Dr. Russell Martin, associate professor of history at Westminster College, recently joined a team of translators who are creating an English-language version of the Web page for Her Imperial Highness, Grand Duchess Maria Vladmirova, the current legal heiress to the vacant throne of Russia.

"The website, www.imperialhouse.ru, contains separate pages outlining the claims of the Grand Duchess to the throne; the laws of succession, and other documents such as press releases and official statements by the Heiress.  It also highlights the news items on the activities and travels of the members of the Imperial Family," Martin said.  "It's a very smart-looking Web page, but it is all in Russian.  I have already translated a large batch of legal texts on the laws of succession, and am moving on to other sections of the webpage."

This is not the first work Martin has done for the Royal Family of Russia.

"My service to them began more than a decade ago, when I gave expert testimony in a deposition in a legal case brought in Canada against someone who had published unhistorical and scurrilous charges against the rights of Grand Duchess Maria's now deceased father, Grand Duke Vladimir Kirillovich," Martin said.  "I have also published articles in encyclopedias on the Royal Family, where I outline the complexities in the Russian succession and make the case for Grand Duchess Maria's rights.  I have also been granted access to archival materials of the Russian Orthodox Church that shines a new light on the questions of the Russian monarchy.  I hope to convert this work into a book that I'll start to write next year.

"My work on the Web page was in many ways aided by Kristin Kronstain, a history student who is studying the Russian language with me as an independent study," Martin said.  "She studied Russian in Moscow last summer, and over the course of this year, her skills with Russian have improved to the point where I felt confident that I could ask her to tackle some of the translation work.  Her help was important to the project and useful, I think, to her since she got a chance to pull her head out of a textbook and actually apply the skills she is working on."

Martin appeared on 'A&E Biography' in a broadcast on Ivan the Terrible as an expert on the controversial ruler.  He is the co-founder of the Muscovite Biographical Database, a Russian-American computerized register based in Moscow of early modern Russian notables.  The Neville Island, Pa., native is not only fluent in Russian, but also reads Old Church Slavonic/Russian, French, German, Latin, and Polish.

Martin, who has been with Westminster College since 1996, earned his bachelor's degree from the University of Pittsburgh, and his master's and Ph.D. from Harvard University.

Kronstain, a junior history major, is a daughter of William and Lorraine Kronstain, Wexford, and a graduate of North Allegheny High School.

Contact at Martin at (724) 946-6254 or e-mail martinre@westminster.edu for more information.

Dr. Russell Martin