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
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.
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.
Red Star Tales: A Century of Russian and Soviet Science Fiction For over 100 years, most of the science fiction produced by the world’s largest country has been beyond the reach of Western readers. This new collection changes that, bringing a large body of influential works into the English orbit.
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.
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.
301 Things Everyone Should Know About Russia How do you begin to get a handle on the world's largest country? This colorful, illustrated guide will get you started...
Davai! The Russians and Their Vodka In this comprehensive, quixotic and addictive book, Edwin Trommelen explores all facets of the Russian obsession with vodka. Peering chiefly through the lenses of history and literature, Trommelen offers up an appropriately complex, rich and bittersweet portrait, based on great respect for Russian culture.
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.
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.
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 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...
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.
March 15, 2017 Who Invented the Ancient Slavic Gods, and Why? How it was that in the eighteenth century Russian mythology was trumped-up in the Western manner? Who wanted it? And where did we get Lel, Yarilo and Zimtserla? We explain everything you'd want to know about Russian fakelore. Culture History Literature Religion 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
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
February 03, 2018 12 Myths/Truths About Russians and Vodka Think you know your vodka? Take this True/False quiz (just 12 items) about Russians and their vodka and see if you are right about that... Food & Drink Russia File
May 09, 2020 Russian/Soviet War Movies You Can Stream Some of the best Russian and Soviet films about World War II that you can stream online. Film & TV Reference War Culture Through Film CVSG Russia File