In the Press · Observations · Humour
Some would call it a chore, but to me it is a rather entertaining pastime: getting to know my readers and studying the search queries that lead to my Yandex.Zen. What I mean to say is that it is very pleasant to bring together people who would like to
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In the Press · Cinema · Observations · Pop Culture
The new Vogue carries a touching piece by Yana Lukina on the most anticipated release of the year, the feature-length "Downton Abbey", in which the Crawley family prepares to receive George V under its roof. The material is good; I was even surprised that it was Vogue,
Architecture · In the Press · Heritage · Pop Culture · Humour
Russian Vogue writes rapturously about the Dolce&Gabbana Alta Moda show in Sicily. Only the authors, it seems, see no difference between the Pantheon and the Parthenon, which did not prevent them from titling one of their themed pieces "A Lesson in Art History"! Alas, it is
In the Press · Books · Observations · Society · People
A Few Words on Haters. Turgenev had many enemies even in his lifetime, Katkov of the Russian Messenger among them. Their quarrel began when Ivan Sergeyevich stopped publishing in his journal. The matter was this: the editor had thought it permissible to correct Fathers and Sons at his own discretion,
In the Press · Books · Observations · Mores
Talking of the curious trifles of the past, people often mention cocaine boxes, and their existence surprises hardly anyone: well, what did folk not amuse themselves with in the old days. But if one looks into it, the end of the nineteenth century, say its second half, was nevertheless marked
In the Press · Books · Observations · Education · People
Sarah Bond, historian, lecturer at the University of Iowa and contributor to the American Forbes, has written a short piece on the Black classicist of the eighteenth century Francis Williams. According to her, this scholar, a native of Jamaica, was known for his knowledge of mathematics and his mastery of
In the Press · Faith · Mores · People
I have written a little on how married life was advised to be conducted in the Corinthian church founded by Paul, and how this is reflected in the New Testament. Paul himself was unmarried and gave preference to virginity before marriage, but wished a different lot for his followers: http:
In the Press · Art · Heritage
I wrote for Esquire about the adventures of a "Russian" Cranach, discovered in a heap of church junk in Kyiv, which travelled across the whole of Europe, paid a visit to Hermann Göring and finally settled in the collection of an American millionaire. The story involves Jewish antique
Aristocracy · In the Press · Monarchies · Mores · People
Remember Louis XIV's irritating younger brother, the gay Philippe d'Orléans? The so-called spare heir succumbed to the temptations of sodomy very early. In his early youth the Duke of Orléans was raped by Philippe Mancini, Duke of Nevers, a nephew of Cardinal Mazarin. From that
In the Press · The East · Mores · Ethnography
In Ancient Rome, the tears of hired mourners were collected in vessels of grief, and the filled vessels were carried to the tomb as a kind of tribute to the deceased. The Victorian era, too, had its fashion for gathering tears: grieving women used special tear bottles, small flasks that
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A word was put in for Terekhov, too. Incidentally, an interesting manual for anyone wishing to find out something about their ancestors