PhD defence A. (Alexandr) Gorokhovskiy

Below is a brief summary of the dissertation:

The history of vodka begins not with an isolated national tradition, but with the transfer and adaptation of distillation in early modern Muscovy within wider networks of knowledge, exchange, and state formation. This dissertation explores how distilled alcohol first reached Russia, how it was adapted for drinking, and how it eventually became embedded in Muscovite society and government. Rather than assuming that vodka developed in isolation, the study places early Russian spirits within a wider history of European and Eurasian exchange. Using a broad range of primary sources, including materials that have received little scholarly attention, the dissertation traces the movement of distillation knowledge, equipment, terminology, and practices into Muscovy during the early modern period. It asks who carried this knowledge, through which routes it travelled, and how it was reshaped once it entered Russian contexts. The study shows that distilled alcohol was not simply imported as a foreign novelty. It was gradually adapted to local needs and institutions, including the court, medicine, taxation, administration, and commerce. The dissertation argues that the rise of Russia’s national drink was closely connected to intensified cross-cultural contact. Muscovy was not cut off from its neighbours; it was part of wider networks through which technical and economic knowledge circulated. By following the history of distillation, the study also challenges narrow national histories of individual drinks. The emergence of vodka can only be understood as part of the broader global history of distilled spirits, shaped by movement, adaptation, and exchange. In this sense, the dissertation offers both a new history of vodka and a first step toward a more connected history of spirits.