это какая-то детская хрень, но я не шарю

  the very mention of this country brings to memory the image of a proud yuri gagarin as he became the first human to journey into outer space. russians have always been the pioneers in space travel and launched the first human made satellite. extending across northern asia and eastern europe, russia is the largest country in the world by area. russians over the past several centuries have played a very important role in the development of the world’s art, science and technology, philosophy, music, politics and literature.

dmitri mendeleev  (1834 – 1907) russian chemist. formulated the periodic law and standardised the periodic table of elements which is still used today. mendeleev wrote  principles of chemistry  (1868–1870) a classic textbook for many decades.

grigori rasputin  (1869 – 1916) mystical faith healer born a peasant in the village of pokrovskoye, siberia. rasputin became very influential in the royal tsarist family. his presence was a polarising influence, with many disliking rasputin’s influence. he was killed in 1916 and credited with increasing the unpopularity of the royal family.v.lenin  (1870-1924) – born in  ulyanovsk, russia. lenin was  the leader of bolsheviks during the russian revolution in 1917. lenin became the first leader of the soviet union influencing the direction of the new communist state.joseph stalin  (1879 – 1953) leader and dictator of the soviet union from 1924 – 1953. stalin ruthlessly purged any opposition to his rule and created fear by having many in a position of power – arrested and executed. stalin turned the soviet union into a one-party state where any dissent was ruthlessly denounced. his 1930s purges weakened the russian army. but, in 1942, with the german army advancing towards moscow, he led the defence of russia.anna pavlova  (1881-1931) russian ballet dancer born in st petersburg. she was the principal dancer of the imperial russian ballet and the ballets russes of sergei diaghilev. she also set up her own touring ballet company and invented ‘the dying swan.’anna akhmatova  (1889 – 1966) modernist poet born odessa, ukraine. akhmatova’s masterpiece was the short lyrical poems of –  requiem  (1935–40) – a tragic description of stalin’s terror. despite official censorship and the execution of family members, she remained in the soviet union to be a witness to the totalitarian regime.nikita khrushchev  (1894 – 1971) successor to stalin, khrushchev ended many of the worst excesses of stalin’s oppressive policies. he led the soviet union from 1953 to 1964 during the tense years of the cold war. he cut conventional forces but built up the number of nuclear missiles. he led the soviet union during the 1962 cuban missile crisis – a stand-off between the us and soviet union, which nearly resulted in nuclear war.vladimir horowitz  (1903 – 1989) born in kiev, horowitz later moved to the us (1928). he is considered one of the greatest pianists of all time. horowitz excited audiences with his dramatic interpretations of piano masterpieces. he returned to play in the soviet union in 1986 after a long period of exile.mikhail kalashnikov  (1919 – 2013) russian general and military inventor. kalashnikov invented the kalashnikov sub-machine gun, which came into production in the late 1940s. due to its simplicity of design, it has become the world’s most prolifically produced weapon. kalashnikov expressed regret at its wide proliferation.vladimir putin  (1952 – ) putin became russian president in 2000, and has become the central figure of authority in russia. putin has moved russia away from the democratic reforms of gorbachev and closer to a one party state.garry kasparov  (1963 – ) greatest chess player of all time. kasparov became world chess champion in 1985, aged 22, a title he held until 2000. from 1986, he was ranked world no. 1 for 225 out of 228 months. since retirement in 2005, he has become a political activist, opposing president putin.maria sharapova  (1987 – ) (russia, tennis) has won all four major grand slam tournaments and olympic silver in 2012. has a high profile outside the game with her own business and modelling ventures.russians are credited with discovering and inventing the electric arc, lenz’s law, lasers and holography. it was a russian, dmitry mendeleev, who invented the periodic table which forms the foundation of modern chemistry. how can we forget the fine arts when we talk of russians? several famous composers of the 20th century like alexander scriabin, igor stravinsky, sergei prokofiev, and alfred schnittke were russians. novelists leo tolstoy and fyodor dostoyevsky are counted among the very best by critics. russians are an innovative lot; they were among the first people to introduce radio and television in their country. there have been so many awesome russians who have enriched the world in one way or the other.