March and April in Russian History

1863

march 1

On this day, Russian poet and prose writer Fyodor Sologub (real name: Fyodor Teternikov) was born into a tailor’s family in St. Petersburg. Sologub started his literary career in the 1890’s. Initially regarded as a symbolist, along with Andrei Bely, Valery Bryusov and Konstantin Balmont, his work actually differed from theirs in many ways, and has been classified as Decadent literature. The poetic language in his collections such as Blue Sky (1920) and One Love (1921) is rather laconic and does not contain the refined metaphors so characteristic of symbolic poetry. It was Sologub’s prose works — Little Demon (1892-1902), Heavy Dreams (1895) and Legend Created (1910’s) — that brought him fame.

1913

march 1

This is the 90th birthday of writer and journalist Sergei Mikhalkov (March 13, new style). In 1935, his lyric poem “Svetlana,” published in Izvestiya, attracted Stalin`s attention. That same year, Mikhalkov wrote a poem for children, “Dyadya Styopa” (Uncle Styopa) which gained wide popularity. A member of the Communist Party since 1950, Mikhalkov has lived long enough to pen three versions of his country’s national anthem: twice for the USSR (in 1943 and 1977) and once for Russia (in 2000).

1863

march 5

140 years ago Metropolitan Antony (Alexei Khrapovitsky), one of the most influential leaders of the Russian Orthodox Church, was born. In 1921, he emigrated to Serbia with other opponents of the Bolshevik regime and was appointed head of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad.

1938

march 2

Famous couturier Vyacheslav Zaitsev turns 65 today. He began his career by creating a collection of uniforms for women working in the kolkhoz (collective farm). In the 1960s, directing the special department in the official Soviet Fashion House, he felt constrained by strict state standards that stifled creativity and later created his own fashion house. Yet he was not allowed to travel abroad until 1988, when he visited Paris for the first time. Zaitsev’s artistic skills extend beyond couture. He is also a painter — with five works on display at the Tretyakov Gallery, and the author of two books on fashion.

1918

march 3

Eighty-five years ago, Soviet Russia negotiated a separate peace in World War I when it signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with Germany and Austria-Hungary. Under the treaty, Russia was forced to give up Poland, the Baltic States and part of what is now Belarus. Russia also had to recognize the independence of Ukraine and Finland and to cede back to Turkey Kars, Ardahan and Batumi. Soviet Russia declared the treaty null and void eight months later, when Germany was forced to renounce it under the general armistice of November 11, 1918.

1918

March 9

On this day, the Russian Social-Democratic Workers’ Party (Bolsheviks), founded in 1898, changed its name to the Communist Party (Bolsheviks).   

1918

March 11

The Bolshevik government moved the capital of Soviet Russia to Moscow. In the 15th century, Moscow had become the capital of the centralized Russian state, but in 1712, Peter the Great moved it to St. Petersburg.

1738

March 12

This is the birthday of architect Vassily Bazhenov. Traveling in France and Italy from 1760 to 1764, Bazhenov became interested in various styles of art, from classicism and baroque to gothic. His earliest and most ambitious project (1767-1775) was the reconstruction of the Kremlin and Red Square as one unified architectural ensemble, but work was stopped early on by Catherine II, because the State ran out of money. Yet Bazhenov’s introduction of the classicist style was to have a lasting influence on Russian architecture. His project for Tsaritsyno, an imperial residence outside Moscow, was also stopped short of completion and today is a picturesque ruin. Among some of Bazhenov’s other famous works are the Moscow homes of Dolgov (1770), Yushkov (1780`s) and Pashkov (1784-1786).

1888

March 13

This is the birthday of Anton Makarenko (1888-1939), a teacher, writer and publicist who worked to reform homes for juvenile delinquents and homeless children. He used methods based on trust and confidence in the individual, some of which have remained influential to this day.    

1938

March 17

Today, Rudolf Nureyev (1938-1993), one of the most compelling dancers of his era, would have turned 65. He defected from the Soviet Union in 1961, while on tour in Paris with the Kirov Ballet. He made his American debut one year later, performing with the Chicago Opera Ballet. Later that year he joined the London Royal Ballet, where he began to dance with Margo Fonteyn. Together they performed “Swan Lake,” “Giselle,” “Marguerite and Armand” and became the most famous ballet couple of the 1960s. Later, Nureyev worked as a choreographer and actor.

1888

march 20

On this day 115 years ago, the Balalaika Performers Amateur Club made its debut performance in St. Petersburg and met with huge success. Through the group, Conductor Vassily Andreev revived national interest in folk music. The group exists to this day as the Andreev Academic Russian Folk Orchestra.

1868

march 28

Writer Maxim Gorky (1868-1936) was born today. Orphaned at an early age, he lead the life of a tramp, wandering Russia for five years. Thieves, prostitutes and hobos that he met in his travels became characters in his early works (i.e. Chelkash, The Depths). The second stage of his literary life (1902-1913) coincided with his collaboration with revolutionaries and anti-governmental organizations. He was lionized by the Bolsheviks when they came to power. But his relationship with Soviet power was at best “complicated.” Stalin sought to coopt him and declared him the First Soviet Writer, yet Gorky continued to criticize the regime until his death in 1936 under suspicious circumstances (see Russian Life, June 1996).

