January 24, 2016

On This Day


On This Day
Andrei Sakharov (RIA Novosti/CC)

Each day on the Russian Life website, our database spools out a list of historical anniversaries connected with that day’s date. Quite often, I am intrigued by the juxtaposition of events. It is almost as if there were a thin thread across time, linking things together that one might never expect.

Last Friday, January 22, 2016, there were just four events, and I was struck by how they went a long way to describing a rather wide swath of Russian history. Here they are:

1440: Ivan III the Great, Grand Duke of Muscovy, was born.

1558: Russian troops cross the border into Livonia, beginning one of the longest wars in Russian history (1558-1583).

1904: George Balanchine, choreographer, born.

1980: Andrei Sakharov arrested and exiled to Gorky (present-day Nizhny Novgorod) for criticizing the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

Begin with Ivan III, the gatherer of Russian lands, the crusher of Veliky Novgorod, the grandfather of Ivan the Terrible. He ruled for 43 years and oversaw the tripling in size of the Russian state, the turning back of the Mongols, and the building of the Kremlin.

Then there is the start of the Livonian War, a decades-long battle that involved Russia’s northern and Baltic neighbors and Poland, and which ended in a defeat for Russia. There are many wars in Russian history, and this one perhaps had less territorial significance than most, but it set the stage for centuries of war to come in the North and West, and is a reminder of how many neighbors Russia has and how their relationships have continually fluctuated between ally and enemy.

George Balanchine, the father of American ballet (founder of the New York City Ballet), can stand as a symbol for the amazing artistic gifts that Russia (and its dominions, in this case Georgia) has bequeathed the world. His life and work also shows the beauty that can come when a genius expresses the experience and traditions of many cultures through his work.

Finally there is Andrei Sakharov, a paragon of decency, honor and human values. A Nobel Prize winning physicist, he was also an esteemed activist and dissident, choosing to follow his conscience rather than the dictates of the State. Sakharov is one of the finest representatives of resistance to, and overcoming, Soviet authoritarianism, but also to the shortfalls of democratic reform in the 1990s.

The On This Day listing shows up on the front page of our website, as well as on our Blog page.

 

You Might Also Like

It Takes Guts
  • November 01, 2012

It Takes Guts

A recent letter that the editors of Russian Life received from one of its respected readers was directed at Mikhail Ivanov and one of his “Survival Russian” columns. We felt it deserved a longer response than space in the magazine allowed.
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of Our Books

Murder and the Muse

Murder and the Muse

KGB Chief Andropov has tapped Matyushkin to solve a brazen jewel heist from Picasso’s wife at the posh Metropole Hotel. But when the case bleeds over into murder, machinations, and international intrigue, not everyone is eager to see where the clues might lead.
Survival Russian

Survival Russian

Survival Russian is an intensely practical guide to conversational, colloquial and culture-rich Russian. It uses humor, current events and thematically-driven essays to deepen readers’ understanding of Russian language and culture. This enlarged Second Edition of Survival Russian includes over 90 essays and illuminates over 2000 invaluable Russian phrases and words.
Fearful Majesty

Fearful Majesty

This acclaimed biography of one of Russia’s most important and tyrannical rulers is not only a rich, readable biography, it is also surprisingly timely, revealing how many of the issues Russia faces today have their roots in Ivan’s reign.
Woe From Wit (bilingual)

Woe From Wit (bilingual)

One of the most famous works of Russian literature, the four-act comedy in verse Woe from Wit skewers staid, nineteenth century Russian society, and it positively teems with “winged phrases” that are essential colloquialisms for students of Russian and Russian culture.
Moscow and Muscovites

Moscow and Muscovites

Vladimir Gilyarovsky's classic portrait of the Russian capital is one of Russians’ most beloved books. Yet it has never before been translated into English. Until now! It is a spectactular verbal pastiche: conversation, from gutter gibberish to the drawing room; oratory, from illiterates to aristocrats; prose, from boilerplate to Tolstoy; poetry, from earthy humor to Pushkin. 
Chekhov Bilingual

Chekhov Bilingual

Some of Chekhov's most beloved stories, with English and accented Russian on facing pages throughout. 
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.
A Taste of Chekhov

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.
White Magic

White Magic

The thirteen tales in this volume – all written by Russian émigrés, writers who fled their native country in the early twentieth century – contain a fair dose of magic and mysticism, of terror and the supernatural. There are Petersburg revenants, grief-stricken avengers, Lithuanian vampires, flying skeletons, murders and duels, and even a ghostly Edgar Allen Poe.
Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices

Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices

Stargorod is a mid-sized provincial city that exists only in Russian metaphorical space. It has its roots in Gogol, and Ilf and Petrov, and is a place far from Moscow, but close to Russian hearts. It is a place of mystery and normality, of provincial innocence and Black Earth wisdom. Strange, inexplicable things happen in Stargorod. So do good things. And bad things. A lot like life everywhere, one might say. Only with a heavy dose of vodka, longing and mystery.
How Russia Got That Way

How Russia Got That Way

A fast-paced crash course in Russian history, from Norsemen to Navalny, that explores the ways the Kremlin uses history to achieve its ends.

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955