Yuri Gagarin The First Man in Space

 

 

  Who Was Yuri Gagarin?

On board Vostok 1, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin made history on April 12, 1961 when he became both the first person in the world to enter space and the first person to orbit the Earth. Dates: March 9, 1934 -- March 27, 1968
Also Known As: Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin, Yury Gagarin, Kedr (call sign)

Childhood of Yuri Gagarin

Yuri Gagarin was born in Klushino, a small village west of Moscow in Russia (then known as the Soviet Union). Yuri was the third of four children and spent his childhood on a collective farm where his father, Alexey Ivanovich Gagarin, worked as a carpenter and bricklayer and his mother, Anna Timofeyevna Gagarina, worked as a milkmaid. In 1941, Yuri Gagarin was just seven years old when the Nazis invaded the Soviet Union. Life was difficult during the war and the Gagarins were kicked out of their home. The Nazis also sent Yuri's two sisters to Germany to work as forced laborers.

Gagarin Learns to Fly

In school, Yuri Gagarin loved both mathematics and physics. He continued on to a trade school, where he learned to be a metalworker and then went on to an industrial school. It was at the industrial school in Saratov that he joined a flying club. Gagarin learned quickly and was obviously at ease in a plane. He made his first solo flight in 1955. Since Gagarin had discovered a love of flying, he joined the Soviet Air Force. Gagarin's skills led him to the Orenburg Aviation School where he learned to fly MiGs. On the same day he graduated from Orenburg with top honors in November 1957, Yuri Gagarin married his sweetheart, Valentina ("Valy") Ivanovna Goryacheva. (The couple eventually had two daughters together.)
After graduating, Gagarin was sent on some missions. However, while Gagarin enjoyed being a fighter pilot, what he really wanted to do was to go to space. Since he had been following the Soviet Union's progress in space flight, he was confident that soon they would be sending a man into space. He wanted to be that man; so he volunteered to be a cosmonaut.

Gagarin Applies to Be a Cosmonaut

Yuri Gagarin was just one of 3,000 applicants to be the first Soviet cosmonaut. Out of this large pool of applicants, just 20 were chosen in 1960 to be the Soviet Union's first cosmonauts; Gagarin was one of the 20. During the extensive physical and psychological testing required of the chosen cosmonaut trainees, Gagarin excelled at the tests while maintaining a calm demeanor as well as his sense of humor. Later, Gagarin would be chosen to be the first man into space because of these skills. (It also helped that he was short in stature since Vostok 1's capsule was small.) Cosmonaut trainee Gherman Titov was chosen to be the backup in case Gagarin was unable to make the first space flight.

Launch of Vostok 1

On April 12, 1961, Yuri Gagarin boarded Vostok 1 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome. Although he was fully trained for the mission, no one knew if it was going to be a success or a failure. Gagarin was to be the very first human being in space, truly going where no man had gone before.
Minutes before the launch, Gagarin gave a speech, which included:

You must realize that it is hard to express my feeling now that the test for which we have been training long and passionately is at hand. I don't have to tell you what I felt when it was suggested that I should make this flight, the first in history. Was it joy? No, it was something more than that. Pride? No, it was not just pride. I felt great happiness. To be the first to enter the cosmos, to engage single handed in an unprecedented duel with nature - could anyone dream of anything greater than that? But immediately after that I thought of the tremendous responsibility I bore: to be the first to do what generations of people had dreamed of; to be the first to pave the way into space for mankind.^*

Vostok 1, with Yuri Gagarin inside, launched on schedule at 9:07 a.m. Moscow Time. Just after lift-off, Gagarin reputedly called out, "Poyekhali!" ("Off we go!")
Gagarin was rocketed into space, using an automated system. Gagarin did not control the spacecraft during his mission; however, in case of an emergency, Gagarin could have opened an envelope left on board for the override code. He was not given the controls to the spacecraft because many scientists were worried about the psychological effects of being in space (i.e. they were worried he would go mad).
After entering space, Gagarin completed a single orbit around Earth. The Vostok 1's top speed reached 28,260 kph (about 17,600 mph). At the end of the orbit, Vostok 1 reentered the Earth's atmosphere. When Vostok 1 was still about 7 km (4.35 miles) from the ground, Gagarin ejected (as planned) from the spacecraft and used a parachute to land safely.
From launch (at 9:07 a.m.) to Vostok 1 touching down on the ground (10:55 a.m.) was 108 minutes, a number often used to describe this mission. Gagarin landed safely with his parachute about ten minutes after Vostok 1. The calculation of 108 minutes is used because the fact that Gagarin ejected from the spacecraft and parachuted to the ground was kept secret for many years. (The Soviets did this to get around a technicality about how flights were officially recognized at the time.)
Right before Gagarin landed (near the village of Uzmoriye, near the Volga River), a local farmer and her daughter spotted Gagarin floating down with his parachute. Once on the ground, Gagarin, dressed in an orange spacesuit and wearing a large white helmet, terrified the two women. It took Gagarin a few minutes to convince them that he too was Russian and to direct him to the nearest phone.
 http://history1900s.about.com/od/1960s/a/yurigagarin.htm

A Profile of Pyotr Tchaikovsky

Death:                                                              

November 6, 1893 - St. Petersburg

Tchaikovsky Facts:

• Above all the other composers, Tchaikovsky adored Mozart. He once referred to Mozart as "the musical Christ." Of other composers, Wagner bored him and he detested Brahms.
• Tchaikovsky was a shy person, a quality that intensified to almost manic like proportions. He once wrote in his diary that he could hold "incredibly animated conversations" with people but would rather "flee from them to the ends of the world."
• Tchaikovsky struggled with his sexuality and worked hard to keep his homosexuality a secret.

