Moscow

The State Tretyakov Gallery is an art gallery in Moscow, Russia, the foremost depository of Russian fine art in the world. The gallery's history... starts in 1856 when the Moscow merchant Pavel Mikhailovich Tretyakov acquired works by Russian artists of his day with the aim of creating a collection, which might later grow into a museum of national art. In 1892, Tretyakov presented his already famous collection to the Russian nation. The façade of the gallery building was designed by the painter Viktor Vasnetsov in a peculiar Russian fairy-tale style. It was built in 1902–04 to the south from the Moscow Kremlin. During the 20th century, the gallery expanded to several neighboring buildings, including the 17th-century church of St. Nicholas in Tolmachi. The collection contains more than 130,000 exhibits, ranging from Theotokos of Vladimir and Andrei Rublev's Trinity to the monumental Composition VII by Wassily Kandinsky and the Black Square by Kazimir Malevich. In 1977 the Gallery kept a significant part of the George Costakis collection.
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The Moscow Museum of Modern Art is a museum of modern and contemporary art located in Moscow, Russia. It was opened to public in December 1999. The... project of the Museum was initiated and executed by Zurab Tsereteli, president of the Russian Academy of Arts. The Moscow Museum of Modern Art is situated at 25 Petrovka St., near the Petrovsky Boulevard in central Moscow. It is housed in the former Gubin’s mansion, an imposing monument of the 18th century neoclassical movement, designed by the noted Russian architect Matvei Kazakov. In December 2003, the Museum expanded its galleries to a second address — the exhibition hall at the Yermolayevsky Pereulok, Patriarshiye Ponds area, also a remarkable historic building of the Moscow city center. The spacious refurbished halls of the premises provide for vast exhibitions of multiple art projects. The exhibition hall has been inaugurated by the "Artconstitution" - a major show, in which nearly one hundred contemporary Russian artists took part. As a result of the ensued wave of public interest, numerous international exhibitions followed.
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Alexander II , also known as Alexander the Liberator was the Emperor of the Russian Empire from 3 March 1855 until his assassination in 1881. He... was also the King of Poland and the Grand Duke of Finland. Born in Moscow, he was the eldest son of Nicholas I of Russia and Charlotte of Prussia, daughter of Frederick William III of Prussia and Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. His early life gave little indication of his ultimate potential; until the time of his accession in 1855, aged 37, few imagined that he would be known to posterity as a leader able to implement the most challenging reforms undertaken in Russia since the reign of Peter the Great. The kings that are listed in this section are among the best that empire had ever seen. In the period of his life as heir apparent, the intellectual atmosphere of Saint Petersburg was unfavourable to any kind of change: freedom of thought and all forms of private initiative were being suppressed vigorously.
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  Nicholas II of Russia was the last Emperor of Russia, King of Poland, and Grand Duke of Finland. He ruled from 1894 until his forced... abdication in 1917. Nicholas proved unable to manage a country in political turmoil and command its army in World War I. His rule ended with the Russian Revolution of 1917, after which he and his family were shot by Bolsheviks. Nicholas's full name was Nikolay Aleksandrovich Romanov . His official title was Nicholas II, Emperor and Autocrat of All the Russias. He is sometimes referred to as Nicholas the Martyr due to his execution and as Bloody Nicholas because of the tragic events during his coronation and his government's subsequent suppression of dissent. As a result of his canonization, he has been regarded as Saint Nicholas The Passion Bearer by the Russian OrthodoxNicholas was determined to uphold authority yet lacked assertiveness. He was Obstinate, ineffectual, easily influenced. He had genuine affection for the people but expected them to be blindly obedient. He was as a ‘little man lost in the immensity of his realm’ The Reign of Nicholas up to 1905  He has a bad start to his regime. In 1895 Members of the Tver Zemstvo requested opportunity to express opinions to the government; Nicholas rejected them as ‘senseless dreams’. The