Jelle Brandt Corstius

(Bloemendaal, 1978) was called “the least boring Dutch travel writer” by the late Kees Fens. And indeed he pulls out all the stops to treat his readers to surprising stories. For his work as a Russia correspondent he travelled across the former Eastern bloc in search of special stories. After his history studies Brandt Corstius worked for the tv talkshow Barend and Van Dorp for two years. Meanwhile he travelled to Russia on a regular basis and in 2005 he decided to settle in Moscow as a correspondent, writing for the Dutch daily Trouw and the Belgian daily De Standaard. In 2008 and 2009 he made two highly acclaimed series about the daily lives of the Russians for VPRO television, From Moscow to Magadan and From Moscow to Murmansk. Brandt Corstius wrote two books, Rusland voor gevorderden (Russia for Advanced Students), on his often absurd life in Moscow and travels through Russia, and Kleine landjes (Small countries), on obscure regions and communities in the Caucasus. In the summer of 2010 he hosted the tv progamme Zomergasten (Summer guests).