Alexander Solzhenitsyn is an outstanding Russian writer and public figure. To tell the truth, in the Soviet Union he was recognized as a dissident, dangerous for the communist system, and the writer was imprisoned for many years. His books The Gulag Archipelago, Matryona’s Place, One Day of Ivan Denisovich, Cancer Ward and many others are widely known. By the way, he won the Nobel Prize in Literature, and was awarded only eight years after the first publication, which is considered a record.
The future writer was born on December 11, 1918, in Kislovodsk. His father Isaak Semenovich served in the First World War, but died on the hunt six months before the birth of his son. The mother Taisiya Zakharovna brought up her son alone. Because of the consequences of the October Revolution, the family lived in extreme poverty. Later they moved to Rostov-on-Don. Problems with the new government began in Solzhenitsyn’s early years, as he was brought up in the traditions of religious culture, wore a cross and refused to join the pioneers.
But later, under the influence of school ideology, Alexander changed his point of view and even became a member of the Komsomol. The boy was fond of reading. He read the works of Russian classics and even had plans to write his own revolutionary novel. But when it was time to choose a specialty, Solzhenitsyn for some reason entered the physics and mathematics department of the Rostov State University. According to his confession, he was sure that mathematicians were taught only by the most intelligent people, and wanted to be among them. The name of Alexander was among the best graduates of the year.
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Yuri Andropov is a famous Soviet statesman and politician who led the country from 1982 to 1984, and before that he made a name for himself during his many years as chairman of the State Security Committee. The biography of Andropov is one of the most intricate among all members of the Politburo. According to official data, he was born on June 15, 1914 into the family of railway worker Vladimir Andropov and his wife Evgenia Karlovna Fleckenstein, a music teacher in a women’s gymnasium.
In his brief biography Yuri Vladimirovich wrote that his mother was a foster child in the house of wealthy Jews and received her surname from them. Also, the future secretary-general claimed that he and his mother moved to Mozdok after his father died of typhus. However, according to other people who knew the family, the boy was born a year later, and his mother divorced her husband just a month after the birth of her son and went to the Tver region. Actually, she married only for the sake of changing her surname, fearing of genocide.
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Vitus Jonassen Bering is one of the pioneers whose life has become a symbol of courage and selflessness. From the young age the traveler was fascinated by the water. Thanks to the thirst for knowledge and his skills, the first sea expedition took place, which brought the Russian state the title of Cradle of Cartography.
Biography of the great seafarer began in Horsens, on the Danish coast. The boy was born on August 2, 1861. Vitus became the third son into the family of the impoverished aristocrat Anna Pederdatter Bering and the customs officer Jonas Svendsen. Both the name and the surname the boy received from his mother. Despite the difficult financial situation of the family, the pedigree of Anna Pederdatter could in the future help Vitus.
An unusual name was a tribute to the memory of his mother’s brother, who became famous for his service at the Royal Court.
Parents attached great importance to the education of children, so Vitus soon learned the grammar and spelling. The boy attended the school, which was located on the same street where the parental home stood. Despite curiosity, the child at the first opportunity escaped from school to go to the port. Vitus spent a lot of time talking with the sailors, who told Bering about the exciting sea adventures.
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Alexei Chirikov was a Russian explorer, who became Captain-Commander in 1747. You know, he explored the north-west coast of North America, northern part of the Pacific Ocean and the north-eastern coast of Asia. By the way, Alexei was Vitus Bering’s assistant in the first (1725-1730) and the second (1733-1741) Kamchatka Expeditions.
Alexei Ilich Chirikov was born on December 13, 1703 in Tula province into a noble family. In 1715 Chirikov graduated from the Moscow school of navigation and in 1721 he graduated from the St. Petersburg Naval Academy. After graduation he received the rank of non-commissioned lieutenant, and appointment to the Baltic Fleet of the Armed Forces of Russia. A year later, Chirikov became an instructor of navigation at the Naval Academy.
In 1725 he was promoted to lieutenant and sent to Vitus Bering as an assistant in the First Kamchatka Expedition (1725-1730). On the route, he identified 28 astronomical points, which made it possible to reveal the true latitudinal extent of Siberia for the first time. Also he sailed from the mouth of the Kamchatka River to the north to find the strait between Asia and America.
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Konstantin Chernenko is the sixth leader of the country in the 20th century. In 1984 he was elected General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee. To tell the truth, the man had serious health problems at that time, as a result he remained the leader for only one year and twenty-five days.
The future politician was born on September 24, 1911, in the village Bolshaya Tes into the family of peasants. The boy’s father Ustin Demidovich was mining precious metal, and his mother was engaged in plant growing. In 1919, the mother of little Kostya died. After the death of his wife, Ustin Demidovich was left alone with four children. Soon he found a new wife.
As a teenager, Konstantin worked for second-hand dealers. While studying at school, the boy became pioneer and at the age of 14 he joined the Komsomol. From 1926 to 1929 he studied at school in Novoselovo. In 1972, the native village of the future leader was flooded because of the construction of the Krasnoyarsk water storage. Local residents had to move to Novoselovo.
In 1931, Chernenko went to the army. The young man served on the border of Kazakhstan with China. During the service he participated in the destruction of the Batyr Bekmuratov gang, and joined the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU). At the same time, Chernenko was elected secretary of the party organization.
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Georgy Zhukov is the legendary Soviet commander, Marshal of the Soviet Union. By the way, he was one of the key figures of the Red Army during World War II and later was popularly nicknamed Marshal of the Victory. After the death of Joseph Stalin, Zhukov was the first deputy Minister of Defense of the USSR, then he headed this department. But in 1958 Zhukov was expelled from the Central Committee of the Party, deprived of all posts in the army and sent into forced retirement.
The boy was born on November 19, 1896 into a poor peasant family in the village of Strelkovka, Kaluga Region.
Georgy received only primary education – three classes of the parish school. Then the boy was sent to Moscow, where he became an apprentice in a small furrier’s workshop. By the age of 13, he was already an excellent master. The teenager attended evening general education courses and received a certificate of maturity.
When the First World War began, Georgy was sent to the cavalry regiment. Curiously, thanks to his education, he could go to the school of ensigns and become an officer. But he was ashamed to command experienced soldiers at the age of 19, so he refused. As Marshal Zhukov later said, it was a happy thought, otherwise after the revolution he would have to emigrate. Participating in the fighting, the young cavalryman was wounded, partially lost his hearing, but performed a number of exploits. For the capturing of the German, the future commander was awarded the St. George cross.
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Nikita Khrushchev is one of the most controversial figures in the history of the USSR. He was a “peasant son” who rose to the top of power, which did not prevent the politician from a number of achievements in the “reorganization” of Soviet society after the deadly ideological schemes of his predecessor Joseph Stalin. Nikita Sergeevich became the most outstanding reformer of the Soviet Union.
You know, Khrushchev was first secretary of the Communist Party and leader of the USSR during the first decade after Stalin’s death between 1953and 1964. He abolished the most ruthless aspects of the political system and tried with limited success to catch up with and overtake the U.S. economy. He was one of the most important figures of the Cold War. During his ten years in power, Khrushchev never stopped surprising the world with his vigor and stamina. He could work 14 to 16 hours a day, never needing a break. To tell the truth, he allowed himself to relax only during his energetic hunting sessions.
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