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Kravchuk, Leonid Makarovich

(Encyclopedia)Kravchuk, Leonid Makarovich lĭŭnyētˈ məkärˈəvyĭch kräfˈcho͝ok [key], 1934–, Ukrainian leader, president of Ukraine (1991–94), b. Velyky Zhityn, Ukraine. A political economist and long-...

Don Cossacks

(Encyclopedia)Don Cossacks, Cossack settlers (see Cossacks) who in the 16th cent. founded the virtually independent republic of the Don Cossacks on the fertile steppes along the lower course of the Don River. Novoc...

Nichols, Mike

(Encyclopedia)Nichols, Mike, 1931–2014, American actor and director, b. Berlin, Germany, as Mikhail Igor Peschkowsky. His family immigrated to the United States in ...

Tharp, Twyla

(Encyclopedia)Tharp, Twyla twīˈlə [key], 1941–, American dancer and choreographer, b. Portland, Ind. An eclectic, innovative choreographer and dancer, she danced (1963–65) with Paul Taylor. For more than 20 ...

Zhirinovsky, Vladimir Volfovich

(Encyclopedia)Zhirinovsky, Vladimir Volfovich vlədyēˈmĭr vôlˈfəvyĭchˌ zhĭrˌĭnôfˈskē [key], 1946–, Russian politician, b. Kazakh SSR (now Kazakhstan) as Vladimir Volfovich Eidelshtein. Born into a p...

Shevardnadze, Eduard Amvrosiyevich

(Encyclopedia)Shevardnadze, Eduard Amvrosiyevich ĕdˈwärd shəvˈärdnädˈzyə [key], 1928–2014, Georgian politician and diplomat. Known for pragmatism rather than polemicism, Shevardnadze served as the head o...

Primakov, Yevgeny Maksimovich

(Encyclopedia)Primakov, Yevgeny Maksimovich yĭvgyānˈyē mŭksyēˈməvyĭchˌ prēˌməkôfˈ [key], 1929–2015, Russian government official and economist, b. Kiev (now in Ukraine). An Arabic scholar, grad. (19...

Alexander III, czar of Russia

(Encyclopedia)Alexander III, 1845–94, czar of Russia (1881–94), son and successor of Alexander II. Factors that contributed to Alexander's reactionary policies included his father's assassination, his limited i...

Brezhnev, Leonid Ilyich

(Encyclopedia)Brezhnev, Leonid Ilyich lāyōnēdˈ ĭlyēchˈ brĕzhˈnĕf [key], 1906–82, Soviet leader. He joined (1931) the Communist party and rose steadily in its hierarchy. In 1952 he became a secretary of ...

Tolstoy, Leo, Count

(Encyclopedia)Tolstoy, Leo, Count, Rus. Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoi (lyĕf), 1828–1910, Russian novelist and philosopher, considered one of the world's greatest writers. About 1876 the doubts that had beset Tols...