Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Kotelny Island kōtĕlˈnē [key], largest island of the Anjou group of the New Siberian Islands, c.100 mi (160 km) long and c.60 mi (100 km) wide, off N Siberian Russia. The island was sighted in 177...

(Encyclopedia) Bulgarin, Faddey Venediktovich fədyāˈ vĭnyədyēkˈtəvĭch bo͝olgäˈrēn [key], 1789–1859, Russian journalist and novelist, b. Poland. Bulgarin's original name was Tadeusz Bulharyn. In 1825 h...

(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...

(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...

(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 ...

(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 ...

(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...

(Encyclopedia) Bashkortostan băshkĭrˈ [key], constituent republic, 55,444 sq mi (143,600 sq km), E European ...

(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...

(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...