Catherine II Was Nevertheless the Greatest Ruler of Russia

Catherine II was nevertheless the greatest ruler of Russia. Consider only her determination to acquire Voltaire's library for the country at all costs! Neither the expense nor the difficulties of the negotiations stopped her. The library was installed beside the Empress's apartments. Of its nearly 7,000 volumes, a third bear Voltaire's own marks. But alas, beginning with Nicholas I, the treasures of this collection became inaccessible to the public: the library ceased to be shown to guests, and in time reading its books was forbidden, with rare exceptions. Alexander II handed it over to the Public Library, where it remains to this day.

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At the close of the Strugatskys' "Roadside Picnic" the Golden Sphere is asked for this: "Happiness for everybody, free, and let nobody go away unsatisfied!" I do not promise to leave no one aggrieved, but the digest really does come free

At the close of the Strugatskys' "Roadside Picnic" the Golden Sphere is asked for this: "Happiness for everybody, free, and let nobody go away unsatisfied!" I do not promise to leave no one aggrieved, but the digest really does come free. So, here is the

Frederic Leighton

Frederic Leighton. “Daedalus and Icarus”, 1869 Daedalus warns his son not to climb too high: the heat of the sun may melt the wax, but Icarus is already gazing into the distance, and the lamentations of a foolish old man interest him not in the least

Catherine II Was Nevertheless the Greatest Ruler of Russia

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At the close of the Strugatskys' "Roadside Picnic" the Golden Sphere is asked for this: "Happiness for everybody, free, and let nobody go away unsatisfied!" I do not promise to leave no one aggrieved, but the digest really does come free

Frederic Leighton

Attempts to resolve the problems of many years of uncontrolled mass migration

Characters from Gogol's "Petersburg Tales" on the pedestal of the monument to Nikolai Gogol on Nikitsky Boulevard, photograph of the 1960s