Pushkin's ancestor was a curiosity gifted to Peter the Great.
Sort of a house slave treated well due to his rareness.
Russian servants would be treated worse due to there being a bigger supply of them (some would, though, instead of peasants become soldiers of his toy regiments and sometimes more).
Then at some point, yes, Peter, consistently with his other hobbies, decided to free him, make him an officer, put him in uniform etc, ultimately marrying him to a girl of noble descent and making him a noble himself, of course.
That's not quite the same as not being racist.
Though some ethnic cleansing had happened in the Caucasus.
Pushkin's ancestor was a curiosity gifted to Peter the Great.
Sort of a house slave treated well due to his rareness.
Russian servants would be treated worse due to there being a bigger supply of them (some would, though, instead of peasants become soldiers of his toy regiments and sometimes more).
Then at some point, yes, Peter, consistently with his other hobbies, decided to free him, make him an officer, put him in uniform etc, ultimately marrying him to a girl of noble descent and making him a noble himself, of course.
That's not quite the same as not being racist.
That's usually called genocide.
okay you are all right about it !