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From Soviet Leningrad to St Petersburg

In 1991 Leningrad changed its name back to St Petersburg after a referendum which split the city. Communists fiercely opposed the change, but the Orthodox Church supported the idea. Ludmilla Narusova, a historian and the wife of the first mayor of St Petersburg, remembers the passionate campaigning that led to the city abandoning its revolutionary legacy as Communism began to collapse. Photo: a demonstrator protesting against the name change, 1991, Leningrad. Credit: Sobchak Foundation.

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4 minutes