Robert Henderson

Dr Robert Henderson is an Honorary Research Fellow at Queen Mary's School of History, specializing in Russian political emigration and library history. He holds an MA and Diploma in Slavonic Languages from the University of Glasgow and completed his PhD at Queen Mary in 2009, focusing on Russian political emigration in late 19th-century London. His research explores transnational movements, European political policing collaboration, and British labour history. He actively engages in school outreach programs, promoting local history education and Soviet-era cultural understanding.

Key research interests include the Russian revolutionary emigration in Edwardian London, library history (particularly Russian academic libraries and archives), and the development of radicalization in 19th-century Europe. His work also addresses British labour movements and the historical collaboration between Russian and European political police forces.

Publications include The Spark that Lit the Revolution: Young Lenin in London (2020) and Vladimir Burtsev and the Struggle for a Free Russia (2017). His articles span topics from Russian émigré publishing to the role of East London’s Free Russian Library. Henderson is a member of BASEES’s Study Group on the Russian Revolution and has contributed to transnational historical studies.

His academic trajectory includes a 20-year tenure as Russian Curator at the British Library, reflecting his deep engagement with Russian cultural and intellectual history. His work bridges archival scholarship with public outreach, emphasizing the interconnectedness of global revolutionary movements and local community narratives.