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Krüdener, Juliana, Baroness von

(Encyclopedia)Krüdener, Juliana, Baroness von fən krüdˈənər [key], 1764–1824, Russian novelist and mystic. Born a Livonian aristocrat, she married a Russian diplomat. She left her husband (1801) for the ple...

Gordon, Patrick

(Encyclopedia)Gordon, Patrick, 1635–99, Scottish soldier of fortune and Russian general, b. Scotland. After serving alternately on both sides in the war between Sweden and Poland (1655–60), he entered the Russi...

Frunze, Mikhail Vasilyevich

(Encyclopedia)Frunze, Mikhail Vasilyevich mēkhəyēlˈ vəsēˈlyəvĭch fro͞onˈzĕ [key], 1885–1925, Russian general. A revolutionary, he was exiled (1914) to Siberia but returned to take part in the October ...

Aksakov, Sergei Timofeyevich

(Encyclopedia)Aksakov, Sergei Timofeyevich äksäˈkôf [key], 1791–1859, Russian writer, known for his nostalgic descriptions of the Orenburg region. Aksakov's chief work is Family Chronicle (1856, tr. 1924), a...

Smolenskin, Perez

(Encyclopedia)Smolenskin, Perez pĕrˈĕts smōlĕnˈskĭn [key], c.1842–1885, Russian novelist and essayist who wrote in Hebrew. He settled in Vienna and founded the Hebrew monthly journal Ha-Shahar, which he ed...

Plushenko, Evgeni Viktorovich

(Encyclopedia)Plushenko, Evgeni Viktorovich, 1982–, Russian figure skater. Plushenko debuted at the Russian Nationals in 1996, won the World Junior Championship a year later, and won the bronze medal at the World...

Stepniak, S.

(Encyclopedia)Stepniak, S. styĭpnyäkˈ [key], 1852–95, Russian revolutionary and writer, whose real name was Sergei Mikhailovich Kravchinski. He fled Russia in 1878 after taking part in the assassination of the...

Witte, Count Sergei Yulyevich

(Encyclopedia)Witte, Count Sergei Yulyevich syĭrgāˈ yo͞oˈlyĭvĭch vĭtˈə [key], 1849–1915, Russian premier. A railway administrator, he became minister of communications (1892) and minister of finance (18...

Kolchak, Aleksandr Vasilyevich

(Encyclopedia)Kolchak, Aleksandr Vasilyevich əlyĭksänˈdər vəsēˈlyəvĭch kəlchäkˈ [key], 1874–1920, Russian admiral, leader of the anti-Bolshevik forces in W Siberia during the civil war (1918–20). H...

narodniki

(Encyclopedia)narodniki närôdˈnĭkē [key], Russian populists, adherents of an agrarian socialist movement active from the 1860s to the end of the 19th cent. Influenced by the writings of Aleksandr Herzen, the n...