February 9

     Civil Aviation Day in Russia.

 On February 9th Russia celebrates its national civil aviation anniversary. It has been 90 years since Vladimir Lenin signed a special decree marking the start of Russian air fleet on 9th of February, 1923.

     The first scheduled passenger flight was conducted on July 15th, 1923 from Moscow to Nizhny Novgorod. In 1932, the civil aviation flag, staff uniIn 1979, the Supreme Soviet Presidium of the USSR named 9th of July “The day of Aeroflot”. 

February 8

Vyacheslav Vasilyevich Tikhonov was born this day. He was a Soviet and Russian actor whose best known role was as Soviet spy, Stierlitz in the television series Seventeen Moments of Spring. He was a recipient of numerous state awards, including the titles of People's Artist of the USSR (1974) and Hero of Socialist Labour (1982).

Tikhonov became better known with the release of "the rural family drama Delo bylo v Penkove (It Happened in Penkovo, 1958), [which] was followed by several wartime dramas: Maiskie Zvyozdy (May Stars, 1959), set in Prague, and Na Semi Vetrakh (On the Seven Winds, 1962), on the Western front." "In Yevgeny Tashkov's Zhazhda (Thirst, 1959), based on real events, Tikhonov, in the first of his spy roles, is a scout in an operation to free an Odessa water plant from the Nazis."Tikhonov appeared in Nikita Mikhalkov's Oscar-winning Burnt By the Sun (1994) and will also appear in the 2010 sequel, which finished shooting before his death.

February 7

Anna of Russia or Anna Ioannovna (Russian: Анна Иоанновна) (7 February [O.S. 28 January] 1693, Moscow – 28 October [O.S. 17 October] 1740) reigned as Duchess of Courland from 1711 to 1730 and as Empress of Russia from 1730 to 1740. Anna was the daughter of Ivan V of Russia, as well as the niece of Peter the Great. The latter married her to Frederick William, Duke of Courland in November 1710, but on the return trip from Saint Petersburg in January 1711, her husband died. Anna proceeded to rule Courland (now western Latvia) from 1711 to 1730, with the Russian resident, Peter Bestuzhev, as her adviser (and sometimes lover). She never remarried after the death of her husband, but her enemies said she conducted a love affair with Ernst Johann von Biron for many years.

On the death of Peter II, Emperor of Russia, the Russian Supreme Privy Council under Prince Dmitri Galitzine made Anna Empress in 1730. They had hoped that she would feel indebted to the nobles for her unexpected fortune and remain a figurehead at best, and malleable at worst. In the hope of establishing a constitutional monarchy in Russia, they convinced her to sign laws that limited her power. However, these proved a minor inconvenience to her. She soon established herself as an autocratic ruler, using her popularity with the imperial guards and lesser nobility.

Anita "Anna" Sergeyevna Tsoy (Russian: Анита "Анна" Сергеевна Цой; born 7 February 1971, Moscow) is a Russian singer-songwriter of Koreandescent.As an artist, Anita Tsoy is known for regularly changing her music style and image. She began performing as a nearly rock artist in 1997, later turned to dance music, and after 2006 several music styles present in her songs: Viktor Tsoi's rock followed by blues, R&B, and Eastern styled pop

February 6

Konstantin Lvovich Ernst was born February 6, 1961. He is a Russian director, producer and TV personality, working as Director General of the Channel One. Konstantin Ernst is the son of a biologist Lev Konstantinovich Ernst(January 8, 1929 - April 26, 2012), doctor of agricultural sciences, professor, member of the Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Vice-President of the Russian Academy of Agricultural Sciences. Konstantin was named after his grandfather (Father of Lev Konstantinovich. He graduated from High School No. 35 in Leningrad. In 1983 he graduated from Leningrad State University, Biology Department. He worked in various research institutes. When he was 25 years old, he received his Ph.D. in biochemistry. His first wife was Anna Silyunas - a Theatre critic person, mother of Alexandra Ernst (b. 1995). His current wife is Larissa Sinelshchikova, President of Red Square TV Channel, mother of Igor Ernst and Anastasia Ernst.

February 5

Nikolay Alexandrovich Dobrolyubov was born February 5. He was a Russian literary critic, journalist, poet and revolutionary democrat.

Dobrolyubov was born in Nizhny Novgorod, where his father was a priest. He attended school at a seminary from 1848 to 1853. He was considered a prodigy by his teachers in the seminary, and at home he spent most of his time in his father's library, reading books on science and art. By the age of thirteen he was writing poetry and translating verses from Roman poets such as Horace.In 1853 he went to St. Petersburg and entered theUniversity. Following the deaths of both of his parents, in 1854, he assumed responsibility for his brothers and sisters. He worked as a tutor and translator in order to support his family and continue his studies. His heavy workload and the stress of his position had a negative effect on his health.

During his years at the University he organized an underground democratic circle, issued a manuscript newspaper, and led the student's struggle against the reactionary University administration. His poems On the 50th Birthday of N. I. Grech (1854), and Ode on the Death of Nicholas I (1855), copies of which were distributed outside the University, showed his hostile attitude toward the autocracy.

