Archive · Books · Mores · Society · People
There is a recollection by Vyacheslav Molotov of how, and how much, he was paid in the years of his political activity. The account was taken down in the 1970s, when Molotov was already past eighty, from his own words by the Soviet writer Feliks Chuev, and published in the
Faith · Monarchies · Society · People
Do you know why Heine so loved Napoleon? Besides the spirit of the French Revolution, with whose grandeur the name of Bonaparte was invariably associated, it was precisely thanks to Napoleon that the movement for Jewish emancipation rose throughout Europe. He is often called the liberator of the Jews. What
NB! · Archive · Observations · Society
A very clear article from 1998, still relevant today, "The Humiliation and Dignity of Man": the struggle for freedom is always a search for dignity, while humiliation is the usurpers' answer. But in the end, through thorns and malice, good prevails. Amen
Archive · Society
An incredible political statement, an incredible unity. A living chain 670 kilometres long: on 23 August 1989, the fiftieth anniversary of the signing of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, people joined hands to link Tallinn, Riga and Vilnius. More than two million people formed the human chain, named the "Baltic
NB! · London · Monarchies · Society
Buckingham Palace announces that today Elizabeth II, aged 94, and Prince Philip, aged 99, received the coronavirus vaccine. This photograph is the official portrait of the royal couple, released in 2020
In the Press · Cinema · London · Society · People · Pop Culture
Today the Italian press is chewing over Rowan Atkinson's remark that he is "tired of political correctness, it is like living in the Middle Ages". The Italians are quoting an interview given in honour of the actor's 66th birthday, in which he spoke, among
Art · Observations · Heritage · Society
The pre-sale estimate for the maiolica is impressive, with figures of up to a million dollars being mentioned. That is a good deal for polychrome glazed terracotta of the Quattrocento, but it should be remembered that the work belongs to the master who all but created the style, and
Faith · Society · Rome
Pope Francis today, for the first time as far as I can remember, recited the Angelus on the Feast of Saint Stephen alone, in support of Italy's lockdown measures. Traditionally, after Christmas, Catholics honour Stephen, the martyr stoned to death in the very first persecutions of the Christians.
NB! · Society · People
The ballet master Natalia Kasatkina, awarded the Order of Friendship, responded to the honour most poetically: "I value very much the words that are usually spoken or written along with this order. But my own reply is always the same: I serve Labour Ballet!"
NB! · Archive · Mores · Society
Wear a mask, wash your hands, keep a safe distance. Christmas poster, 1918
Observations · Education · Society
You will, of course, see for yourselves that we are having an incredible number of very bad news items from the State Duma these days. Today amendments to the law “On Education” on the control of any educational activity were passed in the first reading. The appalling bill proposes to
Books · Observations · Mores · Society
I remember reading in a book about the American Civil War (1861-1865) that the state went on paying war pensions right up to the 1960s. Not a bad lag of a hundred years. But quite recently, in another book, written in the 1990s, I came across an interview with