Tchaikovsky's Childhood:

Tchaikovsky was born to a fairly wealthy middle class family. His father, Ilya Petrovich (a two time divorcee) married Alexandra and the two had two sons, Pyotr and Modest. Tchaikovsky was a precocious child having learned to read French and German by the age of six. A year later, he was writing French verses. The family hired a governess to keep watch over the children, and she often referred to Tchaikovsky as the "porcelain child." Tchaikovsky, was ultra sensitive to music and was placed into piano lessons at a young age. He would complain at night that the music in his head would not let him sleep.

Tchaikovsky's Teenage Years:

When Pyotr was 10 years old, his family enrolled him into the School of Jurisprudence for a career in civil service, not fully comprehending his remarkable musical talent. Because the minimum acceptance age was 12, Pyotr was sent to boarding school. After turning 12, he entered into the senior classes at the school. Apart from singing in choir, he did not seriously study music. It wasn't until after he graduated in 1859, that he began to study music. In 1862, Pyotr began taking classes with Nikolai Zaremba at the St. Petersburg Conservatory. In 1863, Pyotr quit his day job as clerk at the Ministry of Justice.

Tchaikovksy's Early Adult Life:

After quitting his day job, Tchaikovsky devoted his life to music. Under the mentorship of Anton Rubenstein (director of the conservatory), Tchaikovsky went through the conservatory's curriculum. Aside from musical studies, he also studied conducting. Tchaikovsky had an immense fear of it, and would often hold his chin with his left hand while conducting after once imagining his head falling off his shoulders. Though he was not the best conductor, he was one of the best music students. In 1866, Tchaikovsky took a job as a harmony teacher for the Moscow Conservatory with Rubenstein's recommendation.

Tchaikovsky's Mid Adult Life, pt. 1:

In 1868, he had a brief flirtation with soprano Desiree Artot, but she later married a Spanish baritone. Though his personal life may have been unsuccessful, Tchaikovsky was steadily completing composition after composition. In 1875, Tchaikovsky's world premiere of his third symphony was given in Boston on October 25, and was conducted by Hans von Bulow. Despite there being pockets of opposition towards his music, his works and reputation began to spread across Europe. In 1877, he married a beautiful young woman named Anotonina Miliukova, but divorced her 9 weeks later because she "possessed little intelligence."

Tchaikovsky's Mid Adult Life, pt. 2:

During the same year of his disastorous marriage, Tchaikovsky also entered into another relationship - only instead of meeting face to face, they communicated through letters. This worked out very well for him given his extreme shyness, and also in part, he did not have to consummate the relationship. The woman was Nadeshda von Meck. Though it is unclear why she did not want to meet him, she sent him money as she greatly admired his work. Despite what it seemed on the outside, inside Tchaikovsky was emotionally troubled, weeping and doubting himself very often, and took to alcohol as a form of relief.

Tchaikovsky's Late Adult Life:

After enjoying numerous successes and frequent travels, Pyotr's money and letters from Meck came to a halt. In 1890, she claimed to be broke, though that wasn't the case. It wasn't the loss of the money that had greatly upset him, it was the sudden termination of his emotional companion of 13 years. This was a low blow for the already emotionally sensitive composer. In 1891, he fled to the US after receiving an invitation to the opening week of New York's Music Hall (which was renamed Carnegie Hall a few years later). He visited Niagara Falls and conducted in Philadelphia and Baltimore before returning to Russia.

The Death of Tchaikovsky:

Though there are many rumors about Tchaikovsky's cause of death, the most widely accepted explanation is that he died of cholera after drinking a glass of water that wasn't boiled. He died less than one week after premiering what is considered to be his greatest work, Symphony Pathetique. 

  http://classicalmusic.about.com/od/classicalcomposers/p/tchaikovsky.htm

Rudolf Nureyev

The Russian-born dancer and choreographer (a composer of dance) Rudolph Nureyev captured international acclaim as the greatest male ballet dancer of the 1960s and 1970s. His versatility (the ability to change easily) and energy were expressed in countless classical and modern roles, on both stage and screen.

Childhood

Rudolf Hametovich Nureyev was born on March 17, 1938, on a train travelling to Vladivostok in Russia, where his father was an instructor of Soviet soldiers. He was the youngest of the four children of Hamet and Farida Nureyev, who came from Asiatic Mongol ancestry. At the outbreak of World War II (1939–45; a war fought between the Axis Powers: Germany, Italy, and Japan—and the Allies: England, France, the Soviet Union, and the United States), his father joined the Soviet army and the family moved to Moscow, Russia. There, Nureyev, along with his three older sisters, grew up in terrible poverty, and the Nureyevs were forced to live with other families. At school he did not fair any better. Constantly teased and harassed by his fellow students for being raised so poor, Nureyev grew up lonely and isolated. But the young boy found enjoyment in one thing—music.

Rudolf Nureyev.
Reproduced by permission of

Archive Photos, Inc.

Nureyev, despite early discouragement from his parents, began his dancing career with amateur folk dance groups and the Ufa Opera Ballet. At the age of seventeen he entered the Leningrad Ballet School to study with the outstanding teacher Alexander Pushkin. After three years of training he joined the Kirov Ballet as a soloist, dancing full length roles in Don Quixote, Gayane, Giselle, La Bayadere, The Nutcracker, Swan Lake, and The Sleeping Beauty.

