Coco Chanel’s Russian Period on Display in London

The retrospective show “Gabrielle Chanel—Fashion Manifesto” at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London takes visitors on a journey that begins with the iconic designer’s first millinery boutique in Paris in 1910 and ends with her final collection in 1971. Featuring over 200 looks brought together in one place for the first time, the show…

Russian Publisher Raided for Selling Books By Renowned Writer on ‘Extremists and Terrorists’ List

Russian investigators raided the Zakharov publishing house Tuesday after it refused to stop selling books by Russian-Georgian writer Boris Akunin, who this week was added to the country’s “extremists and terrorists” registry. “The Investigative Committee wants all the documents we possess — contracts, payments, everything — linked to Boris Akunin,” Irina Bogat, the publishing house’s…

In Photos: Moscow Lights Up for the New Year

Moscow is preparing to ring in 2024 with decorations popping up across the city ahead of the New Year, Russia’s most festive holiday. The decorations appear as the coming year is expected to be a challenging one for Russia, with the ongoing war in Ukraine and Western sanctions along with the presidential election. Here is…

Russia Adds Prominent Writer Akunin to ‘Extremists and Terrorists’ Registry

Russian-Georgian writer Boris Akunin (Grigory Chkhartishvili) has been added to state financial watchdog Rosfinmonitoring’s list of “extremists and terrorists,” the independent Mediazona news website reported Monday. Akunin, 67, who lives in the U.K., has publicly condemned the Kremlin’s war against Ukraine and is a co-founder of the TrueRussia Foundation, which helps people affected by the…

Sour Cabbage Soup Gets Its Jam On

Today Russian speakers probably don’t know the word “levashi,” but it has a very long history in Russian culinary traditions. This is a case when both the dish and even the word itself reveals the surprises and secrets of ancient cuisine — secrets long forgotten, but that might come in handy even today. “Levashi” are…

Vladimir Putin’s Rhetorical Tricks

Поговорим: Let’s talk I have been listening to, reading, and writing about Vladimir Putin’s press conferences and “разговоры” (conversations) with the people (народ) for a couple of decades now, and although I haven’t checked year-by-year, my sense is that his rhetorical devices haven’t changed all that much. In some cases they seem to have tapered…

Russian Bookstores, Publishing House Ban Books by Prominent Writers Over Anti-War Statements

One of Russia’s leading publishing houses, AST, has suspended the printing and sale of books by Russian poet, journalist and prose writer Dmitry Bykov and Russian-Georgian writer Boris Akunin over their anti-war views, it announced Friday.  “Public statements made by these writers — which caused a widespread public outcry — require legal assessment. Publication and…

Bolshoi Theater Director Valery Gergiev and the Path of Power

Читайте русскую версию здесь. The long-awaited induction of Valery Gergiev, head of the St Petersburg Mariinsky Theater, as director of the Bolshoi Theater is good reason to reassess his body of work. Perhaps more importantly, it’s a good time to look at his career achievements, in particular, his position in the Russian power structures. Today…

The Cuisine of Russian Emigration

“You can’t carry your homeland with you on the soles of your boots,” French revolutionary Georges Danton told friends when they suggested he flee France shortly before his arrest.  You may not be able to take your homeland with you, but you can take your cuisine. We saw this time and again in the 20th…

Words of the Year 2023

Слово года 2023: Word of the Year 2023 In the Before Times I wrote my favorite column of the year in early December, when a group of Russian language fanatics headed by Mikhail Epstein, a linguist and professor of Russian language and literature, would cast their votes for the words that best captured the spirit…

The Strange Russian History of Beet Make-Up

Paint your cheeks with beet juice? Every Soviet child laughed at ugly Marfushka with huge beet-red circles on her cheeks in the 1964 movie “Morozko.” Although the fairy tale was a lie, there was an ounce of truth in the image. Five hundred years ago the faces of Russian women were plastered with make-up so…

