The International Centre-Museum named after Nicholas Roerich (ICR) with a status of a public cultural enlightening centre was founded by the initiative of Svetoslav, the younger son of Helena and Nicholas Roerich. In 1990, Svetoslav Roerich transferred the invaluable heritage of his parents from India to Russia on the condition that a public Museum was to be established in Moscow. The management of the future Museum was entrusted to his good friend Lyudmila Shaposhnikova – a writer and specialist in Indian culture, who was appointed by Svetoslav as his trustee. Due to Shaposhnikova’s efforts and with support from the famous diplomat Yuli Vorontsov and sponsor Boris Bulochnik, Svetoslav’s will was fulfilled. The public Museum in Moscow became the second museum in the world founded by a member of the great family, the first one founded by Nicholas and Helena Roerich in New York.

The Lopukhin Estate, object of historical and cultural heritage of the 17th–19th centuries, is one of the most interesting city estate monuments left in Moscow.This monument is unique both architecturally and historically, its 300-yearlong history connected with such eminent Russian state figures as Peter the Great, Catherine the Great, the Lopukhins, the famous architect M. Kazakov, the Protasov earls, the Bakhmetyev princes, and other people who played an important part in Russian history.

This book examines the lives of the famous Russian painter, thinker, and mystic Nikolai Roerich and his wife, Elena Roerich, the “mother” of Agni Yoga esoteric teaching. Extensively researched, it focuses on the couple’s spiritual quest, resulting in their gradual transformation under the influence of theosophy, spiritualism and Elena’s psychic “fiery experience” into mystics and gurus who fashioned their new version of the “myth of the Masters,” the invisible guides of humanity. Special attention is given to N. Roerich’s travels in Central Asia and Far East, his cultural and public activities and particularly his Buddho-Communist utopia. The myth of the Masters revived will appeal to those interested in New Age esotericism, mysticism, and Russian thought in the first half of the 20th century.