Books · New York · Society · People
In 1968 Milan Kundera refused to stage Dostoevsky in the theatre, and seventeen years later wrote about it in the essay "Preface to a Variation", in which he speaks openly of his dislike of Dostoevsky and of the entry of Soviet troops into Czechoslovakia. "I reread The
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Architecture · Education · People
Boiler house with a chimney in the form of a rising flame in Dornach, Switzerland, built in 1914 by the Austrian scientist, naturalist, philosopher, educator and artist Rudolf Steiner. One of the outstanding figures of his time, Steiner left his mark on many fields of knowledge and culture: as the
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NB! · London · Monarchies · People
Monarchies · Mores · People
In 1519 the French king Francis remarked of Catherine of Aragon that Henry VIII had an old, shapeless wife, while he himself was young and handsome. Catherine of Aragon was 34 at the time, Henry 28, Francis 25. When Catherine was 30, the Venetian ambassador described her as rather ugly
Art · Monarchies · People
The British king George II before the Battle of Dettingen
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Archive · Books · Moscow · People
The Futurist Poet Vladimir Goltsshmidt Hypnotises a Hen, Photograph Taken No Later Than 1923. Goltsshmidt was a fairly celebrated figure of his day, and his fame rested above all on a long series of scandalous stunts. He gave lectures on strange subjects, speaking both on the benefits of hardening the
Books · Moscow · People
"And did we not prove in the year 'twelve that we are Russians? Such an example has not been seen since the beginning of the world! We are contemporaries and do not fully understand the great fire of Moscow; we cannot be astonished at this deed; this thought,
Books · Monarchies · People
Let us greet with a salutation the lonely island, Where often, sunk in thought, On the shore, of distant France Napoleon would remember! Son of the sea, amid the seas is your grave! Here is vengeance for the torments of so many days! The sinful country did not deserve That