The Myth of the Untranslatable

Сутки: 24 hours, day and night The topic of “untranslatable words” makes me exceedingly cranky. First of all, there is no such thing as an untranslatable word. Really. There may not be one word in your language that corresponds to the meaning of the so-called untranslatable word. Or there might be a word equivalent in…

The Indescribable Deliciousness of a Wine-Poached Pear

There is an old Russian joke that goes like this: Two friends are talking. One says, “Everyone is always sighing: ‘Caruso! Caruso!’ But I listened, and it was nothing special.” “You listened to Caruso?!” his friend asked. “Nah. Rabinovich sang it to me.” It’s actually more sad than funny. You might be able to describe…

How to Be Obnoxious in One Easy Word

Лезть: climb, crawl, push, pester, butt in, hit on, get involved, etc. A couple of years ago I briefly mentioned the verb лезть in an article about another word, thinking at the time that I was doing a grave injustice to лезть. It’s a great little word. Its first literal meaning is to climb or…

Russia Places Ukrainian Singer Jamala on Wanted List

Russia has placed Ukrainian singer Jamala on its federal wanted list on unspecified criminal charges, Russian state agencies reported Monday.  The singer’s name and photo appeared on the Interior Ministry’s database, without further information about what she was accused of doing.  A singer of Crimean Tatar origin, Jamala won the 2016 Eurovision contest with “1944,” a song about…

Are You Liberated or Independent?

Независимость: independence, self-sufficiency In the part of the world I’m in, November seems to be particularly rich in state holidays of independence. In the Russian language these holidays are sometimes of освобождение (liberty, freedom) and sometimes of независимость (independence, freedom). So what’s the difference? Освобождение (freedom) is related to the verb pair освобождать/освободить, which means…

Pozharsky Chicken Cutlets Put Torzhok on the Map

Pozharsky cutlets… crispy outside, succulent inside, always served straight from the stove and never reheated… These minced meat patties take themselves seriously — and diners should take them seriously, too. It’s hard to believe, but these cutlets were first invented and served by Yevdokim Pozharsky, an ordinary innkeeper in the small Russian town of Torzhok.…

Contemporary Russian Art: Immigration or Compromise?

Street artist Philippenzo, or Philipp Kozlov, has used his political graffiti to oppose the war in Ukraine. He was arrested at a Moscow airport this summer, and in October, he was added to the wanted list on criminal charges. His example shows how Russian authorities are closely monitoring contemporary artists, leaving them with two main…

A Short Guide to Russian Spokesperson-Speak

ТАСС уполномочен заявить: TASS has been authorized to announce… At some time in the future when I have about three years with nothing to do, I will research when and how politicians in various countries around the world began to use weasel words as a matter of course. You know what I mean: “We are…

Russian TV Channel Removes ‘LGBT’ Rainbow From K-Pop Music Video

A popular Russian television channel removed the rainbow featured in a K-pop music video over concerns that it could violate the country’s laws against “LGBT propaganda,” Russian media reported. TNT Music, which runs a chart show dedicated to South Korean pop music, has already been fined for violating Russia’s “LGBT propaganda” laws with previous broadcasts of foreign-made music videos.  But…

Odesa Museum of Fine Arts Damaged in Bombing

On Monday the Odesa Fine Arts Museum suffered extensive damage from aerial strikes that cracked walls, blew out windows, did harm to art works and left an enormous crater in front of the building. The museum has one of the most extensive collections of art from Ukraine, Russia and other countries and regions. The collection…

Mikhail Bulgakov and the Mystery of ‘Julienne’

Hundreds of works of fiction have been written about Russia in the 1920s: satirical short stories, long novels, documentary dramas by Andrei Platonov, Mikhail Bulgakov, Mikhail Zoshchenko, Ilya Ilf and Yevgeny Petrov. Have you ever wondered why? It’s a good question. Why has this period — certainly not the best from the point of view…

Secretly, Silently and Sneakily Yours

Втайне: secretly, in secret A translator friend of mine recently announced with some fanfare that he had found the most misspelled word in the Russian language. He had documented 11 misspellings, which is impressive — although I’m sure my personal record for misspelling здравствуйте over the years has topped that. In any case, the word…

