The East · Art · Paris · People
The grave of Rudolf Nureyev (1938-1993) at the Russian cemetery of Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois near Paris. The idea of making the tombstone in the form of an oriental carpet covering the slab belongs to Nureyev's friend Enzo Frigerio, one of the leading designers of the Paris
NB! · Art · Books · People
Archive · Books · Mores · People
It is amusing that as early as the 1860s Chernyshevsky was in the thrall of a tale told about Herzen. Herzen married for great love and on the whole lived a happy family life. But the first years of his marriage to the girl he had loved since childhood, and
Moscow · Mores · People
Faina Ranevskaya recalled meeting Stanislavsky near his house as she was crossing Leontyevsky Lane. Stanislavsky was riding in a cab, and on seeing him Ranevskaya began to jump up and down, crying “my boy! my boy!” Faina Georgievna and Konstantin Sergeyevich were 33 years apart in age, yet to her
Books · Society · Paris · People
Théroigne de Méricourt opened schools for women, so that our silly girls might graduate from them as nihilists... There was in the nineteenth century a satirist by the name of Nikolay Shcherbina, by and large an interesting poet and, it seems, a decent man, though not without his rough edges
NB! · Archive · People · Pop Culture · Humour
Igor Stravinsky has knocked back a whisky and is delighted with life. To your health, naturally
Interviews · Education · People
In the decades she headed the Sovremennik, she dismissed only one actor, for failing to appear at a performance because he was engaged in a commercial touring production. Listen to Galina Borisovna tell this story and others herself on "Line of Life": https://tvkultura.ru/video/show/brand_
Archive · Books · Mores · People · Saint Petersburg
You will come quite unexpectedly, Clattering loudly down the corridor – Oh, how much meaning is attached To a gait, a smile, a glance! How sweet to be kissed before everyone. With a greeting that seems heartless, To hearken with a shackled heart To dear, indifferent words. Literal translation "Clattering
NB! · Archive · People · Saint Petersburg
Society · People
The first US President to be impeached was Andrew Johnson, who came to power after the assassination of Lincoln and bought Alaska from Russia. Johnson was locked in a protracted conflict with Congress, but the impeachment was set in motion over the President's unfounded attempts to dismiss the
Aristocracy · Archive · Monarchies · Mores · People
Jacob Ulfeldt described Russian court etiquette with great astonishment and displeasure. Ivan the Terrible he portrays as an arrogant, pompous, vain and abrupt man, surrounded by dull-witted boyars and streltsy. The prince, moreover, was wholly inattentive and simply did not listen to the reading of the embassy's
Paris · People · Pop Culture
The history of the feud involving the Dutch-Javanese supermodel Toto Koopman (1908-1991), who worked in Paris before the Second World War and positively despised Chanel, is also of interest. Later the fascists arrested her for espionage and sent her to a concentration camp. One wonders whether Coco had