Hotel Lux: An Irishwoman in 1920s Moscow

From the Russian Revolution until the Second World War, radicals from all over the world spent time in Moscow’s famous Hotel Lux, the so-called ‘living quarters of the world revolution.’ In this talk, historian Dr. Maurice Casey will share the story of the witty translator who lived in room number five of the Lux during four tumultuous years in the nineteen twenties: May O’Callaghan, a forgotten radical journalist who was raised in the small Wexford village of Ballinesker.

Why did an Irishwoman move to 1920s Russia? What were her experiences of revolution and romance in the revolutionary capital? How did a woman who once partied with Soviet celebrities end up dying in obscurity in a North London nursing home?

To answer these questions, and more, Maurice will draw from histories told for the first time in his new book Hotel Lux. The book traces the life of May O’Callaghan and her friends – a set of revolutionaries who came to the Hotel Lux from Ireland, Germany, America, Ukraine, Britain and beyond.

Highlights

• Explore the historical context and personal stories of Irish emigrants, exiles and revolutionaries who found themselves at the heart of the Soviet Union.
• Understand how these disparate Irish emigrants’ lives collided at the historic Hotel Lux before its residents’ fell victim to the purges of Josef Stalin.
• Enjoy a Q&A with the author Dr Maurice Casey and have your copy of Hotel Lux signed in person.

Speaker Profile:

Dr Maurice J Casey lectures in history in Queen’s University Belfast. From 2020 to 2022 he was the DFA Historian in Residence at EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum. Hotel Lux: An Intimate History of Communism’s Forgotten Radicals is his first book.

Host or Publisher EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum