, establishing the community of Economy outside of Pittsburgh.

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