Meeting the Cook Islands PM: On Suwarrow, Russia and the Cooks
Tonight at NZ Parliament with Prime Minister of the Cook Islands, HE Mark Brown, Stuart Prior and Olga Suvorova (or I should be Olga Suwarrow as a beautiful island in the northern group of the Cook Islands). I was going to Suwarrow in Sept 2020, alas, Covid interfered.
Although Suwarrow was inhabited by Polynesians during prehistory it was uninhabited when discovered by a 25 year old Captain Mikhail Lazarev of then Russian America Company ship Suvorov, which reportedly followed clouds of birds to the atoll on September 17, 1814. (The ship was named after Russian general Alexander Suvorov, who appears as “Suwarrow” in Lord Byron’s epic poem Don Juan and also in Alaric Alexander Watt’s alliterative poem “The Siege of Belgrade”.) It has been only intermittently inhabited since.
The atoll’s name has also been spelled variously as Souvorow, Souwaroff, and Souworoff. “Suwarrow” is the official spelling adopted by New Zealand. No wonder my last name is misspelled so often here đ Besides, in Russian tradition all Russian female last names have the ending -a, so I am Suvorova. “Quite a mouthful”, as Kiwis say! Great heritage indeed.
P.S. 6 years after Capt Lazarev came to New Zealand, 1820 Queen Charlotte Sound. I hope now you remember my family name SUVOROVA
