July 14, 2014

The First Russian Automobile


The First Russian Automobile
July 14, 1896, is celebrated as the birthday of the Russian automobile – on this day, the first Russian-built motorcar with an internal combustion engine was introduced to the public at the Arts Exhibition in Nizhni Novgorod. 
 
Eugene Yakovlev
Eugene Yakovlev
Its creators, Eugene Yakovlev and Pyotr Freze, partnered after seeing the German Benz car at the World Exhibition in Chicago in 1893. Mr. Yakovlev, a retired Navy lieutenant, had been working on his own model of the internal combustion engine and held multiple patents for kerosene and gas-powered engines; Mr. Freze was an engineer who also owned a carriage-building business. 
 
Incidentally, during his illustrious Navy career, Mr. Yakovlev served aboard the American steamer Yazoo. He also served on a German steamship that sailed the Baltic Sea. His experiments on internal combustion began with attempts to adapt the engine invented by the German engineer Nicolaus Otto to liquid fuel -- unsuccessfully.
 
In 1889, Mr. Yakovlev successfully manufactured and sold an engine of his own construction. The Russian Exploration Society had been watching his efforts with great interest, and invited him to make a presentation at its annual congress -- this also contributed to Yakovlev's success. An endorsement from Dmitry Mendeleev himself, an ultimate authority in Russian science and engineering, crowned Yakovlev as one of the nation's stars.
 
The first car in Nizhny Novgorod
The first Russian car
The first Russian car, a product of the Freze-Yakovlev partnership, was equipped with a single horizontal cylinder that was located at the back of the vehicle and produced up to 2 horse powers. The ignition was electric, generated from an innovative dry-element battery and a patented spark plug. The automobile seated two, had two brakes and could travel at the speed of up to 13 mph. 
 

Emperor Nicholas II, when he visited the exhibition, did not find the invention particularly appealing, but the lack of imperial endorsement did not prevent Yakovlev and Freze from launching an advertising campaign and continuing to develop their invention. Their partnership ended when Mr. Yakovlev died unexpectedly, at the age of 41, and his engine factory changed hands. 

Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of Our Books

The Moscow Eccentric

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.
Steppe / Степь (bilingual)

Steppe / Степь (bilingual)

This is the work that made Chekhov, launching his career as a writer and playwright of national and international renown. Retranslated and updated, this new bilingual edition is a super way to improve your Russian.
Maria's War: A Soldier's Autobiography

Maria's War: A Soldier's Autobiography

This astonishingly gripping autobiography by the founder of the Russian Women’s Death Battallion in World War I is an eye-opening documentary of life before, during and after the Bolshevik Revolution.
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.
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.
The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas

The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas

This exciting new trilogy by a Russian author – who has been compared to Orhan Pamuk and Umberto Eco – vividly recreates a lost world, yet its passions and characters are entirely relevant to the present day. Full of mystery, memorable characters, and non-stop adventure, The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas is a must read for lovers of historical fiction and international thrillers.  
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.
Marooned in Moscow

Marooned in Moscow

This gripping autobiography plays out against the backdrop of Russia's bloody Civil War, and was one of the first Western eyewitness accounts of life in post-revolutionary Russia. Marooned in Moscow provides a fascinating account of one woman's entry into war-torn Russia in early 1920, first-person impressions of many in the top Soviet leadership, and accounts of the author's increasingly dangerous work as a journalist and spy, to say nothing of her work on behalf of prisoners, her two arrests, and her eventual ten-month-long imprisonment, including in the infamous Lubyanka prison. It is a veritable encyclopedia of life in Russia in the early 1920s.
Okudzhava Bilingual

Okudzhava Bilingual

Poems, songs and autobiographical sketches by Bulat Okudzhava, the king of the Russian bards. 
Turgenev Bilingual

Turgenev Bilingual

A sampling of Ivan Turgenev's masterful short stories, plays, novellas and novels. Bilingual, with English and accented Russian texts running side by side on adjoining pages.
Bears in the Caviar

Bears in the Caviar

Bears in the Caviar is a hilarious and insightful memoir by a diplomat who was “present at the creation” of US-Soviet relations. Charles Thayer headed off to Russia in 1933, calculating that if he could just learn Russian and be on the spot when the US and USSR established relations, he could make himself indispensable and start a career in the foreign service. Remarkably, he pulled it of.

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