Earning fame

Nureyev's offstage reputation was equally sensational, bringing him constant trouble with both the Kirov management and the Russian political authorities. In the Kirov's first-ever appearance in Paris, France, in 1961, Nureyev was an outstanding success, yet his resistance of company regulations sparked a command return to Moscow. On June 17, 1961, Nureyev cut his ties with the Soviet Union (the former country that consisted of Russia and several smaller nations) seeking political asylum (political protection) at Le Bourget Airport in Paris, France.
Within five days, Nureyev embarked on a six-month season with the international Grand Ballet du Marquis de Cuevas, dancing the Prince and the Blue Bird in The Sleeping Beauty. As partner to Rosella Hightower, he made his London, England, debut in October 1961 at the Royal Academy of Dancing, where he met the ballerina Margot Fonteyn (1919–1991), who became his principal partner for many years. He became a regular guest artist with the Royal Ballet from 1962 to the mid-1970s, in addition to performing with Ruth Page's Chicago Opera Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, and on U.S. and French television.
With an inexhaustible stamina, Nureyev continued to perform at a nonstop pace, acquiring over ninety roles and appearances with over thirty major ballet and modern dance companies. Frederick Ashton (1904–1988), the British choreographer, was the first to create a role specifically for Nureyev in Marguerite and Armand in March 1963. Nureyev's own first production was the last act of La Bayadere for the Royal Ballet in November 1963, and his first reconstruction was the nineteenth-century three-act classic Raymonda for the Royal Ballet in June 1964. His fascination with modern dance, which led to performances with American choreographers Martha Graham (1893–1991), Murray Louis, and Paul Taylor, began with Rudi Van Dantzig's Monument for a Dead Boy with the Dutch National Ballet in December 1968. He broke into film in 1972 with his directing debut of his own production of Don Quixote in Melbourne, Australia, and the creation of the film I Am A Dancer. The film Rudolph Valentino, directed by Ken Russell in 1976, gave Nureyev his debut as a film actor.
Self-reliance and a constant drive directed Nureyev's energy into a performing schedule around the world that only Anna Pavlova (1885–1931) could equal. His guest performances were slightly cut back with his assumption (the act of taking for oneself) of a three-year directorship of the Paris Opera Ballet in 1983. A rapidly changing character—shrewd, cunning, charming, and passionate—Nureyev demonstrated a commitment and a savage power equaled by no other dancer in his day. His last stage appearance was for a curtain call at the Palace Garner after the production of his dance La Bayadere had been performed. He succumbed to acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS; a disease that attacks the body's immune system) in Paris on January 6, 1993. He was fifty-four years old. "Any time you dance," Nureyev once said in an interview in Entertainment Weekly, "what you do must be sprayed with your blood."

Read more: http://www.notablebiographies.com/Ni-Pe/Nureyev-Rudolf.html#ixzz2kK5QNL3M

Mikhail Gorbachev

Biography >> Cold War

Mikhail Gorbachev

• Occupation: Leader of the Soviet Union
• Born: March 2, 1931
• Best known for: Bringing reform to the Soviet Union and helping to end the Cold War.
• Nickname: The Marked One

Biography:

Mikhail Gorbachev was the last leader of the Soviet Union before it dissolved in 1991. He brought many reforms to the Soviet Union including new freedoms which eventually led to many countries breaking away from the union claiming independence. His relationships with western leaders such as Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher helped bring an end to the Cold War.

Where did Mikhail grow up?

Mikhail was born in Stavropol, Russia on March 2, 1931. His parents both worked in agriculture. Mikhail also worked in agriculture while attending school. His childhood was filled with difficult events. In 1933 a famine swept through much of Russia. Two of his sisters and an uncle died during the famine. In 1937 his grandfather was arrested for supporting the followers of Leon Trotsky. Later, in 1942, his town was occupied by the Germans in World War II.

In 1950 Mikhail went to Moscow University where he received a degree in law. He also met his wife Raisa Titorenko there and joined the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU).

Rising in the Communist Party

After graduating in 1955, Gorbachev first worked as a member of the Communist Youth Organization. He became the leader of the division in Stavropol. In 1961 he was selected to be the delegate for Stavropol at the 22nd Communist Party Congress in Moscow.

Over the next several years Gorbachev became a leader in the Communist Party. First, in 1970, he became First Secretary for the entire Stavropol territory. Then, 1971, he moved to Moscow as the Secretary of Agriculture.

Mikhail quickly became a force in Moscow gaining influence with such powerful leaders as Yuri Andropov (KGB leader who later became leader of the Soviet Union). In 1980 Gorbachev was selected to be a member of the Politburo, the most powerful group in the Communist Party. He was the youngest member of the Politburo.

Becoming the Leader of the Soviet Union

Within a few short years, Gorbachev gained considerable influence on the Politburo. After two aging leaders died in 1984 and 1985, the Communist Party wanted someone young and healthy to take over as leader. On March 11, 1985 Mikhail Gorbachev became the General Secretary of the Soviet Union.

When Gorbachev took over as leader, the Soviet economy was struggling. He wanted to reform the economy as well as the government. In order to do this he needed support, so he began to replace some of the older members of the politburo with younger men who shared his vision.

Glasnost and Perestroika

Gorbachev announced two main areas of reform. He called them Glasnost and Perestroika. Glasnost called for increased openness in government. It also allowed for some freedom of speech and less censorship. Perestroika was a restructuring of the economy and industry. It allowed for some private ownership and economic reforms to try and improve the Soviet economy.

Peace with the West

Gorbachev also made attempts to end the Cold War and improve relations with the west. He met with US President Ronald Reagan and signed the INF treaty regarding nuclear weapons. He also removed Soviet troops from Afghanistan ending the Soviet Afghanistan War.

Gorbachev and Reagan signing the INF treaty

Gorbachev also indicated that the Soviet Union would no longer interfere with other countries in Eastern Europe. This caused a major change in the world. Without the fear of the Soviet Union, countries such as Eastern Germany, Poland, and Hungary got rid of their communist governments. In 1989 the Berlin Wall in Germany was torn down.

1991 Coup Attempt

In August of 1991, communist "hardliners" who didn't agree with Gorbachev's reforms tried to take over the government. They kidnapped Gorbachev and said he was sick and couldn't rule. Soon protests grew and Gorbachev was set free, but the damage to the government had been done.

