In the culture of the Slavs the traditional character Ded Moroz (Russian: Дед Мороз) plays a role similar to that of Santa Claus. The literal translation of the name would be Grandfather Frost. However, English-speakers traditionally translate his name as the alliterative Father Frost.

Ded Moroz brings presents to children. However, unlike the secretive ways of Santa Claus, he often brings them in person, at the celebrations of the New Year, at New Year parties for kids by the New Year Tree. The “in-person” gifts only occur at big organized celebrations, where the gifts can be “standardized.” The clandestine operations of placing the gifts under the New Year tree still occur while the children are young. Ded Moroz is accompanied by Snegurochka (Russian: Снегурочка), or ‘Snow Maiden’, his granddaughter. She is a unique attribute of the image of Father Frost – none of his foreign colleagues has a similar companion.

The traditional appearance of Ded Moroz has a close resemblance to that of Santa Claus, with his coat, boots and long white beard. Specifically, Ded Moroz wears a heel-long fur coat, a semi-round fur hat, and white valenki or high boots (sapogi), silver or red with silver ornament. Unlike Santa Claus, he walks with a long magical staff, does not say “Ho, ho, ho,” and drives no reindeer but a troika.

    Ded Moroz at his residence in Veliky Ustyug

The official residence of Ded Moroz in Russia is the town of Veliky Ustyug. The residence of the Belarusian Dzied Maroz is in Belavezhskaya Pushcha.

Strange as it is, initially Father Frost used to be a wicked and cruel sorcerer who liked to freeze people. He took after the Old Slavic gods: ‘Pozvizd’ - the god of wind and good and bad weather, ‘Zimnik’ - god of winter, and the terrifying ‘Korochun’ – an underworld god ruling over frosts. The peculiar character of those pagan gods determined the initial disposition of Ded Moroz – at first he stole children and brought them away in his gigantic sack. To ransom the kids, their parents had to give him presents. However, with the lapse of time, everything turned upside down: under the influence of Orthodox traditions Father Frost reformed, became kind and started to give presents to kids. Then he adopted certain traits from Saint Nicholas, the prototype of the Western Santa Claus.

His roots are in pagan beliefs, but since the 19th century his attributes and legend have been shaped by literary influences. He, together with Snegurochka, was “fleshed out” from a kind of a winter sprite into what he is now. The fairy tale play Snegurochka by the famous Russian playwright Aleksandr Ostrovsky was influential in this respect, followed by Rimsky-Korsakov’s Snegurochka with libretto based on the play.

Only by the end of the 19th century did Ded Moroz win a “competition” between the various mythical figures who were in charge of New Year presents: including Grandfather Nicholas, Santa Claus, Ded Treskun, Morozko and simply Moroz. Ded Moroz perfectly fits the Russian traditions, so there is a widespread erroneous opinion that he has been known to Russians for centuries.

Snow sculpture of Ded Moroz 
in Samara 

In 1916, in Imperial Russia the Holy Synod called to boycott Christmas trees as a tradition, originating from Germany (Russia’s enemy during World War I). In the Russian SFSR and the Soviet Union Christmas trees were banned until 1935 because they were considered to be a “bourgeois and religious prejudice”. In 1928 Ded Moroz was declared “an ally of the priest and kulak”. Nevertheless, the image of Father Frost took its final shape in the USSR: he became the main symbol of the New Year’s Holiday that replaced Christmas as the most favorite and fairy holiday in the pre-revolutionary Russia. The New Year’s tree was revived in the USSR after the famous letter by Pavel Postyshev, published in Pravda on December 28, 1935, where he asked for New Year trees to be installed in schools, children’s homes, Young Pioneer Palaces, children’s clubs, children’s theaters and cinema theaters. Postyshev believed that the origins of the holiday, which were pre-Christian in any case, were less important than the benefits it could bring to Soviet children. In 1937, Ded Moroz for the first time arrived at the Moscow Palace of Unions. In subsequent years, an invitation to the New Year Tree at the Palace of Unions became a matter of honor for Soviet children. The image of

“Soviet” Father Frost was established by Soviet filmmakers in the 1930s. The color of the coat that Ded Moroz wore was changed several times. So as not to be confused with Santa Claus, it was often blue. Joseph Stalin ordered Palace of Unions’ Ded Morozes to wear only blue coats. During the times of the Soviet Union’s dominance over Eastern Europe, Ded Moroz was officially introduced in many national traditions, despite being alien to them. Following the fall of the Soviet Union, there have been efforts to revive local characters. Russia has other gift givers like baboushaka and kolyada.