Vladimir Kramnik, chess grandmaster Vladimir Kramnik does not ride the Moscow metro. He does not have a Moscow registration permit and fears being picked up by the police. 100 Young Russians
Nikolai Lugansky, musician Born in April 1972 into a family of research scientists, Nikolai Lugansky was five when his innate musicality appeared, to the utter astonishment of his parents. 100 Young Russians
Amalia Mordvinova, actor Amalia Mordvinova’s beauty is undeniable. Her luxurious mop of red hair and deep emerald eyes evoke the heroines of Titian’s canvasses. 100 Young Russians
Yevgeny Mironov, actor There are lots of funny stories circulating about actor Yevgeny Mironov: on a cold winter night a few years ago, he took pity on a drunkard and tried to help him stand on his own feet. 100 Young Russians
Zemfira Ramazanova, musician For over a year, Zemfira’s name has been everywhere ... on the radio, on billboards, spray-painted on buildings. Her face is emblazoned on the chest of every teenager and twenty-something in Moscow. Her bellowing, beckoning voice floods the radio waves. 100 Young Russians
Nikolai Baskov, opera singer It takes an extraordinary singer to bridge the divide between popular singing and opera. The round-faced blond tenor of the Bolshoi, 24-year-old Nikolai Baskov, is just such a singer. 100 Young Russians
Alexei Uchitel, director In Alexei Uchitel’s new film, His Wife’s Diary, 33-year-old Galina Tyunina plays Vera Nikolaevna, the long-suffering wife of the Nobel laureate poet Ivan Bunin (Bunin forced his wife to allow his lover, the poet Galina Plotnikova, to live with them). And yet Tyunina does not see her character as some kind of a martyr worthy of canonization. 100 Young Russians
Konstantin Vorontsov, scientist Stereotypically, Russian brokers at the Moscow Interbank Currency Exchange (MICEX) are wedded to their mobile phones and drive swanky inomarkas (foreign-made cars). Broker Konstantin Vorontsov does not fit this mold. The affable, handsome 29-year-old sports a student’s rucksack and apologizes for being late for a meeting: “buses don’t come on time these days.” 100 Young Russians
Tagir Yapparov, businessperson Some might say that Tagir Yapparov, 38, is a typical self-made Russian businessman. But, in fact, he is anything but typical. 100 Young Russians
Nastya Yefimenko, doctor Nastya Yefimenko will try to tell you she is just a pre-med student. But the 17-year-old will only be revealing part of the story. For she was recently named the Best Young Scientist in Russia. 100 Young Russians
Mikhail Zrelov, restauranteur Mikhail Zrelov, 27, sort of “fell into” the restaurant business. If anything, his schooling and first professional experiences seemed to suggest anything but the food service industry. 100 Young Russians
Anna Belova, scientist If Anna Belova looks to you a lot like Vera Gregorieva on the facing page, don’t be surprised. Not only are they sisters, they are twins. And they are both neurologists. 100 Young Russians
February 28, 2022 to December 31, 2024 Free Russian Language Guided Tours Metropolitan Museum of Art | New York, NY Russian-speaking guides conduct tours of the museum's highlights every Monday at 11 am. Art Exhibit
November 11, 2023 to September 15, 2024 Visions of Transcendence: Creating Space in East and West Wende Museum | Culver City, CA This exhibit highlights the resilience and creative power of people deprived of their freedom or their own place to live. Art Exhibit
Driving Down Russia's Spine The story of the epic Spine of Russia trip, intertwining fascinating subject profiles with digressions into historical and cultural themes relevant to understanding modern Russia.
A Taste of Chekhov This compact volume is an introduction to the works of Chekhov the master storyteller, via nine stories spanning the last twenty years of his life.
The Samovar Murders The murder of a poet is always more than a murder. When a famous writer is brutally stabbed on the campus of Moscow’s Lumumba University, the son of a recently deposed African president confesses, and the case assumes political implications that no one wants any part of.
The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas This exciting new trilogy by a Russian author – who has been compared to Orhan Pamuk and Umberto Eco – vividly recreates a lost world, yet its passions and characters are entirely relevant to the present day. Full of mystery, memorable characters, and non-stop adventure, The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas is a must read for lovers of historical fiction and international thrillers.
