Russian Personalities

People well-known in art, sport, film, fashion

Category Archive: Art and literature

Russian Femme Fatales

gala dali

Russian Femme Fatales. Gala and Dali


I’d like to tell you about Russian women who determined the course of development of art and even world history.

Elena Dyakonova
Elena Dyakonova, who became known as Gala was born on August 26, 1894 in Kazan into a poor family. Her father died early.
She was Dali and Eluard’s muse.
When the girl was 17 years old, she and her mother moved to Moscow, where they lived with her stepfather. In Moscow, Elena studied together with Tsvetaeva sisters at a grammar school. During that time she became ill with tuberculosis and was sent to Switzerland to get medical treatment. In Davos Elena became Gala. She was called so by young Frenchman Eugene Grindel, who later took the pseudonym Paul Eluard (his uncle’s name and grandmother’s surname). In 1917 they got married, but their family life was neither careless nor routine.
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Lenin all over the world

Vietnam Lenin

Lenin all over the world. City Center, Hanoi, Vietnam, April 22, 2010 (Photo HOANG DINH NAM | AFP | Getty Images)


Vladimir Lenin, Russian revolutionary, was included on a list of 100 prominent people of the 20th century by Time magazine.
There are a lot of monuments to the great leader of the proletariat, both in Russia and abroad. Many of them were destroyed, but some can be seen today in different countries.

The oldest Lenin in Noginsk
The town has the status of historical settlement. In addition to the glorious history and traditions of the Old Believers, Noginsk has three monuments to the leader of the world proletariat here. There is the world’s oldest stone grandfather Lenin among them. It was local craftsman Fyodor Kuznetsov, who created the monument. They were going to open the monument on the first day of 1924, but due to heavy frost the construction was delayed.
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Charming Women by Russian Artist Vladimir Mukhin

Charming Woman by Vladimir Mukhin

Charming Woman by Vladimir Mukhin

Vladimir Mukhin is a Russian artist, who was born on April 25, 1971 in Karaganda, Kazakhstan, USSR. He graduated from the Penza Art College and the All-Russian Academy of Painting and Architecture. You know, he is a member of many Russian and international organizations, including the Union of Russian Artists, Creative Union of Artists of Russia, International Art Fund, the International Association of Art IAA-UNESCO. Recently, Vladimir became a full member (academician) of the International Academy of Art and a member of Oil Painters of America.
The artist’s paintings are exhibited in many art galleries, for example, in the gallery Elite (Carmel, California), SR Brennen Galleries (Scottsdale, Santa Fe, Palm Desert), Genesis (Honolulu). In addition, his paintings are in private collections in Russia, USA, Canada, France, China and Australia.
Now Vladimir lives and works in Moscow.
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Osip Bove – Moscow Architect

Osip Bove

Osip Bove


Osip Bove was a Russian architect, famous for the reconstruction of the Russian capital after the 1812 Fire of Moscow. His role in creating the image of Moscow can be compared only with the work of Karl Rossi in St. Petersburg. Bove’s buildings were built primarily in the style of classicism. The architect also was an author of a voluminous theoretical work – Album Of Exemplary Projects. There he collected samples of buildings and recommendations for their construction.
He was born on October 24, 1784 in St. Petersburg into the family of the Neapolitan painter Giovanni Vincenzo Bova, who came to Russia in 1782 to work at the Hermitage. At first the child was named Giuseppe, but later his name was changed for Russian name Osip Ivanovich. Shortly after the birth of Osip the family moved to Moscow. The boy graduated from the Architecture School, then worked under the direction of M. Kazakov and K. Rossi in Moscow and Tver. In 1814, Bove was appointed chief architect of Moscow. He created the city-monument to the glory of the greatness of the Russian Empire. His younger brothers Mikhail and Alexander also worked as architects in Moscow.
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Iron Woman Nina Berberova

Iron Woman Nina Berberova

Iron Woman Nina Berberova


Nina Berberova was a Russian novelist and short story writer, documentary and biographical researcher.
Pretty girl was born on July 26, 1901 in St. Petersburg. Her grandfather Ivan Berberov was a famous physician, who received his education in Paris. And her father was an assistant Minister. Her mother came from the family of Tver landlord Karaulov.
In 1919-1920 Berberova studied in Rostov-on-Don. Thanks to her first verses Nina entered the poetic circles of Petrograd.
In 1922 Berberova and her husband Vladislav Khodasevich left Russia. They lived in Germany and Czechoslovakia, and later in Italy. And in 1925 they settled in Paris. In France, she was honored as a Chevalier of the French Order of Arts and Letters. During the years she lived in Paris Nina wrote The Book of Happiness, the most autobiographical of her novels.
In 1932 Berberova divorced her husband.
During the war, she stayed in the German-occupied part of France. In 1947, she left her second husband, N. Makeev. Later, in 1954, Nina married pianist and teacher George Kochevitsky.
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3D Street Art by Nikolaj Arndt

3D Street Art by Nikolaj Arndt

3D Street Art by Nikolaj Arndt


Nikolaj Arndt is a Russian artist engaged in 3D street art. He took part in numerous festivals and won many of them. Until recently, he lived and worked in Russia, but then moved to Germany, where street art is more popular.
Nikolaj was born in a small town called Gavrilov Posad, Ivanovo region, where his parents still live. He studied at the Teacher Training College, department of graphic arts. After college, he and his family lived in the city of Ivanovo (the city of brides), where he received excellent artistic skills. In 2006, Nikolaj moved to Germany, where he teaches painting at the private school. Arndt collaborates with advertising agencies and galleries and continues to develop his creative skills.
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Black and white photos by Vasily Peskov

Vasily Peskov

Vasily Peskov


Vasily Peskov was a Soviet writer, journalist, TV presenter of the program In The Animal World (1975-1990), traveler. He was awarded the Lenin Prize (1964) and the Russian Federation Government Prize (2013, posthumously).
Vasily was born on March 14, 1930 in Voronezh region into the family of a driver and a peasant woman. After his graduation from college Vasily worked as a driver, pioneer leader, projectionist. In his youth, he became interested in the photography of nature.
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