Collapse of the Soviet Union

Although Gorbachev's reforms allowed for more freedom, many states used this freedom to protest and eventually claim independence from the Soviet Union. By the end of 1991, the Soviet Union had collapsed. On December 25, 1991 Gorbachev resigned as leader of the Soviet Union and the Union was split into 15 separate countries.

Later Activities

Since resigning Gorbachev has remain involved in politics. He started new political parties in Russia and even ran for president in 1996 (he didn't win). Recently he has criticized the rule of President Vladimir Putin.

Interesting Facts About Gorbachev

• He was heavily influenced by his grandfather who taught him about Marxism and Lenin.
• He had one child, a daughter named Irina.
• Gorbachev has received many awards for his work including the St. Andrew Award from Russia, the Ronald Reagan Freedom Award, the Indira Gandhi Prize, and the Nobel Peace Prize (1990).
• He has a large birth mark on his forehead which led to the nickname "The Marked Man".
• He was in a Pizza Hut commercial in 1997 with his granddaughter Anastasia.
• He once said "If what you have done yesterday still looks big to you, you haven't done much today."
•  http://www.ducksters.com/biography/world_leaders/mikhail_gorbachev.php

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov

Biography of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov  

Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov (Russian: Николай Андреевич Римский-Корсаков, Nikolaj Andreevič Rimskij-Korsakov), also Nikolay, Nicolai, and Rimsky-Korsakoff, (March 6 (N.S. March 18), 1844 – June 8 (N.S. June 21) 1908) was a Russian composer, the best known of five Russian composers known as The Five, and was later a teacher of harmony and orchestration. He is particularly noted for a predilection for folk and fairy-tale subjects, and for his extraordinary skill in orchestration, which may have been influenced by his synesthesia.

Born at Tikhvin, 200 km east of St. Petersburg, into an aristocratic family, Rimsky-Korsakov showed musical ability from an early age, but studied at the Russian Imperial Naval College in St. Petersburg and subsequently joined the Russian Navy. It was only when he met Mily Balakirev in 1861 that he began to concentrate more seriously on music. Balakirev encouraged him to compose and taught him when he was not at sea. (A fictionalized episode of Rimsky-Korsakov's navy service forms the plot of the motion picture Song of Scheherazade (1947), the musical score adapted by Miklós Rózsa.) Through Balakirev he also met the other composers of the group that were to become known as "The Mighty Handful" (better known in English-speaking countries as "The Five"). While in the navy (partly on a world cruise), Rimsky-Korsakov completed his first symphony (1861-1865). This is sometimes claimed to be the first symphony by a Russian, but Anton Rubinstein composed his own first symphony in 1850. Before resigning his commission in 1873, Rimsky-Korsakov also completed the first version of his well known orchestral piece Sadko (1867) and the opera The Maid of Pskov (1872). These three are among several early works which the composer revised later in life.

In 1871, despite being largely group- and self-educated within The Five rather than being conservatory-trained, Rimsky-Korsakov became professor of composition and orchestration at the St Petersburg Conservatory. The next year he married Nadezhda Nikolayevna Purgol'd (1848-1919), who was also a pianist and composer. During his first few years at the Conservatory, Rimsky-Korsakov assiduously studied harmony and counterpoint in order to make up for the lack of such thorough training during his years with The Five.

In 1883 Rimsky-Korsakov worked under Balakirev in the Court Chapel as a deputy. This post gave him the chance to study Russian Orthodox church music. He worked there until 1894. He also became a conductor, leading symphony concerts sponsored by Mitrofan Belyayev (M. P. Belaieff), as well as some programs abroad.

In 1905 Rimsky-Korsakov was removed from his professorship in St Petersburg owing to his expressing some political views of which the authorities disapproved. This sparked a series of resignations by his fellow faculty members, and he was eventually reinstated. The political controversy continued with his opera The Golden Cockerel (Le Coq d'Or) (1906-1907), whose implied criticism of monarchy upset the censors to the point that the premiere was delayed until 1909, after the composer's death.

Towards the end of his life, Rimsky-Korsakov suffered from angina. He died in Lyubensk in 1908, and was interred in Tikhvin Cemetery at the Alexander Nevsky Monastery in St. Petersburg. His widow Nadezhda spent the rest of her life preserving the composer's legacy.

The Rimsky-Korsakovs had seven children: Mikhail (b.1873), Sofia (b.1875), Andrey (1878-1940), Vladimir (b.1882), Nadezhda (b.1884), Margarita (1888-1893), and Slavchik (1889-1890). Their daughter Nadezhda married the Russian composer Maximilian Steinberg in 1908. Andrey was a musicologist who wrote a multi-volume study of his father's life and work, which included a chapter devoted to his mother, Nadezhda. A nephew, Georgy Mikhaylovich Rimsky-Korsakov (1901-1965), was also a composer.


Legacy

In his decades at the Conservatory Rimsky-Korsakov taught many composers who would later find fame, including Alexander Glazunov, Sergei Prokofiev, Igor Stravinsky, Ottorino Respighi, and Artur Kapp.

Rimsky-Korsakov's legacy goes far beyond his compositions and his teaching career. His tireless efforts in editing the works of other members of The Five are significant, if controversial. These include the completion of Alexander Borodin's opera Prince Igor (with Alexander Glazunov), orchestration of passages from César Cui's William Ratcliff for the first production in 1869, and the complete orchestration of Alexander Dargomyzhsky's swansong, The Stone Guest. This effort was a practical extension of the fact that Rimsky-Korsakov's early works had been under the intense scrutiny of Balakirev and that the members of The Five during the 1860s and 1870s experienced each other's compositions-in-progress and even collaborated at times.