Faith & Humor: Notes from Muscovy A book that dares to explore the humanity of priests and pilgrims, saints and sinners, Faith & Humor has been both a runaway bestseller in Russia and the focus of heated controversy – as often happens when a thoughtful writer takes on sacred cows. The stories, aphorisms, anecdotes, dialogues and adventures in this volume comprise an encyclopedia of modern Russian Orthodoxy, and thereby of Russian life.
Murder at the Dacha Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin has a problem. Several, actually. Not the least of them is the fact that a powerful Soviet boss has been murdered, and Matyushkin's surly commander has given him an unreasonably short time frame to close the case.
Fish: A History of One Migration This mesmerizing novel from one of Russia’s most important modern authors traces the life journey of a selfless Russian everywoman. In the wake of the Soviet breakup, inexorable forces drag Vera across the breadth of the Russian empire. Facing a relentless onslaught of human and social trials, she swims against the current of life, countering adversity and pain with compassion and hope, in many ways personifying Mother Russia’s torment and resilience amid the Soviet disintegration.
22 Russian Crosswords Test your knowledge of the Russian language, Russian history and society with these 22 challenging puzzles taken from the pages of Russian Life magazine. Most all the clues are in English, but you must fill in the answers in Russian. If you get stumped, of course all the puzzles have answers printed at the back of the book.
Resilience ~ The Russian Version (Переживем) Call it resilience, grit, or just perseverance – it takes a special sort of person to have survived the last 100 years of Russian and Soviet history.
The Moscow Eccentric Advance reviewers are calling this new translation "a coup" and "a remarkable achievement." This rediscovered gem of a novel by one of Russia's finest writers explores some of the thorniest issues of the early twentieth century.
Resilience: Life Stories of Centenarians Born in the Year of Revolution Call it resilience, grit, or just perseverance – it takes a special sort of person to have survived the last 100 years of Russian and Soviet history.
Jews in Service to the Tsar Benjamin Disraeli advised, “Read no history: nothing but biography, for that is life without theory.” With Jews in Service to the Tsar, Lev Berdnikov offers us 28 biographies spanning five centuries of Russian Jewish history, and each portrait opens a new window onto the history of Eastern Europe’s Jews, illuminating dark corners and challenging widely-held conceptions about the role of Jews in Russian history.
March 07, 2022 Russian Life Takes a Pause As the world reels from the horrific, criminal events being perpetrated in Ukraine by Vladimir Putin, the Russian state, and the Russian military, all of us who nurture a love for Russian people, their culture and history, have been heartbroken. It is not easy to remain a Russophile when suddenly, all across the globe, the adjective “Russian” has become toxic. News Russia File
August 22, 2016 Magical Kefir Kefir is the most popular fermented milk in Russia. But it did not get there overnight. Kefir and Russia have a long history... Food & Drink History Russia File
April 23, 2014 Peace, Land, Bread Peace! Land! Bread! This was the battle cry of the 1917 October Revolution (old calendar) that changed the history of Russia and indeed the entire world. Since the time of Ivan the Terrible, the tsars concentrated on centralization of their power and control. The most common way of doing this was to take power away from the nobility, appeasing them by giving them dominion over their land and workers. This soon developed into the oppressive, slave-style condition known as serfdom. History Russia File
September 07, 2021 Using Laughter to Cope These eight outstanding Soviet comedies show some of what has made Russians laugh over the past century. Most are still watched today. (First in our new series on learning about Russia through its films.) Culture Through Film Russia File
January 28, 2020 Meet Russia's favorite sable Siberian sable fur was once Russia's biggest luxury export, but now we can't get enough of Instagram star Umora, the sable inspiring Russians to never look at fur coats again. Animals Internet Interview Russia File
October 14, 2016 Five Wild Facts about St. Basil's Cathedral On October 14, 1991, St. Basil’s Cathedral was reopened after six decades. Here are five fun facts in honor of the 25th anniversary of the Cathedral’s rebirth. Culture History Religion Russia File
