How it all began… 2010. Larisa Evans, a linguist and marketer, Marketing Director of the Maison Dellos restaurant company (restaurants Pushkin, Turandot, Bochka, Shinok, and others) and Evgenia Dellos, wife of Maison Dellos owner Andrey Dellos, created the first International School of Etiquette for Children in Moscow and Russia. At the Turandot restaurant, children are taught good manners and polite behavior on weekends while their parents enjoy brunch. And then Prince Michael of Kent comes to visit Maison Dellos. At the farewell dinner, he tells Evgenia and Larisa: “What a wonderful idea, opening an etiquette school in Russia. Unfortunately, I know that you have almost no education in this area. But why only children? Teach adults too! Otherwise, there’s no point; children will still pick up their parents’ habits at home.” He’s absolutely right. The school’s founders then launched a program for adults. Thus, the International School of Etiquette and Art de Vivre (ISE) was born. Galina Gubankova, a journalist and philologist who had previously worked as PR Director for Maison Dellos, would later join the ISE team.
Since 2011, top European and British trainers have been coming to the International School of Etiquette at the invitation of Evgenia and Larisa. Among them are Christine Pierce (Minding Manners School, UK), Diana Mather (The English Manner School, UK), Liz Brewer (recognized etiquette expert, UK), Countess Marie de Tilly (etiquette trainer at the Elysée Palace, France), Thomas Gad (business trainer, Sweden), Jacqueline Kino (table setting specialist, Hermes), and others. All of these trainers are world-renowned. This is their first time working in Moscow and Russia, leading seminars for ISE. We are proud to be pioneers and innovators, the first to think of something and the first to implement it. Back then, there were no numerous books, Instagram blogs, Telegram channels, or anything about etiquette… It wasn’t easy for us to become pioneers; we had to talk, explain, and defend, facing skepticism and the distrustful squints of those who didn’t understand why etiquette was even necessary. But we boldly forged ahead. To be continued…