1873

march 20

This is the birthday (April 1, new style) of composer, pianist and conductor Sergei Rakhmaninov. Rakhmaninov became famous rather early in life as a piano prodigy. But the premieres of his Symphony No. 1 and Concerto No. 1 failed, leading to his suffering a nervous breakdown. After recuperating, in 1901 he agreed to fill the position of Bolshoi Theatre conductor. Soon after the 1917 Revolution, he emigrated and settled in the United States. He was extremely prolific in his compositional work. Among his most famous works are four Concertos for Piano and Orchestra, 24 Preludes, three Symphonies and Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini.

1923

april 1

Boris Birger, painter, turns 80 today. When Nikita Khrushchev led the Soviet Union, Birger criticized the then official art policy, which resulted in his expulsion from the Artists` Union twice, in 1962 and 1968. He mainly painted portraits of “oppositionist” intelligentsia, including Nadezhda Mandelshtam (1967), Andrei Sakharov (1974) and Bulat Okudzhava (1978). Birger lived in Moscow until his emigration to Cologne (Germany) in 1991.

Ogonyok (Little Fire) magazine was also first published on this day. Founded by Mikhail Koltsov, it became a leading light of glasnost in the 1980s, under the editorship of Vitaly Korotich.

1943

april 1

Pianist Nikolai Petrov turns 60 today. A soloist of the Moscow Philharmonic Society and founder of the “Russian Art Academy,” Petrov performs frequently at home and abroad. A true virtuoso, he has a phenomenal memory and always chooses to perform the most difficult compositions. He plays Rakhmaninov, Skriabin, Beethoven, Chopin and Schumann, but his favorite composers are Prokofiev and Shchedrin.

1983

april 5

20 years ago today France deported 47 Soviet diplomats and Embassy employees, after allegations that they were attempting to steal military secrets. The Kremlin did nothing in response, which inspired other countries to act. In 1988 a total of 148 Soviet diplomats were deported from their embassies around the world, 88 from Europe and the United States.

1903

April 6

Today is the centenary of linguist Alexander Smirnitsky. His theories of speech and language greatly influenced soviet linguistics of the 1940-1950s. He also directed work on what would become one of the most famous Russian-English dictionaries of the last century. He died of tuberculosis in 1954.

1918

april 8

Russia’s tri-coloured flag was replaced by the all-red Soviet flag on this day. The red, white and blue Russian flag was introduced by Peter the Great in 1699. White was meant to symbolize nobility and frankness, blue was for faithfulness and honesty, and red was for courage and love. Nicholas I changed the flag’s colors to black, yellow and red, but Alexander III restored the original colors. The flag was changed to all red in 1918. The red flag had, since the French Revolution in 1789, been associated with revolution (what is more, red had many positive associations in Russian culture). In 1991, the state flag was changed back to the Petrine tricolor.

1823

march 31

On this day 180 years ago, dramatist Alexander Ostrovsky was born. After graduating from the faculty of law, he worked in the court system. In fact, a number of his subsequent plays–“A Family Scene” (1847), “Poverty is not a Vice” (1854), “Thunderstorm” (1859)–were inspired by lawsuits that he came across. Some of his satires were so pointed that they were banned in tsarist Russia. In the soviet era, Ostrovsky was branded as pro-revolutionary and progressive. But what the playright sought to ridicule was not bourgeois society per se, but avarice, stupidity, rudeness and ignorance.

1963

april 13

World Chess Champion Garry Kasparov turns 40 today. Kasparov has been playing chess since he was five, and also likes Japanese food and jazz. He has won seven Olympic titles and six world championships and remains the world’s most famous chess player.

1563

april 19

On this day 440 years ago Ivan Fyodorov and Peter Mstislavets began working on the first dated, printed Russian book: Books of the Apostles. The book was completed on March 1, 1564.    

1968

april 22

On this day, the Soviet Union, US and Great Britain signed an agreement to returning to the country of origin all cosmonauts and space objects that landed or crashed on the territories of other states.

1903

april 12

This is the centenary of mathematician Andrei Kolmogorov (1903-1987), who was elected Professor of Moscow University at the very early age of 28. As a 19-year-old student, Kolmogorov became well-known in scientific circles for his work on the mathematical theory of functions. His interests included a wide range of subjects from poetic theory to meteorology. He was awarded many degrees, including an honorary Doctorate by the US National Academy. Most math textbooks in use in Russia today were compiled by him.

1818

april 17

This is the birthday of Emperor Alexander II. During his reign, the Crimean War was continued, the exiled Decembrists were pardoned and, most notably, the peasants were freed from serfdom (earning him the title “Tsar Liberator”). Alexander II was assassinated by members of Narodnaya Volya (Peoples Will) on March 1, 1881.

1903

April 24

Today (May 7, new style) is the centennial of Russian poet Nikolai Zabolotsky. Zabolotsky wrote poems in both the futurist and classical tradition. For an extended biography, see page 24.