ABSTRACT
The political climate in Russia, rather than the weather, brought H. G. Wells and Moura Budberg together for the first time. Hulton Getty (HG), ever the scientist, was curious about the Marxist experiment being conducted in Russia in 1920, and those in power were only too happy to indulge the influential socialist writer and his curiosity. Since HG and Moura were often apart, their plans for work and for play figured heavily into their correspondence. In 1927 Moura began hitting HG up for articles for a new bilingual publication, Europa Magazin, which was to be a collaboration between Gorky, Romain Rolland, and HG to combine literature, art, and science. With regard to the 1930s, West argued that Moura had been entering Russia as often as every three months “and circulating with impunity.” Wells did not mention Moura in his first autobiography, although he and Moura had been open lovers for at least a year, and acquaintances for at least fourteen.