At the Movies: How Western Directors Imagine Russians

Although the main cinema festivals around the world are not including any films made in Russia by Russian directors this year, that doesn’t mean that Russia is absent from movie theaters in the West. Foreign directors have been exploring the Russian context in their films, with characters both vile and brilliant in films that have…

The Great Russian War Against Halloween

A dispute once arose in a Moscow liberal drawing room in the late 1870s. Did the heir to the throne (the future Tsar Alexander III), who considered himself purely Russian, have much Russian blood in him? The dispute was resolved by turning to the famous historian Sergei Solovyov, who happened to be among the guests.…

A Curly Healthy Biting Hello

Клёво: cool, great, fab, super When things are good, you exclaim: Хорошо! When things are good and you are too young to legally drink you exclaim: Клёво!  If you want, you can exclaim it when you’re old enough to drink or even get a pension — but the word does have a young vibe. So…

Russia, the Land That Never Knew the Earl of Sandwich

The phrase “Russian sandwich” doesn’t sound entirely natural, especially since the Russian word for sandwich — бутерброд — is so clearly borrowed from German (Butterbrot, which means bread and butter). On the other hand, we’ve gotten used to the terms “Russian mayonnaise” and “Russian champagne” — the names of favorite products that have been around…

Hate Speech Part Two: Russian Leaders Speak

Стая наркоманов: a pack of junkies Some day when I have a lot of time and patience I will create a word map of Russian leaders’ accusations about Ukraine and the stated goal(s) of their “special military operation.” You’d think you’d have a solid idea of what the problem was and what was wrong with…

Soviet-Russian Composer Gennady Gladkov Dies at 88

Famous Soviet-Russian composer Gennady Gladkov passed away in the Russian capital on Monday aged 88, the state-run TASS news agency reported.  Gladkov is known for composing music for over 100 Soviet and Russian films, cartoons and theatrical plays.  His most famous work was a soundtrack to the 1969 Soviet animated musical “The Bremen Town Musicians.” Songs…

Maxim Osipov’s Fifth Wave of Independent Russian Writing

In March 2022, Russian writer and cardiologist, Maxim Osipov, left his home country, flying first to Armenia before settling in Germany. He now resides with his wife in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.  Osipov is the well-known author of “Rock, Paper, Scissors” (2019), which was praised by the Belarussian Nobel-prize laureate Svetlana Alexievich as being “an accurate,…

Russian Fast Food, Circa 1382

What did our ancestors eat for a quick snack? They’d grab a little pie or a kalach. The whole point of a kalach — bread with a handle — is to eat it “on the go.” You could grab the handle with dirty hands, eat the bread, and then just throw away the dirty handle.…

Let Me Introduce You to New Creatures in the World

Эмигрант: emigrant There was a bit of a flap in the Russian State Duma in recent days that eventually reached the Russian president’s press secretary. It concerned a new creature, unknown to millions of native Russian speakers: the релокант. Can you guess what this creature is? The interesting thing about this word is that is…

A Short History of Russian Salads

We can’t live without salads; they are an essential part of our everyday life. Their names, so utterly familiar in Russia, sound strange to foreigners. We have salad Olivier; vinaigrette salad (not dressing); “herring under a fur coat” (really); a spring salad called “Mimosa” that is not a flower or a drink; and even a…

Hate Speech, Part One

Шовинист: chauvinist Long before the war began in 2022, I’d been tracking the linguistic dehumanization of Ukrainians practiced by some Russian speakers. At first I was mostly tracking bloggers and young people; lately I’ve been listening and reading Russian media figures, leaders, public figures and even religious figures and academics. Other folks are following this…

Censorship in Russian Cinema Isn’t What You Think

“In Russia, it is now impossible to make any film without approval,” writer Dmitry Glukhovsky said in a recent interview with Radio Liberty.  Glukhovsky, who has been convicted in absentia of spreading “fake news” about the Russian army, went on to describe a system of censorship in which Federal Security Service (FSB) officers proofread scripts…