a member of the Covent Garden Russian Ballet company in 1938 and remained in Australia after the tour ended in 1939. She moved to Perth with her husband composer James Penberthy and established the Western Australian State Ballet Company in 1952. Pianists Alexander Sverjensky and Phillip Shovk and painter Danila Vassilieff worked in Australia and boosted the local development of their arts, while art historian Nina Kristesen established the Department of Russian Language and Literature at Melbourne University in 1946. Russian arts festivals and events are popular in Australia. The 150th anniversary of Alexander Pushkin's death was commemorated with poetry festivals in 1987 and a range of Russian cultural and social organisations are active in the major cities of Melbourne and Sydney. The Russian Connection provides an independent and comprehensive guide to cultural events and occasions with a Russian flavour in Australia. The organisation promotes Russian cultural activities such as art exhibitions, ballet, classical music, concerts, festivals, children's events, movies, musicals, lectures, opera, and theatre. The Russian Connection is continually expanding with the recent addition of a catalogue of new Russian literature and Russian language movies available from various public libraries. Prince Michael Andreevich of Russia. Adam Byrnes: Immigration lawyer and former Rugby Union player. Daria Gavrilova: Tennis player. Greg Jeloudev: Rugby Union player. Peter Mengede: Guitarist and founding member of the American bands Helmet and Handsome. Vladimir Mikhaylovich Petrov: Diplomat. Simeon Boikov: Russian spy in Australia. Costa Ronin: Actor. Australians in Russia The Russian connections in Australia are mostly composed by Russian-borns moving to or visiting Australia. The most notable representative of the Australians moving to Russia is the famous physicist Aleksandr Mikhailovich Prokhorov. He was born in Atherton, Queensland, Australia, to a family of Russian immigrants in 1916. He and his parents relocated to the Soviet Union in 1923. In 1964 he received the Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on lasers and masers. He was also the chief editor of the Great Soviet Encyclopedia from 1969. See also Asian Australians Diocese of Sydney, Australia and New Zealand European Australians Europeans in Oceania Immigration to Australia Russian Jack Russian diaspora References External links Australian and New Zealand Eparchy of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia Russian Orthodox Church in Australia European Australian Social history of Australia Immigration to Australia Australia–Russia relations Russian-Australian culture