While the effort for his colleagues is laudable, it is not without its problems for musical reception. In particular, after the death of Modest Mussorgsky in 1881, Rimsky-Korsakov took on the task of revising and completing several of Mussorgsky's pieces for publication and performance. In some cases these versions helped to spread Mussorgsky's works to the West, but Rimsky-Korsakov has been accused of pedantry for "correcting" matters of harmony, etc., in the process. Rimsky-Korsakov's arrangement of Mussorgsky's Night on Bald Mountain is the version generally performed today. However, critical opinion of Mussorgsky has changed over time so that his style, once considered unpolished, is now valued for its originality. This has caused some of Rimsky-Korsakov's other revisions, such as that of Boris Godunov, to fall out of favour and be replaced by productions more faithful to Mussorgsky's original manuscripts.

Although his operas are seldom performed outside of Russia, the music has been widely performed and recorded through the orchestral suites that he compiled from the scores, particularly in the case of Mlada, Tsar Saltan, and Le Coq d'Or. The music of his last opera is remarkably modern for its time and the four-movement suite extracted from its score has enjoyed considerable popularity via concerts and recordings.

His autobiography and his books on harmony and orchestration have been translated into English and published, providing remarkable insights into his life and work.

 http://www.astrotheme.com/astrology/Nikolai_Rimsky-Korsakov

Zemfira Ramazanova

Show count:  93

Zemfira, officially Zemfira Talgatovna Ramazanova, Russian rock musician, she was born on August 26, 1976 in Ufa, Bashkortostan. She has been performing since 1998 and has been popular in Russia and other former Soviet republics.
An ethnic Bashkir, she was born in a middle-class family – her mother is a doctor, and her father is a history teacher. At the age of 4, Zemfira became interested in music, entering a music school the following year (where she studied piano performance and voice) and writing her first song when she was seven years old. Her older brother Ramil introduced her to rock music, which became her real passion – she listened to Black Sabbath, Nazareth and Queen, learning to play the guitar. In the 7th grade Zemfira split her time between music and basketball, becoming the captain of the Russian Girls’ Junior Basketball Team by 1990. She began to lose interest in classical music, preferring instead to hang out with friends in the streets of Ufa and covering songs by Russian rock groups such as Kino, Nautilus Pompilius and Aquarium (who reached the peak of their popularity in the early 1990s).
At the urging of her mother, Zemfira continued with piano studies and graduated music school with honors. In her last year of high school, basketball competed with school work, and the singer abandoned the sport in favour of music. She took the entrance exams for the Ufa College of Fine Arts and was admitted into the second year, studying vocal performance. During college, she performed jazz and rock and roll standards in various local bars and restaurants accompanied by her friend, saxophone player Vlad Kolchin. She graduated with honors, and in 1996 took a job as a sound engineer at the Ufa subsidiary of the radio station "Europe Plus".
For the next couple of years Zemfira spent her days making advertisement recordings at the station and her nights on a computer, where she recorded the songs that would later become the singles "Why" (Почему), "Snow" (Снег), and "Weatherman" (Синоптик). In early 1998, Zemfira invited Rinat Akhmadiyev, Sergei Sozinov, Sergei Mirolyubov, and Vadim Solovyov to join Zemfira. Their first professional gig took place on June 19, 1999 as part of a festival celebrating the anniversary of a local radio station Silver Rain Ufa. Shortly after Zemfira sent out promo tapes to multiple Moscow producers, one of whom (Ilya Lagutenko from Mumiy Troll) was smitten with the material, and invited the band for some sessions in Moscow.
On February 14 a collection of music videos was released. It contains all singer's clips, except AIDS and Traffic.
In May and June 2007, Zemfira embarked on a short concert tour titled 'Déjà Vu', with performances held in smaller venues (clubs and small theatres). The tour culminated with a Moscow performance at the Green Theatre which was filmed by Renata Litvinova. The tour program focused on stylish remakes of the singer's top hits, often reworked is styles such as jazz, ska, bossa nova, and blues. A new album, Thank You (Спасибо), was released at the beginning of October. It is described by Zemfira herself as 'very positive', in contrast to what she terms the 'restlessness' of Vendetta.
The final concert in support of Thank You was staged on April 1, 2008 at the Olimpiysky stadium in Moscow; some journalists considered it as the best performance in her career. Later in June Zemfira was awarded an independent Steppenwolf prize established by a musical critic Artemy Troitsky. She won in two categories: The Best Performance (for the Olimpiysky show) and The Best Album (Thank You).
In June 2010, Zemfira wrote on her official website: "vacation is over" and announced a mini-tour in support of a deluxe-edition of her first three albums (Zemfira, PMML and 14 Weeks of Silence). On August 1 she performed a set of 4 songs on the closing concert of a pop-music contest New Wave. It was her first performance since January 2009. The arrangements of this set were used in the mini-tour in September that included 5 cities: Saint-Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, Minsk, Kiev and Moscow. Critics admitted that her old songs became more rhythmic and resembled demo-versions due to the new minimalistic style of arrangements. In October Zemfira took part in two tribute concerts "20 Years without KINO" in Moscow and Saint-Petersburg that were dedicated to the memory of Victor Tsoi. Her gig of four covers on Tsoi's songs was seen by some journalists as the most noticeable performance in the program.
On New Year's Eve 2011, the video version of two Moscow concerts staged in Crocus City Hall and Strelka Institute in September 2010 was broadcast on Dozhd' (Rain) TV channel. The video was directed by Renata Litvinova. Then the singer informed her fans that the release of her sixth album had moved to the fall 2011. The first single No Chance (Bez shansov) was presented on Nashe Radio on April 15. During the next three months she gave three performances: on May 28 Zemfira took part in the international rock festival Maxidrom along with The Prodigy, Adam Lambert, Korn, Brainstorm and other artists; then she became a Russian headliner of a Muz-TV Awards ceremony show at Olimpiysky stadium on June 3; on July 23 Zemfira performed at the Afisha Picnic outdoor festival in Moscow as the Russian headliner of the main stage. During that gig she presented a new song called "Money".
Reference:  http://ufacity.info/eng/history/people/127294.html

