Personal Diplomacy in St. Petersburg

The Moscow Times reports that the American Consul in St. Petersburg has donated his collection of African art to a Russian museum,

...saying that he wanted to give treasures from his days in Cameroon and Burundi to a city where he had experienced his happiest professional moments.

U.S. Consul General Morris Hughes, 59, who is set to retire and leave his post Tuesday, delivered his African collection to the city's Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography, or Kunstkamera. 'These things are a part of my life in diplomacy,' he said at a ceremony marking the donation. 'And I'm glad that this part of my home will belong to the museum.'

Hughes gave the museum about 50 objects of everyday African life, such as a drum, a vessel for beer and a mask. He said he had collected the objects during his six years of diplomatic service in Cameroon and Burundi.