Famous People

Biographies of worldwide known Russians

Lives of many famous Russian people – artists, poets, painters, composers, sportsmen, military officers, politicians, scientists – are related to St Petersburg. Some, like Joseph Brodsky, Mikhail Kutuzov, were born in Saint Petersburg, some moved here in early years or adult life. For instance, Aleksandr Pushkin, Marc Chagall, Sergei Rachmaninoff. So on the page you can find the biographies of many known worldwide people whose life, art and actions in a way were influenced by Saint Petersburg.

Grigory Rasputin surrounded by people Grigori Rasputin. Holy old man or a swindler on a global scale?

Grigori Rasputin was born in 1869 in the large village of Pokrovskoye in the Tobolsk province on the banks of the Siberian river Tura. Back in the middle of the 18th century, his ancestors, among the first settlers who mastered Siberia, settled in Pokrovskaya Sloboda. Father cultivated his allotment of land, and when the field […]

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Yuri Gagarin Yuri Gagarin. “Poyehali”

April 12th is proclaimed the International Day of Human Space Flight, which is annually celebrated at the international level. In Russia, the holiday is called Cosmonautics Day. The date is timed to coincide with the first manned space flight, which was made by Y. A. Gagarin on the Vostok-1 spaceship on April 12, 1961. Yuri […]

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Joseph Aleksandrovich Brodsky - a writer, a translator, a teacher, the person known and respected in Russia and worldwide back then and now. Never Returned: Joseph Brodsky

Joseph Aleksandrovich Brodsky (1940-1996) was a writer, a translator, a teacher, the person known and respected in Russia and worldwide back then and now. His biography is tightly connected to Leningrad (former name of St Petersburg) where he was born on May 24, 1940. The image of the post-war city stayed in the poet’s memory […]

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Alexander Nevsky Monument in St Petersburg Alexander Nevsky: The Patron of St Petersburg

Most likely you heard the name “Nevsky” in many locations of Saint Petersburg. But what do you really know about Alexander Nevsky who lived in 1220-1263? Today I suggest you getting in the history and learning more about his outstanding personality. Early life Speaking of his regalia, Alexander Yaroslavovich Nevsky was as Prince of Novgorod, […]

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Romanov Collection, General Collection, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University. Nicolas II: The Last Russian Emperor

Born in 1868 in Tsarskoe Selo, Nicolas spent his childhood in Gatchina, studied a lot, particularly economics, law, political history, warfare and languages. In April 1894 he married the future Russian Empress Aleksandra Feodorovna, who was actually a grand-daughter of the English queen Victoria. Their coronation took place on May 26th 1896 in the Cathedral […]

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Catherine 2 in St Petersburg Russia Catherine the Great

Originally being a foreigner, Catherine II loved Russia and cared for the prosperity of its people. She ascended the throne as the result of the Palace Coup, she’s the longest ruling female leader. EARLY LIFE She was born in 1729 as Princess Sophie Auguste Friederike of Anhalt-Zerbst in Stettin, Prussia. Got home education, simultaneously studying […]

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Bronze Horseman monument in St Petersburg The Tsar of Russia: Peter the Great

A legendary person in the history of not only St Petersburg, but Russia as a whole. He was the one to introduce so many changes in the cultural, political and social life of the society that no other person so far could accomplish. EARLY LIFE Petr Alekseevich was born on June 9, 1672 and educated […]

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Pushkin on the Art Square Pushkin: Greatest Russian Poet

The 6th of June is a special day in Russian literature, as it is the birthday of Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin (1799 – 1837) who is considered as the creator of the modern Russian language. Have you heard of Pushkin? Most likely you read one of his masterpieces, like Eugene Onegin, The Captain’s Daughter, Boris Godunov […]

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st petersburg literature Saint-Petersburg in the literature

Artistic images surround us everywhere. After all, most writers find inspiration in nature and the outside world! Anna Akhmatova versified, “…I wish you knew the kind of garbage heap. Wild verses grow on, paying shame no heed”. And she was absolutely right! The Petersburg that Pushkin, Lermontov, Dostoevsky, Gogol, Goncharov, Turgenev, Bely, Akhmatova, Brodsky, Blok, […]

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