Celebrations at his coronation contained free beer stampede, 1300 dead. Nicholas II carried on celebrations by attending a French Ball, visiting hospitals next day. This did great damage as he was seen as uncaring, reinforced on Bloody Sunday  Reform requests were rejected by Nicholas. University unrest grew, 1899 student protests suppressed and universities were closed. Many students joined the SRs who increased assassinations, e.g. Interior Minister . Russification continued. The unrest in the Countryside grew as with land hunger plus SR propaganda. Towns’ unrest e.g. 1896 St. Petersburg strike, Led Zubatov to set up a union to monitor unrest. However it failed as it became involved in General Strike in Odessa in 1903 and Zubatov was  dismissed. Father Gapon was allowed to set up ‘The Assembly of Russian Factory Workers’ to channel unrest however it Backfired and led to Bloody Sunday involvement. By 1900a Cross-section of society was discontented, Reformist / revolutionary ideas were spreading and Peasant uprisings, assassinations, strikes1906 – 14: The Dumas The October manifesto decreed that no law should come into force without the consent of the state Duma.Witte resigned just before the first duma to be replaced by Goremykin . Govt cabinet contained no progressives Duma : April to June 1906  Top parties = Labourists , Kadets Liberals had high hopes – expected to be able to debate the big issuesNot offered by the govtTsarist regime recovering after 1905Early 1906 govt had a big loan from the French Fundamental Laws restrictiveBi-cameral duma – elected lower house plus State Council Right of vetoOverall no intention of allowing the duma powerBitter mood, voiced anger, far from compliant – felt betrayedDissolved in atmosphere of violence200 deputies reassemble at Vyborg – ‘Appeal’ urging people to stop           paying taxes and disobey conscription. Reaction was scattered violence rather than passive resistance – arrested and debarred from future. No real defence of the duma…prelude to Stolypin repressionLong-term effects – Kadets never really recover from humiliation, liberals discredited, played into the hands of the extremes Duma : February to June 1907  Vyborg – Kadets lost half their seats Still no more amenable than the firstSDs / SRs over 80 deputiesStrongly anti-governmentRight-wing also significant increase, considerable disagreement between themselves as well as the govt. Still overall hostileStolypin sought to work with the duma but found his land reforms opposedTsar upset by duma attack on the way the army was runTsar accused SRs / SDs of subversion – dissolved after the duma refused to expel them Duma : November 1907 to June 1912  Tsar did not dismiss dumas altogether, good to show democracy Doctored electoral system to make it more docile Heavily dominated by the right-wing , criticism now more mutedStolypin found duma more co-operative, pursuing land reformsStill exercised the right to question ministers and to discuss state financesUsed committee system to look at modernisation of the armed servicesSocial reforms also, e.g. schools / national insuranceGood but duma totally unrepresentative of the people Duma : November 1912 to August 1914  Modern historians less dismissive of the dumas, i.e. less critical of the Tsar but still voiced themE.g. 1912 Moscow Okhrana report blamed tensions in Russia on the constant questions of the dumaAlso progressive work of the Duma – state welfareOnly blindness of the Tsar that stopped it contributing more E.g.
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Alexander Nikolayevich Scriabin was a Russian composer and pianist who initially developed a lyrical and idiosyncratic tonal language inspired by... the music of Frédéric Chopin. Quite independent of the innovations of Arnold Schoenberg, Scriabin developed an increasingly atonal musical system, accorded to mysticism, that presaged twelve-tone composition and other serial music. The first major example of this is the 5th piano sonata of 1907, although the process of innovation was somewhat gradual. He may be considered to be the main Russian Symbolist composer. Scriabin influenced composers like Roy Agnew, Sergei Prokofiev, Nikolai Roslavets and Igor Stravinsky, although Scriabin was reported to have disliked the music of both Prokofiev and Stravinsky. The work of Roslavets, unlike that of Prokofiev and Stravinsky, is often seen as a direct extension of Scriabin's. Unlike Scriabin's, however, Roslavets' music was not explained with mysticism and eventually was given theoretical explication by the composer.