Sergei Bodrov Film Director

Mongol director Sergei Bodrov on navigating the perilous Hollywood battlefield

Just over a decade ago, Russian director Sergei Bodrov made his mark on the West with his Academy Award-nominated movie Prisoner of the Mountains, which transplanted a Tolstoy novella for children to Russia's war with Chechnya. Though Prisoner seemed an unlikely calling card for Hollywood, its blend of commercial technique and humanistic storytelling swept Bodrov onto the studio radar — which brought him nothing but aggravation. The Quickie (2000), a mob thriller he co-wrote and produced starring Jennifer Jason Leigh, went straight to DVD. The family horse movie Running Free (2000) suffered running interference at every level and ended up inviting snorting comparisons to Mr. Ed. And in 2005, Bodrov walked onto the troubled set of Nomad: The Warrior, after the original director, Ivan Passer, ran out of money.
In response to all that — and to the tragic death in an avalanche of his son Sergei Bodrov Jr., a star of Russian television who had made his film debut in Prisoner — Bodrov did the smart thing. He quit being a director for hire and made the movie he wanted to make. "My life changed," says Bodrov, sprawled on a couch at the Beverly Wilshire in L.A., looking exhausted from months of promotional globetrotting for his latest film, Mongol. "I wanted to go away, and to be busy."
A two-hour epic that rewrites the life of Genghis Khan from boyhood to his forging of a Mongolian Empire out of warring tribal clans in the 12th century, Mongol was planned as the second in a trilogy following Nomad, which Bodrov, who completed the film, now dryly calls "a learning experience." But Mongol, which was shot in Mongolia, China, and Kazakhstan, stands alone as a terrific picture furnished with gorgeous scenery, visceral battle scenes worthy of an Asian action picture, a passionate love story complicated by a male-buddy scenario, furry costumes to die for, and a score fortified with music from a Mongolian folk-rock band. In other words, the movie, which brought Bodrov a second Oscar nomination earlier this year, is well placed to hit all four demographic quadrants and make a splashy swan song for departing distributor Picturehouse.

Mongol director Sergei Bodrov and Mongolian actress Khulan Chuluun

Trained by Andrei Tarkovsky, Bodrov cut his teeth as a screenwriter and director making sardonic, semi-experimental critiques of Russia under Communism. (His early film The Non-Professionals, which features a cow, a scruffy rock band touring the Kazakh outback, and an old-age home for worn-out lady Communists, is a must-see.) But Bodrov has powerful commercial instincts, a screenwriter's practiced funny bone, and a maverick's suspicion of official stories. Indeed, Mongol is nothing less than a revisionist biopic, if revisionist is the word for a man about whom next to nothing is definitively documented. "His history was written by his enemies," says the director, who never quite believed the tales of brutality he grew up on in Russia, which was occupied by the Mongols for 200 years.     To read more:http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/2008-06-19/film/warrior-king/

Sergei Bodrov Jnr

Sergei Bodrov's Biography

Sergei Bodrov Jr. (Russian: Серге́й Серге́евич Бодро́в; December 27, 1971 – September 20, 2002) was a Russian actor who had lead roles in the movies Brother, Prisoner of the Mountains, The Stringer and Brother 2. He was the son of the Russian playwright, actor, director and producer Sergei Bodrov. He was killed in the Kolka-Karmadon rock ice slide after finishing the second day of shooting of his film The Messenger.

Biography Childhood Sergey Bodrov was born on December 27, 1971 in Moscow. His father is a famous film director, Sergey Bodrov, and his mother Valentina Nikolaevna is a fine art expert. Sergey Bodrov Jr. considered

that "childhood is the most important time in life." and what you'll become happens in the first sixteen years". Different publications say that Bodrov wanted to become a garbageman and drive an orange car.

Bodrov wrote "Composition on the topic: eight events which influenced me or how I became a good person" about the years of his youth and events which changed his view of the world.
Education Sergey Bodrov attended the specialized French language school № 1265. He was the banner-bearer in school.
Bodrov wanted to enter the Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography, but his father explained to him that "cinema is a passion and if you don't have it you should wait for it or forget about it". Between 1989 and 1993, Bodrov Jr. studied art history at the History Department of Moscow State University. He graduated with Honors and began postgraduate studies. In his own words, at the university he "learned to see the beauty in simple things around us". While already a famous actor, he completed his graduate thesis entitled "Architecture in the Venetian Renaissance painting" in 1998 and received the Candidate of Science degree, equivalent to Western Ph. D. 

From 1991, for three consequtive summers he went to Italy.  

To study art, at the same time working as a lifeguard at local beaches to support his travels all around the country. When he was asked if the education was useful in his life or not, he answered:
Of course. So you come to any city. What do you usually know about it? That there are central square, some shops... And I know there is a painting in one of the museums and you can spend the whole day in front of it. And this one day is added to your life.
Cinema First roles Sergey's first role was in his father's movie Freedom is Paradise in 1989. He appeared on screen only for a few minutes, playing a minor lawbreaker waiting for a decision concerning his destiny. During his university days, he also had a bit role of an usher's courier who was bringing mail to the hotel in the movie White King, Red Queen (1992).
Prisoner of the Mountains In 1995, his father was going to move to Dagestan where his movie Prisoner of the Mountains was to be filmed. Bodrov asked to go with him and was ready to do whatever he could to help. Instead, he became one of the featured actors, playing conscript soldier Vanya Jilin. His partner was Oleg Menshikov, who played contract soldier Alexey Ryapolov. Bodrov got an award for best  actor jointly with Menshikov at the Kinotavr cinema festival in Sochi.

