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Desna

(Encyclopedia)Desna dyĭsnäˈ [key], river, c.740 mi (1,190 km) long, Russia and Ukraine. It is a main tributary of the Dnieper. Rising SE of Smolensk, the Desna flows S and SW past Bryansk and Chernihiv, joining ...

Elman, Mischa

(Encyclopedia)Elman, Mischa mĭshˈə ĕlˈmən [key], 1891–1967, Russian-American violinist, b. Kiev. He studied in St. Petersburg with Leopold Auer, and first gained prominence in Berlin at the age of 13. After...

Mieszko II

(Encyclopedia)Mieszko II or Mieczyslaw II, 990–1034, king of Poland (1025–34), son and successor of Boleslaus I. His reign was marked by internal and external strife. Moravia was lost to Bohemia, Lusatia to Ger...

Sokoloff, Nicolai

(Encyclopedia)Sokoloff, Nicolai nyĭkəlīˈ sōˈkəlôfˌ [key], 1886–1965, American conductor and violinist, b. near Kiev, Russia. After studying at Yale and under Charles Martin Loeffler, he toured France and...

Khazars

(Encyclopedia)Khazars khäˈzärz [key], ancient Turkic people who appeared in Transcaucasia in the 2d cent. a.d. and subsequently settled in the lower Volga region. They emerged as a force in the 7th cent. and ros...

Vladimir I

(Encyclopedia)Vladimir I vŭlˌədyēˈmyĭr [key], or Saint Vladimir, d. 1015, first Christian grand duke of Kiev (c.980–1015); son of Sviatoslav. In 970, Vladimir was sent by his father to govern Novgorod. Afte...

Jarosław

(Encyclopedia)Jarosław yärôˈsläf [key], town (1994 est. pop. 42,500), Podkarpackie prov., SE Poland, on the San River. The town was founded by Yaroslav the Wise, duke of Kiev, in the 11th cent. It passed to Po...

Nevelson, Louise

(Encyclopedia)Nevelson, Louise, 1900–1988, American sculptor, b. Kiev, Russia. Using odd pieces of wood, found objects, cast metal and other materials, Nevelson constructed huge walls or enclosed box arrangements...

Nizhyn

(Encyclopedia)Nizhyn nyĭzhˈĭn [key], Rus. Nezhin, city (1989 pop. 81,000), N Ukraine, on the Oster River. It is a rail terminus on the main Moscow-Kiev line and an agricultural trade center. Industries include e...

Nestor, Russian chronicler

(Encyclopedia)Nestor nĕsˈtər [key], d. 1115?, Russian chronicler. A monk in a Kiev monastery, he wrote a life of saints Boris and Gleb and of the prior of his monastery St. Feodosi. Until recently the authorship...

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