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Thomas Malcolm Muggeridge was an English journalist, author, media personality, and satirist. During World War II, he was a soldier and a spy. He is... credited with popularising Mother Teresa and in his later years became a Catholic and morals campaigner. Muggeridge's father, Henry, served as a prominent Labour Party councillor in the local government of Croydon, South London, as a founder-member of the Fabian Society, and as a Labour Member of Parliament for Romford . His mother was Annie Booler. One of five brothers, Muggeridge was born in Sanderstead, Surrey and grew up in Croydon and attended Selhurst High School there, and then Selwyn College, Cambridge, for four years, graduating in 1924 with a pass degree in natural sciences. He then went to India to teach. While still a student he had taught for brief periods in 1920, 1922 and 1924 at the John Ruskin Central School, Croydon, where his father was Chairman of the Governors. Returning to England in 1927, he married Katherine "Kitty" Dobbs , the daughter of Rosalind Dobbs .
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Marat Mikhailovich Safin is a retired Russian tennis player and politician of Tatar descent. Safin won two grand slams and reached the world number... 1 ranking during his career. He was also famous for his emotional outbursts and sometimes fiery temper on court. Safin also holds the record for most broken racquets in a year with 87. Safin is the older brother of former World No. 1 WTA player Dinara Safina , born April 27, 1986 in Moscow. They are the first brother-sister tandem in tennis history to both achieve No. 1 rankings. Safin began his professional career in 1997, and held the No. 1 world ranking for a total of 9 weeks between November 2000 and April 2001. He won his first Grand Slam title at the 2000 U.S. Open after defeating Pete Sampras, and won the 2005 Australian Open, defeating Australian Lleyton Hewitt in the final. Safin helped lead Russia to Davis Cup victories in 2002 and 2006.
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Sergei Nikitich Khrushchev , son of former Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev, now resides in the United States where he is a Senior Fellow at the... Watson Institute for International Studies at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. Dr. Khrushchev holds several advanced engineering degrees. From the Ukrainian Academy of Science, he earned his Soviet doctoral degree, and he earned a Ph.D. from the Moscow Technical University. In addition, he earned an M.A. degree with distinction from the Moscow Electric Power Institute. He also holds an "occasional" professorship at the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island, meaning he is not a full-time professor , but does teach there fairly often. Prior to emigrating from the Soviet Union to the United States in 1991, Dr. Khrushchev worked in various high-level engineering positions. From 1968 to 1991, he served at the Control Computer Institute in Moscow, where he rose from section head to first deputy director in charge of research. From the years 1958 to 1968, Dr.
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Anna Sergeyevna Kournikova is a Russian retired professional tennis player. Her beauty and celebrity status made her one of the best known tennis... stars worldwide, despite her never winning a WTA singles title. At the peak of her fame, fans looking for images of Kournikova made her name one of the most common search strings on Google. Although reaching No. 8 in the world in 2000, she never won a WTA Title in singles. Kournikova's forte has been doubles, where she has at times been the World No. 1 player. With Martina Hingis as her partner, she won Grand Slam titles in Australia in 1999 and 2002. Based on their looks, Hingis and Kournikova referred to themselves as the "Spice Girls of Tennis". Kournikova's professional tennis career has been curtailed for the past several years, and possibly ended, by serious back and spinal problems. She resides in Miami Beach, Florida, and plays in occasional exhibitions and in doubles for the St. Louis Aces of World Team Tennis. She was a new trainer for season 12 of the television show The Biggest Loser, replacing Jillian Michaels, but will not return for season 13.
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Alexander Mikhaylovich Ovechkin is a Russian professional ice hockey left winger and captain of the Washington Capitals of the National Hockey... League . Prior to playing in the NHL, Ovechkin played for HC Dynamo Moscow of the Russian Superleague for four seasons from 2001 until 2005. Ovechkin was the first overall selection in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft, drafted from Dynamo after 3 seasons with the club. Since the 2004–05 NHL season was lost because of a lockout, Ovechkin remained with Dynamo for one more season before transferring to the NHL for the 2005–06 NHL season, in which he won the Calder Memorial Trophy as rookie of the year, scoring 52 goals and 54 assists to lead all rookies with 106 points. During the 2007–08 season, he led the NHL with 65 goals and 112 points to capture the Rocket Richard and Art Ross Trophies. That season he also won the Lester B. Pearson Award as the top player voted by the NHL Players' Association and the Hart Memorial Trophy as the league's MVP. He is the only player to win all four awards since the Rocket Richard Trophy's inception in 1999.