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Bodrov himself did not claim to be an actor:
I always say everywhere: I'm not an actor, I'm not an actor, I'm not an actor. And I hear: "No, you're an actor". An actor is a quite a different thing. It's a different person, another constitution. A role is not a profession for me. It's an action.
View From October 1996 to August 1999, Bodrov was a host of the show View (Vzglyad) on Channel One. He said that he left the show feeling it had given him a good schooling:
I've got acquainted with so many people, I've heard so many stories, I've read so many letters - it's impossible on any other job. It had a very positive impulse. Help two or three people and the telecast exists not in vain. But it's necessary to do it responsibly.
In 1997, Sergey married Svetlana Mihailova (the author of the projects "Sharks of plume" and "Canon"). In 1998, their daughter Olga was born, followed in 2002 by a son, Alexandr.
Brother During a cinema festival in Sochi in 1996, Sergey Bodrov became acquainted with stage manager Aleksei Balabanov, who invited him to

studio STV. Just in this studio, the movie Brother was shot and released in 1997. Sergey was a featured actor, playing Danila Bagrov. The mass media criticized the movie. It was accused of fascism and racism and even of Russophobia (as a movie which was made for foreign audiences). Bodrov himself viewed his character in the following way:
I know that Danila is often blamed for being primitive, simple and inarticulate. In part, I agree with that. But I have a metaphor regarding him in my mind: I imagine people in primitive chaos, who sit before the fire in their caves and do not understand anything in their life except for the responsibility to eat and to breed. And suddenly one of them stands up and says very simple words that it is necessary to stand up for their friends, to respect women, to stand up for one's brother.
The music to the movie was composed by the famous Russian rock band Nautilus Pompilius, of which Sergey admitted to being an admirer himself.
Despite some controversy, the movie received critical acclaim and the award at the movie festival in Sochi, a Special Jury Award and the FIPRESCI Award at an international festival in Turin, the awards in Cottbus, and the Grand Prix in Trieste. Bodrov received the

award for Best Actor at the movie festivals in Sochi and Chicago and got the "Golden Aries" prize.
The movie was regarded by many as culturally significant and for many of the younger generation, Bodrov's character Danila Bagrov became a hero and a role model
To read more click on   http://sergei-bodrov.journal-of-life.com/#!biographies

Irina Allegrova

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Irina Allegrova
Background information
Birth name	Ирина Александровна Аллегрова (Irina Alexandrovna Allegrova)
Born	January 20, 1952 (age 61)
Origin	Rostov-on-Don, Soviet Union
Occupations	Singer

Irina Aleksandrovna Allegrova (Russian: Ирина Александровна Аллегрова; born January 20, 1952) is a Russian singer of Russian and Armenian descent.

Biography

Irina Allegrova

Irina Allegrova was born in Rostov-on-Don in 1952. Her Armenian father Alexander Sarkisov took the last name Allegrov as a pseudonym when he was just 17 and Irina was born under the name Allegrova. Her Russian mother was Serafima Sosnovskaya. Irina was brought up in a theatrical family with famous people who frequented their house and impressed the young girl. Irina spent her early life in Baku, Azerbaijan where she studied piano and ballet. Irina gave birth to one daughter, Lala, at a young age. She left Lala with her parents and moved to Moscow to become a singer at the age of 22.

In the middle of 1980s, Irina met Oscar Feltsman, who gave her a chance at a solo career and wrote several songs for her. Then she became soloist in David Tukhmanov's band - Electroclub.

Irina's debut album "My Destined One - Suzheny/Wanderer - Strannik" was written and produced by her neighbor and friend Igor Nikolaev. The album, supported by the single "Wanderer" (1991–1992) became No.1 and stayed No.1 for nearly a full year.

Irina's next album was "Ugonschitsa" (1994–1995), which won a Russian Grammy (Ovatsiya) for Best Pop Female Star. She toured the United States after that album's release.

Irina began to work with Igor Krutoi, changed her hair to her natural brunette, got married, had a grandson, and bought a house on the outskirts ofMoscow. Irina and Krutoi released two albums together, "I will disperse the clouds with my hands" and "Un-ending Romance" (1996, 1998).

Irina divorced, released a healing-themed album called "Teatr" (Theater) (1999) and went on tour around the world.

In 2005, Irina began working exclusively with Aleksei Garnizov on "Po Lezviyu Lyubvi (On the razor's edge of love) trilogy". A new album was planned for release in late 2005.

Irina has since written three= novellas about love, and created an award ceremony where she and other stars give out the 'Golden Duck' to those journalists who made up the worst lies.

Irina Allegrova announced that March 2012 she will have her final concert featuring all her friends and will be ending her career. Everyone was shocked by this news because Russia is losing a legendary singer

Recordings

• Strannik (cassette/lp) = Suzheny (CD) (1991/1994 CD)
• Ugonschitsa (1995) - Car thief
• Ya Tuchi Razvedu Rukami (1996)
• Imperatritsa (1997) - Empress
• Nezakonchenny Roman (1998)
• Teatr (1999) - The theatre
• Vsyo Snachala (2000 version 1 & 2001 version 2)
• Po Lezviyu Lyubvi (2002 version 1 BLACK & 2003 version 2 RED)
• Popolam (2004)
• S Dnem Rojdeniya (2005) - Happy Birthday!
• Allegrova 2007 (2007)
• Exclusive edition (2010)
• Reference:http://hitchhikersgui.de/Irina_Allegrova

Nadia Comăneci

Nadia Comăneci,  (born November 12, 1961, Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej, Romania), Romanian gymnast, the first gymnast to be awarded a perfect score of 10 in an Olympic gymnastic event.

