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Ever since the ancient Scythians, our forebears have yielded more reluctantly than any other people to classical civilisation, and if they distinguished themselves by anything, in the words of Herodotus, it was only by a bent for drunkenness and interneci

Ever since the ancient Scythians, our forebears have yielded more reluctantly than any other people to classical civilisation, and if they distinguished themselves by anything, in the words of Herodotus, it was only by a bent for drunkenness and internecine strife. The father of history says plainly that the Scythians,

Archaeology · Museums · Heritage · People

Museum director Ivan Bondar evacuated Scythian gold from Kyiv in September 1941

Continuing my series of notes on the feats of scholars, museum staff and cultural workers during the war, today I shall tell the story of a unique collection of historical treasures in the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra. In the second week of September 1941 the front line came right up to

Aristocracy · Monarchies · Heritage · Mores · People

Emperor Alexander III had a brother, Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich, who was married to a German princess, Maria Pavlovna of Mecklenburg-Schwerin

Emperor Alexander III had a brother, Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich, who was married to a German princess, Maria Pavlovna of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. The Grand Duchess was also known as Miechen. What a shrew she was! The whole life of the grand ducal couple was marked by bilious envy of the

Archive · Observations · People

Skobelev gave soldiers oral St George Crosses and strewed telegraph wire before the trenches

Skobelev had his own approach to awarding decorations. When he was asked why he preferred to give his best soldiers the “voiced” St George Crosses rather than the named ones, although the named ones rank higher, Skobelev explained: “The voiced one he will get now, and be happy; but put

Aristocracy · Society · People

General Skobelev, High Society's Dislike and the Order on Soldiers' Dugouts

Skobelev was disliked in high society, evidently for his popularity, though they added that he was too Russian: a peasant's grandson. The general was invariably reproached for his love of the common man. The way he treated his soldiers is astonishing. Once, in a field camp, he noticed

Archive · Books · People

Nemirovich-Danchenko describes an episode from the Turkish campaign, during the distribution of St George Crosses, when General Skobelev refused an officer from one of the companies that had wavered in battle

Nemirovich-Danchenko describes an episode from the Turkish campaign, during the distribution of St George Crosses, when General Skobelev refused an officer from one of the companies that had wavered in battle. “YOU may well deserve it; let them recommend you for a personal cross. But now I am giving

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Skobelev's popular acclaim, his fall from favour under Alexander III and his views on the army

In his lifetime Skobelev was called the White General for his love of white uniforms and white horses, and the wreath from the General Staff Academy at his funeral bore the inscription: “To the hero Skobelev, commander, the equal of Suvorov”. Indeed, since Suvorov no other commander had enjoyed such

Dust jacket of Vasily Nemirovich-Danchenko's Skobelev: a general on a white horse raising a sword, with soldiers and a banner. A purple Rare Book band runs across the top.

NB! · Archive · Books · People

Cover of Nemirovich-Danchenko's book Skobelev from the Rare Book series

V.I. Nemirovich-Danchenko (the brother) described the life of his friend General Skobelev. The biographical details in the book are rather meagre, but the accounts of the military campaigns are thorough, and there are extracts from letters

NB! · Art · People · Humour

Bad hair day of Arthur I'm better than your wife, after all Rimbaud

Bad hair day of Arthur *I'm better than your wife, after all* Rimbaud. A drawing by the celebrated artist Henri Fantin-Latour (1836-1904), who had Russian roots on his mother's side and was known for his independence

NB! · Archive · Cinema · People

On the left in the photograph is Faina Ranevskaya

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The 1928 Roerich Pact and German looting of Soviet cultural property

Destroyed by human error and restored by human hope. In international law, the history of the protection of cultural property begins in the nineteenth century: the Lieber Code, the Brussels Conference, the Hague Conventions and Declarations and, finally, the Roerich Pact, or Treaty on the Protection of Artistic and Scientific

Painted sculpted bust of a man in dark clothing with red sleeves on a gilded pedestal.

NB! · Faith · Books · Observations · People

Niccolò Machiavelli on religious practices in the interests of the sovereign

Machiavelli wrote that religious practices should be used solely in the interests of the prince. How fortunate that we do not forget his precepts. And happy birthday, Niccolò!