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Alexander II , also known as Alexander the Liberator was the Emperor of the Russian Empire from 3 March 1855 until his assassination in 1881. He... was also the King of Poland and the Grand Duke of Finland. Born in Moscow, he was the eldest son of Nicholas I of Russia and Charlotte of Prussia, daughter of Frederick William III of Prussia and Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. His early life gave little indication of his ultimate potential; until the time of his accession in 1855, aged 37, few imagined that he would be known to posterity as a leader able to implement the most challenging reforms undertaken in Russia since the reign of Peter the Great. The kings that are listed in this section are among the best that empire had ever seen. In the period of his life as heir apparent, the intellectual atmosphere of Saint Petersburg was unfavourable to any kind of change: freedom of thought and all forms of private initiative were being suppressed vigorously.
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Ilia Alexandrovich Kulik ; is a Russian figure skater. He is the 1998 Olympic Champion, the 1995 European Champion, the 1997–1998 Grand Prix... Final champion, and the 1995 World Junior champion. Kulik began skating at the age of five. In November 1994, he won the 1995 World Junior title and then, a few months later, the 1995 European title, at the age of 17. He was ninth at his first senior World Championships. The next season, he won silver at the 1996 World Championships. During the 1997-98 season, Kulik won gold at the 1997 NHK Trophy and silver at the 1997 Skate Canada International to qualify for the Champion Series Final where he won the gold medal. He also won the Russian national title but missed the 1998 European Championships as a result of back problems. At the 1998 Olympics, Kulik placed first in both the short and long programs and won the Olympic title at the age of 20. Kulik withdrew from the 1998 World Championships due to his recurring back injury. He retired from competitive skating and has focused on performing in shows.
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Vera Alexeyevna Karalli was a notable Russian ballet dancer, choreographer and silent film actress during the early years of the twentieth century.... Born in Moscow, Karalli graduated from the Moscow Theatre School in 1906 under the direction of the prominent Russian instructor Alexander Gorsky. Karalli performed with Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes company in 1909, as well as 1919 and 1920. She became a soloist at the Bolshoi Theatre after two years and became a ballerina in 1915. Karalli was frequently paired with danseur Mikhail Mordkin. In 1914 Karalli also embarked on a successful acting career, and became one of Russia's first celebrated film actresses. Her first role was in the 1914 Pyotr Chardynin directed drama Ty pomnish' li? opposite the successful actor Ivan Mozzhukhin. From 1914 to 1919, Vera Karalli would appear in approximately sixteen Russian silent films, including the 1915 adaptation of Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace entitled Voyna i mir. Her last film appearance was in a German dramatic release entitled Die Reiche einer Frau in 1921.
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Michael Chekhov was a Russian-American actor, director, author, and theatre practitioner. His acting technique has been used by actors such as Clint... Eastwood, Marilyn Monroe, Yul Brynner, and Robert Stack. Constantin Stanislavski referred to him as his most brilliant student. He was a nephew of the playwright Anton Chekhov. Although mainly a stage actor, he made a few notable appearances on film, perhaps most memorably as the Freudian analyst in Alfred Hitchcock's Spellbound. Chekhov was considered by the Russian theatre practitioner Constantin Stanislavski to be one of his brightest students. He studied under Stanislavski at the First Studio of the Moscow Art Theatre, where he acted, directed, and studied Stanislavski's 'system'. When Chekhov experimented with affective memory and had a nervous breakdown, this aided Stanislavski in seeing the limitations of his early concepts of emotional memory. He later led the company of the studio under the name the Second Moscow Art Theatre. Stanislavski came to regard Chekhov's work as a betrayal of his principles.
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