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Comăneci was discovered by Bela Karolyi, later the Romanian gymnastics coach, when she was six years old. She first competed in the national junior championships in 1969, placing 13th, and she won the competition in 1970. Her first international competition was in 1972 in a pre-Olympic junior meet for the communist-bloc countries in which she won three gold medals, and in 1973 and 1974 she was all-around junior champion. In her first international competition as a senior in 1975, she bested the Russian Lyudmila Turishcheva, the five-time European champion, winning four gold medals and one silver. She won the American Cup in New York City in 1976, becoming the first woman to perform a backward double salto as a dismount from the uneven parallel bars.

At the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal, Comăneci received seven perfect scores and won the gold medals for the balance beam, the uneven bars, and the all-around individual competition. She won a silver medal as a member of her team and a bronze medal for the floor exercises. After the 1976 Games, she was named a Hero of Socialist Labour by her country. The song used to accompany her floor exercises was retitled “Nadia’s Theme (The Young and the Restless)” and became an international hit, earning a Grammy Award in 1977. She finished a disappointing fourth in the world championships in 1978, however, and was out of competition during most of 1979 with an infected hand. At the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow, she won gold medals for the beam and the floor exercises (tying for first in the latter event with Nelli Kim of the U.S.S.R.). She won a silver medal as a member of her team and tied with Maxi Gnauck of East Germany for second place in the all-around individual competition. She retired from competition in 1984.

Comăneci defected to the United States in 1989; she became a U.S. citizen in 2001. In 1996 she married American gymnast Bart Conner, with whom she works to promote gymnastics. She published an autobiography, Nadia (1981), and a book on mentoring, Letters to a Young Gymnast (2003).http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/127253/Nadia-Comaneci

Mikhail Khodorkovsky

Mikhail Borisovich Khodorkovsky (Russian: Михаи́л Бори́сович Ходорко́вский,IPA: [mʲɪxɐˈil xədɐˈrkofskʲɪj]; born 26 June 1963) is a former Russian oligarch^[1] and businessman. In 2004, Khodorkovsky was the wealthiest man in Russia and one of the richest people in the world, ranked 16th on Forbes list of billionaires.

Khodorkovsky worked his way up the Communist apparatus during the Soviet years, and began several businesses during the era of glasnost and perestroika. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, he accumulated wealth through the development of Siberian oil fields as the head of Yukos, one of the largest Russian companies to emerge from the privatization of state assets during the 1990s.

He was arrested on 25 October 2003, to appear before investigators as a witness, but within hours of being taken into custody he was charged with fraud. The government underVladimir Putin then froze shares of Yukos shortly thereafter on tax charges. The state took further actions against Yukos, leading to a collapse of the company's share price and the evaporation of much of Khodorkovsky's wealth. He was found guilty and sentenced to nine years in prison in May 2005. While still serving his sentence, Khodorkovsky and business partner Platon Lebedev were further charged and found guilty of embezzlementand money laundering in December 2010, extending his prison sentence to 2017.

There is on-going debate about whether the trials and sentencing were politically motivated.^[2][3] The trial process has received criticism from abroad for its lack of due process. Khodorkovsky has lodged several applications to the European Court of Human Rights, seeking redress for alleged violations by Russia of his human rights. In response to his first application, which concerned events from 2003 to 2005, the court found that several violations were committed by the Russian authorities in their treatment of Khodorkovsky.^[4] In particular, the court ruled that Khodorkovsky's arrest was "unlawful as it had been made with a purpose different from the one expressed."^[5] Despite these findings, the court ultimately ruled that the trial was not politically motivated,^[6][7][8] but rather "that the charges against him were grounded in 'reasonable suspicion'".^[7]

He is considered to be a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International.^[3]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikhail_Khodorkovsky

Natalie Wood

Natalie Wood, original name Natalie Zackharenko, also known as Natasha Gurdin   (born July 20, 1938, San Francisco, California, U.S.—died November 29, 1981, off Santa Catalina Island, California), American film actress who transitioned from child stardom to a successful movie career as an adult. She was best known for ingenue roles that traded on her youthful appeal.

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Zackharenko was born to Russian immigrant parents. She began appearing in movies at age five and received her first credit, as Natalie Wood, in the drama Tomorrow Is Forever (1946). She won particular acclaim for her role as a precocious Santa Claus skeptic in Miracle on 34th Street (1947) when she was only nine. Emerging as a dark-haired beauty in her teenage years, Wood moved into leading roles withRebel Without a Cause (1955), in which she earned an Academy Award nomination for her portrayal of atroubled youth. She married actor Robert Wagner in 1957 (divorced 1962; remarried 1972) and the following year starred opposite Gene Kelly in Marjorie Morningstar.

In 1961 Wood cemented her reputation as one of Hollywood’s most likeable and sought-after stars with appearances in two high-profile films. In Splendor in the Grass, she portrayed a small-town young woman distraught over a romantic relationship; for the emotional role, she was again nominated for an Oscar. She then starred as Maria in the hit film adaptation of the musical West Side Story. After another musical film, Gypsy (1962), Wood landed roles in the modern romances Love with the Proper Stranger(1963), for which she scored a third Oscar nomination, and Sex and the Single Girl (1964), in which she portrayed writer Helen Gurley Brown. Several box-office disappointments followed, however—including the show-business drama Inside Daisy Clover (1965)—and she spent three years away from the camera.

Wood staged a comeback with the popular sex comedy Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (1969), but she acted only sporadically thereafter, with the television movie Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1976) and the miniseriesFrom Here to Eternity (1979) providing her most notable performances. In 1981, while vacationing with Wagner on a yacht off the coast of Santa Catalina Island, California, Wood drowned under mysterious circumstances. For years the cause of her death was classified on her death certificate as an accident, but in 2012 it was formally changed to “undetermined” following a renewed investigation into the case.
For further information:
References:
 .http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/715865/Natalie-Wood