Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin was a Russian poet, playwright, and novelist of the Romantic era. He is considered by many to be the greatest Russian poet, as well as the founder of modern Russian literature.
Russian literature refers to the literature of Russia, its émigrés, and to Russian-language literature. The roots of Russian literature can be traced to the Middle Ages, when epics and chronicles in Old East Slavic were composed. By the Age of Enlightenment, literature had grown in importance, and from the early 1830s, Russian literature underwent an astounding golden age in poetry, prose and drama. Romanticism permitted a flowering of poetic talent: Vasily Zhukovsky and later his protégé Alexander Pushkin came to the fore. Prose was flourishing as well. Mikhail Lermontov was one of the most important poets and novelists. The first great Russian novelist was Nikolai Gogol. Then came Ivan Turgenev, who mastered both short stories and novels. Fyodor Dostoevsky and Leo Tolstoy soon became internationally renowned. Other important figures of Russian realism were Ivan Goncharov, Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin and Nikolai Leskov. In the second half of the century Anton Chekhov excelled in short stories and became a leading dramatist. The beginning of the 20th century ranks as the Silver Age of Russian poetry. The poets most often associated with the "Silver Age" are Konstantin Balmont, Valery Bryusov, Alexander Blok, Anna Akhmatova, Nikolay Gumilyov, Sergei Yesenin, Vladimir Mayakovsky, and Marina Tsvetaeva. This era produced some first-rate novelists and short-story writers, such as Aleksandr Kuprin and Nobel Prize winners Ivan Bunin, Leonid Andreyev, Fyodor Sologub, Yevgeny Zamyatin, Alexander Belyaev, Andrei Bely and Maxim Gorky.
Dmitri Shostakovich wrote his Symphony No. 2 in B major, Op. 14, subtitled To October, for the 10th anniversary of the October Revolution. It was first performed by the Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra and the Academy Capella Choir under Nikolai Malko, on 5 November 1927. After the premiere, Shostakovich made some revisions to the score, and this final version was first played in Moscow later in 1927 under the baton of Konstantin Saradzhev. It was also the first time any version of the work had been played in Moscow.
Alexander Melentyevich Volkov was a Soviet novelist, playwright, university lecturer. He was an author of novels, short stories, plays and poems for children, mostly remembered for the Magic Land series of books, based on L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.
Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky are literary translators best known for their collaborative English translations of classic Russian literature. Individually, Pevear has also translated into English works from French, Italian, and Greek. The couple's collaborative translations have been nominated three times and twice won the PEN/Book-of-the-Month Club Translation Prize. Their translation of Dostoevsky's The Idiot also won the first Efim Etkind Translation Prize.
The Vladimir Palace is the former palace of Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich of Russia, son of Alexander II. It was one of the last imperial palaces to be constructed in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It was designed by a team of architects including Vasily Kenel, Aleksandr Rezanov, Andrei Huhn, Ieronim Kitner, Vladimir Shreter and Maximilian Messmacher. Construction work on the waterfront lasted from 1867 to 1872, additional construction and extensions continued in the 1880s and 1890s. Major restorations were made in 1980s and in 2010.
The Wizard of the Emerald City is a 1939 children's novel by Russian writer Alexander Melentyevich Volkov. The book is a re-narration of L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Baum's name is sometimes credited in the book. The names of most characters are changed, some elements of Baum's novel are removed, and some new elements are added. In 1959 a new edition of the book was published, significantly revised by the author. This edition first featured illustrations by artist L.V. Vladimirsky and became popular in the 1960s, leading to five sequels: Urfin Jus and his Wooden Soldiers (1963), The Seven Underground Kings (1964), The Fiery God of the Marrans (1968), The Yellow Fog (1970), and The Secret of the Abandoned Castle. These sequels were written by Volkov himself and are not based on Baum's plot elements, although we do encounter the powder of life, a character called Charlie Black who is not unlike Cap'n Bill, intelligent foxes, and the use of a Sandboat similar to Johnny Dooit's, albeit with wheels.
What Is to Be Done?, sometimes translated as What Then Must We Do?, is a non-fiction work by Leo Tolstoy in which he describes the social conditions of Russia in his day.
Mikhail Fyodorovich Vladimirsky was a Soviet politician and Bolshevik revolutionary who was for a short period of time, the Chairman of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee.
Countess Sophia Andreyevna Tolstaya, sometimes anglicised as Sofia Tolstoy, Sophia Tolstoy and Sonya Tolstoy, was a Russian diarist, and the wife of writer Count Leo Tolstoy.
Vladimirsky Lager is a rural locality (mestechko) in Strugo-Krasnensky District of Pskov Oblast, Russia.
Aleksandr Nikolayevich Osatkin-Vladimirsky was a Russian revolutionary, Soviet politician and first secretary of the Communist Party of Byelorussia from 1923 to 1924.
Leonid Anisimovich Tkachenko was a Soviet and Russian painter. A member of the Saint Petersburg Union of Artists, he lived and worked in Saint Petersburg, regarded as one of the leading representatives of the "left" wing of the Leningrad school of painting.
Alexander Yevgenyevich Volkov is a Russian professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Heavyweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). A professional MMA competitor since 2009, Volkov previously competed for the M-1 Global promotion, as well as Bellator MMA. He is a former heavyweight champion in both promotions. As of September 12, 2023, he is #6 in the UFC heavyweight rankings.
The year 1983 was marked by many events that left an imprint on the history of Soviet and Russian Fine Arts.
Baykov Leonid Petrovich was a Russian and Soviet painter, a member of the Leningrad Union of Soviet Artists, who lived and worked in Saint Petersburg, regarded as one of representatives of the Leningrad School of Painting. Participated in exhibitions since 1943. Important exhibitions: "All-Union Art Exhibition", Moscow, 1951.
Leonid Mikhailovich Volkov is a Russian politician who served as the chief of staff for opposition figure Alexei Navalny's campaign for the 2018 presidential election. He was also the chairman of the Anti-Corruption Foundation until 2023.
Vasily Alekseyevich Vatagin was a scientific illustrator and wildlife artist who worked on a variety of media producing paintings, sculpture, reliefs and illustrations. His works have been used in books and are installed in many institution in Russia. He was a professor at the Moscow Higher School of Arts and Industry.
"Posthumous Notes of the Hermit Fëdor Kuzmich" is a short story by Leo Tolstoy written in December, 1905, and then only published in 1912, over the ferocious objections of the tsarist censors and two years after Tolstoy's death. It was never completed.
The Navalny Headquarters is a Russian underground organization and former network of regional organizations founded by opposition leader Alexei Navalny as part of the 2017 presidential campaign. It lasted until April 2021, when the liquidation of the headquarters was announced in connection with the demand of the Moscow prosecutor's office to recognize the "public movement "Navalny Headquarters" as an extremist organization. It was re-established in October 2022.
