ЦАРЬ ПРОТИВ ЦАРЕВИЧА, ИЛИ ПЕРВЫЙ КОРАБЛЬ НА НЕВЕ
TSAR VS TSAREVICH OR THE FIRST SHIP UP THE NEVA

Summary/Abstract: The article analyzes a forgotten novel by a leftist Dutch writer Jef Last The First Ship Up the Neva (1945) about a Dutch skipper Auke Wibes, who was the first to bring his ship to the port of St. Petersburg and received a great reward from the Russian Tsar Peter the Great for doing this. Over time, the skipper becomes disillusioned with the Tzar and his reforms, because they were based on violence. The author exposes the myth that Auke Wibes was the first to arrive at the port of St. Petersburg. The significance of the novel lies in the development of a moral dilemma faced by a western person in contact with the imperious Tsar who will stop at nothing.

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