Culture & Customs

In cooperation with the “Lived” Project, Arzamas selected personal diary entries written immediately before their authors were arrested during the Great Terror. Almost all of these diaries were kept in the FSB Archive – the principal source of information for historians working on the events of 1937 – 1938.

So, what exactly have we been doing in the two months since the successful closure of our crowdfunding for this project?

This is a short extract from a satirical book published in 1837, from which we learn: what sorts of bribes there are; why it is better to take a bribe during lunch; why gaudy is better than a bullfinch; the language in which one should speak of bribes; and how to avoid punishment for receiving bribes.

A few words about two brothers who rejected their family's wealth and became known as the Apostles of the Slavs. They never visited Russia, but they translated the Gospel into Slavonic.

Known as a female Chekhov and skilled at painting the human condition as hilarious and hideous in one stroke, Teffi is a little-known author you should get to know. 

Catherine I held the title of Empress 40 years before her more famous, “Great” namesake. As the first woman to rule Russia, she had great qualities of her own.

Russians love bread, and you are going to love this recipe for Whole Wheat Bread with Seeds.

Some gifted young athletes are excelling at the world’s favorite sport – football (aka soccer) – which is amazing given that they are all legally blind.

A look at Russian dreams and memes.

The Republic of Georgia is a land of exquisite paradoxes that are sometimes lovable, sometimes infuriating.

There are many ways to learn music, but just one 
“Russian Way,” as cellist Marianne Ide finds out.

Russia's annual spring draft began April 1. This dinosaur gets harder to kill with each passing year.