100 Young Russians

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Nikolai Tsvetkov, businessperson

Nikolai Tsvetkov, businessperson

NIKoil’s success is due to its 41-year-old president, Nikolai Tsvetkov. Tsvetkov is not what they call here a “golden boy,” someone who had life served up to him on a silver platter: special schools and jobs made from patronage. Instead, Tsvetkov is a self-made man, Russian-style.

Sergei Pashin, judge

Sergei Pashin, judge

The motto of Emeritus Jurist of Russia Sergei Pashin is encapsulated in a quote by Fyodor Dostoevsky: “Let us enter the court with the realization that we too are at fault.”

Alexander Klimov, politician

Alexander Klimov, politician

Puchezh District Mayor Alexander Klimov is admired both at home and abroad. US Representative Charles Taylor assessed the work of Klimov’s administration with just one short phrase: “This is the way to Russia’s prosperity.” 

Svetlana Khorkina, athlete

Svetlana Khorkina, athlete

At first glance, Svetlana Khorkina would seem an unlikely choice for Russian Life’s list of rising stars. After all, her star began rising long ago by modern gymnastics standards.

Marat Izmaylov, athlete

Marat Izmaylov, athlete

A journalist from Moskovsky Komsomolets once quoted a female Italian soccer fan as saying: “Oh, Izmaylov ... Izmaylov is my love.” The word play on Marat Izmaylov’s last name (“Is-my-love”) was surely accidental, but the sympathy was nonetheless sincere.

Vera Grigorieva, scientist

Vera Grigorieva, scientist

At the Gorky (now Nizhny Novgorod) Medical School Anna and Vera Zeitlin’s schoolmates would often mix up the twin sisters. But it quickly became apparent  that the twin sisters (Anna is profiled on the opposite page) more than just looked alike.

Mikhail Butov, writer

Mikhail Butov, writer

Mikhail Butov's novel Svoboda (Liberty) won the 1999 Smirnoff-Booker prize. It is a generational novel—telling the story of Russia’s first “liberated” generation.

Roman Sludnov, athlete

Roman Sludnov, athlete

Breaststroker Roman Sludnov has been practicing hard all the 300 days which passed since he had to resign to a bronze medal  at the Sydney Olympics. For he and his mother-coach Natalia Roschina  believe  there  is only one place on the pedestal worth fighting for - the #1 spot.

 

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EVENTS FOR RUSSOPHILES

A Few of Our Books

At the Circus

At the Circus

This wonderful novella by Alexander Kuprin tells the story of the wrestler Arbuzov and his battle against a renowned American wrestler. Rich in detail and characterization, At the Circus brims with excitement and life. You can smell the sawdust in the big top, see the vivid and colorful characters, sense the tension build as Arbuzov readies to face off against the American.
Faith & Humor: Notes from Muscovy

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.
Fish: A History of One Migration

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.
Driving Down Russia's Spine

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. 
Jews in Service to the Tsar

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.
Russia Rules

Russia Rules

From the shores of the White Sea to Moscow and the Northern Caucasus, Russian Rules is a high-speed thriller based on actual events, terrifying possibilities, and some really stupid decisions.
The Latchkey Murders

The Latchkey Murders

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin is back on the case in this prequel to the popular mystery Murder at the Dacha, in which a serial killer is on the loose in Khrushchev’s Moscow...
93 Untranslatable Russian Words

93 Untranslatable Russian Words

Every language has concepts, ideas, words and idioms that are nearly impossible to translate into another language. This book looks at nearly 100 such Russian words and offers paths to their understanding and translation by way of examples from literature and everyday life. Difficult to translate words and concepts are introduced with dictionary definitions, then elucidated with citations from literature, speech and prose, helping the student of Russian comprehend the word/concept in context.
Marooned in Moscow

Marooned in Moscow

This gripping autobiography plays out against the backdrop of Russia's bloody Civil War, and was one of the first Western eyewitness accounts of life in post-revolutionary Russia. Marooned in Moscow provides a fascinating account of one woman's entry into war-torn Russia in early 1920, first-person impressions of many in the top Soviet leadership, and accounts of the author's increasingly dangerous work as a journalist and spy, to say nothing of her work on behalf of prisoners, her two arrests, and her eventual ten-month-long imprisonment, including in the infamous Lubyanka prison. It is a veritable encyclopedia of life in Russia in the early 1920s.
Life Stories: Original Fiction By Russian Authors

Life Stories: Original Fiction By Russian Authors

The Life Stories collection is a nice introduction to contemporary Russian fiction: many of the 19 authors featured here have won major Russian literary prizes and/or become bestsellers. These are life-affirming stories of love, family, hope, rebirth, mystery and imagination, masterfully translated by some of the best Russian-English translators working today. The selections reassert the power of Russian literature to affect readers of all cultures in profound and lasting ways. Best of all, 100% of the profits from the sale of this book are going to benefit Russian hospice—not-for-profit care for fellow human beings who are nearing the end of their own life stories.

Popular Articles

Using Laughter to Cope
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.)

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