Publications
They never met. And it is unlikely that they ever could have met. A century and a half ago the enormous distance between the Russian Empire and the United States seemed no less than the distance between the earth and moon. And had they met, there is the question of whether the master of the centuries-old empire would have deemed to shake the hand of the son of an illiterate pauper from Kentucky and former woodcutter, who thanks to his own talent (and well-functioning social elevators) was lifted to the presidency of a large country that had yet to make it through its first century.
But the paths of Alexander II and Abraham Lincoln...
On February 14, the day that the Catholic Church celebrates Saints Cyril and Methodius, Freiburg University and the Russkiy Mir Foundation signed an agreement to open a Russian Studies Center.
As it turns out, the University of Freiburg, the only university in Switzerland where teaching is place in two languages in parallel – French and German, has always been closely connected with Slavic culture. The oldest Slavic studies department in the country was established at the university in 1889, stimulated in part by the large influx of Polish immigrants and the city’s ties to Slavic culture. And now, a little more than a century...
The competition to choose the talisman for the Sochi 2014 Olympics is approaching its final stage – a public vote via text message to select the winner. The sms-vote will be held on February 26 and announced on the same day. At present you can find the 11 finalists on the official website of the Sochi Olympics. The finalist, which include Ded Moroz (Father Frost), Brown Bear, Snow Leopard, Polar Bear, Zaya the Hare, Little Sun, Fire Boy, Snow Girl, Bullfinch, Matryoshka Dolls and Dolphin, where selected by a jury headed by Konstantin Ernst, general director of Channel 1, out of more than 24,000 entries.
The talisman will become a...
Peter I loved to collect all sorts of curiosities, and his creation of the famous Kunstkamera museum is a case in point. But even when he signed the order creating the Model Chamber, he was clearly thinking about truly practical matters and not museum exhibits. In those days model chambers could be found and any major shipping wharf and the role of what we today would call a database, a collection of information about types of ships built. And, having visited Holland during his Grand Embassy, Peter naturally could not help but want to create something analogous in Russia.
But the Model Chamber, which was initially situated in the Admiralty...
On January 26, the Russkiy Mir Foundation will open a Russian Center in Innsbruck, the first such center in Austria and 68th in world. We spoke with Dr. Ingeborg Ohnheiser, director of the Institute of Slavic Languages, Literatures and Cultures at the University of Innsbruck, about the teaching of the Russian language in Austria, preparations for the opening of the center and future plans.
– Who do you expect to attend the opening ceremony of the Russian Center?
– Participants of both the Russian and Austrian side will be of a very high level. We are delighted that the director of the Russkiy Mir Foundation Vyacheslav Nikonov has...
What is a linguistic norm and how should it be regulated? Is there a single Russian language norm for the entire Russian-speaking population or should certain regions be allowed to create their own variations? Such issues were at the center of discussion at a roundtable held within the framework of the conference Russian Language Abroad. The conference was held at the Russian State Humanities University (RSHU) in Moscow with financial support from the Russkiy Mir Foundation.
The theme of language norms and reforming the Russian language is one of the “hot topics” among contemporary linguists. This topic long ago left the bounds...
