Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

140 results found

Elizabeth, czarina of Russia

(Encyclopedia)Elizabeth, 1709–62, czarina of Russia (1741–62), daughter of Peter I and Catherine I. She gained the throne by overthrowing the young czar, Ivan VI, and the regency of his mother, Anna Leopoldovna...

Aksakov, Konstantin Sergeyevich

(Encyclopedia)Aksakov, Konstantin Sergeyevich kənstənˌtēnˈ sergyāˈəvĭch äksäˈkôf [key], 1817–60, Russian critic and writer, son of Sergei Timofeyevich Aksakov. Like his brother Ivan, he was an ardent...

Sarai

(Encyclopedia)Sarai sərīˈ [key], former city, S European Russia, near present-day Volgograd. Founded in 1241 by Batu Khan, it was (13th–15th cent.) the capital of the Tatar Golden Horde, to which the Russians ...

Nicaea, empire of

(Encyclopedia)Nicaea, empire of, 1204–61. In 1204 the armies of the Fourth Crusade set up the Latin Empire of Constantinople, but the Crusaders' influence did not extend over the entire Byzantine Empire. Several ...

Slavophiles and Westernizers

(Encyclopedia)Slavophiles and Westernizers, designation for two groups of intellectuals in mid-19th-century Russia that represented opposing schools of thought concerning the nature of Russian civilization. The dif...

Mari El, constituent republic, Russia

(Encyclopedia)Mari El mäˈrē ĕlˈ [key], constituent republic (1990 pop. 760,000), c.8,900 sq mi (23,100 sq km), E central European Russia, in the middle Volga valley. Yoshkar-Ola is the capital. The region is a...

Kazan

(Encyclopedia)Kazan kəzänˈ, –zănˈ, Rus. kəzäˈnyə [key], city (1989 est. pop. 1,094,000), capital of Tatarstan, E European Russia, on the Volga. It is a major historic, cultural, industrial, and commercia...

Kupala, Janka

(Encyclopedia)Kupala, Janka yängˈkä ko͞opäˈlä [key], 1888–1942, Belorussian poet and writer, whose original name was Ivan Lutsevich. Kupala was a major figure of the Belorussian national and cultural reviv...

Repin, Ilya Yefimovich

(Encyclopedia)Repin, Ilya Yefimovich ēlyäˈ yĭfēˈməvĭch ryĕˈpĭn [key], 1844–1930, Russian historical and genre painter and sculptor. He studied in St. Petersburg and abroad and became the foremost repre...

Romanov

(Encyclopedia)Romanov rōˈmənŏf, Rus. rəmäˈnəf [key], ruling dynasty of Russia from 1613 to 1917. The name Romanov was adopted in the 16th cent. by a family of boyars (great nobles) that traced its beginning...