In 1856 he met the influential critic Nikolay Chernyshevsky, and the publisher Nikolay Nekrasov. He soon began publishing his works in Nekrasov's popular journal The Contemporary. 

He returned to Russia in July 1861. He died in November 1861, at the age of twenty five, from acute tuberculosis. He was buried next to Vissarion Belinsky at Volkovo Cemetery in St. Petersburg.

February 4

Birthdays

 

Mikhail Mikhailovich Prishvin (February 4, 1873 - January 16, 1954) was a Russian/Soviet writer. He began writing for magazines in 1898, but his first short story, "Sashok," was published in 1906. Prishvin's works (In the Land of Unfrightened Birds, The Bun, Drops from the Forest, etc.) are full of poetics, exceptional keenness of observation, and descriptions of nature. Many of his works were translated into different languages and became part of the gold fund of the Soviet children's literature. Mikhail Prishvin was awarded two orders.

Igor Vladimirovich Kvasha (February 4, 1933 — August 30, 2012) was a Soviet and Russian theater and film actor. He is a leading actor of Sovremennik Theater. Igor Kvasha was one Sovremennik founders along with Galina Volchek, Oleg Yefremov, Yevgeniy Yevstigneyev and Oleg Tabakov. He is perhaps most famous for such films starring him as A Man from Boulevard des Capucines (1987), The Hearts of the Three (1992), Adam's Rib (1990). He was honored with People's Artist of Russia in 1978. The talented actor also became a host for the remarkable TV talk show Wait for Me on Russia's Channel One.

February 3

Vira Viktorivna Halushka (Ukrainian: Віра Вікторівна Галушка, Russian: Вера Викторовна Галушка,Vera Viktorovna Galushka; born 3 February 1982), better known by her stage name Vera Brezhneva (Russian: Вера Брежнева, Ukrainian: Віра Брежнєва), is a Ukrainian pop-singer andtelevision presenter. Vera was born on February 3, 1982 in Dniprodzerzhynsk, in the Ukrainian SSR of the Soviet Union. She was raised in an ordinary family. Her mother, Tamara, is Russian, and her father, Viktor is mixed of Ukrainian and Russian descent. Her father worked in a chemical factory located by the Dnieper River. Her mother, who had graduated from medical school, worked in the same place. Vera has three sisters - one older (Halyna) and two younger (Nastya and Vika, twins). She bought a flat for her parents in Boryspil, nearby Kiev. The father of Vera's daughter (Sonia) is Vitaliy Voychenko, to whom Vira was married for a few years. She graduated from the Rail Engineering Institute of Dnipropetrovsk as an economist.

Arkadii Trofimovich Dragomoshchenko (Russian: Арка́дий Трофи́мович Драгомо́щенко; 3 February 1946 - 12 September 2012) was a Russian poet, writer, translator, and lecturer. He is considered the foremost representative of language poetry in contemporary Russian literature.

Books translated in English

·         Description. A book of poetry, translated by Lyn Hejinian. LA: Sun & Moon Press, 1990.

·         Xenia. A book of poetry, translated by Lyn Hejinian. LA: Sun & Moon Press, 1994.

·         Chinese Sun. A novel, translated by Evgeny Pavlov. Eastern European Poets Series No. 9. New York, NY: Ugly Duckling Presse, 2005.

·         Dust. Collected prose, translated by Thomas Epstein, Evgeny Pavlov, and Shushan Avagyan. Urbana-Champaign, IL: Dalkey Archive Press, 2009.

Books in Russian

·         Nebo Sootvetstvii. [Sky of Correspondence] A book of poetry, Sovetskii Pisatel’ Press, Leningrad, 1990.

·         Xenia. A book of poetry, Borei & Mitin Journal Press, St Peterburg, 1994.

·         Phosphor. A book of prose, Severo-Zapad Press, St Petersburg, 1994.

·         Pod Podozreniem. [Under Suspicion] A book of poetry, Borey-Art Press, St Petersburg, 1994.

·         Kitajskoe Solnce. [Chinese Sun] A novel, Borey-Art Press & Mitin Journal, St Petersburg, 1997.

·         Opisanie. [Selected] A book of poetry, Gumanitarnaia Akademia Press, St Petersburg, 2000.

·         Na Beregakh Iskliuchennoj Reki. [On the Banks of an Excluded River] A book of poetry, OGI Press, Moscow, 2006.

·         Bezrazlichia. [Indifferences] Collected prose, Borey-Art Press, St Petersburg, 2007.

·         POP 3, with Margarita Meklina. Epistolary novel, Lulu Press, 2008.

·         Shoaling Things. (co-authored by Jan Lauwereyns, with a drawing by Anne-Mie Van Kerckhoven) Ghent, Belgium: Druksel, 2011.

·         Tavtologia. [Tautology] Collected poetry, Novoe Literaturnoe Obozrenie Press, Moscow,2011.