January 01, 2003 Violist Extraordinaire Dates and anniversaries that coincide with this issue.On January 24, Russian viola player Yuri Bashmet turns 50. Born in Rostov-on-Don in 1953, Bashmet spent his childhood in Lvov, Ukraine, where he began studying music.
January 01, 2003 Stalin's Comedian January 10 is the centennial of the founder of the Soviet musical comedy, Grigory Alexandrov (his real surname was Mormonenko).
January 01, 2003 Father of the Atom This year marks the centenary of Soviet physicist Igor Kurchatov, under whose guidance the first Soviet atomic bomb was created.
January 01, 2003 January and February in Russian History Dates and anniversaries that coincide with this issue.
January 01, 2003 Russia after Nord-Ost How does a bimonthly magazine on Russian culture, history and society respond to a gruesome act of terrorism?
January 01, 2003 Forever Amber For forty million years, it was just tree sap trapped under earth and water. Now it is being transformed into soft gems that will resurrect the famous Amber Room.
January 01, 2003 Through Muslim Eyes After last fall's terrorist act in a Moscow theater, Russia's Muslim population has come under increased scrutiny and pressure.
January 01, 2003 St. Petersburg in Black & White This stark, vivid exhibition of photos and etchings of St. Petersburg offers a fascinating take on the Northern Capital.
January 01, 2003 Winner Take All From rather inauspicious origins in the Ural mountains, Konstantin Tszyu has gone on to become the world's greatest boxer in his weight class. But he has never lost his perspective.
January 01, 2003 Four books A review of: Stamp Album, by Andrei Sergeev; Ivan the Terrible, by Robert Payne & Nikita Romanoff; Russia's Virtual Economy, by Clifford G. Gaddy & Barry W. Ickes; The Russian Context, by Eloise M. Boyle & Genevra Gerhart, eds.
