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Strugatsky Brothers
The brothers Arkady Strugatsky (28 August 1925 – 12 October 1991) and Boris Strugatsky (14 April 1933 – 19 November 2012) were Soviet and Russian science-fiction authors who collaborated through most of their careers. Their notable works include ''Hard to Be a God'' (1964), '' Monday Begins on Saturday'' (1965), and ''Roadside Picnic'' (1971), later adapted by Andrei Tarkovsky into the film ''Stalker'' (1979). Life and work The Strugatsky brothers ( or simply ) were born to Natan Strugatsky, an art critic, and his wife, a teacher. Their father was Jewish and their mother was Russian Orthodox. Their early work was influenced by Ivan Yefremov and Stanisław Lem. Later they went on to develop their own, unique style of science fiction writing that emerged from the period of Soviet rationalism in Soviet literature and evolved into novels interpreted as works of social criticism. Their best-known novel, ''Piknik na obochine'', has been translated into English as ''Roadside ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Batumi
Batumi (; ka, ბათუმი ), historically Batum or Batoum, is the List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), second-largest city of Georgia (country), Georgia and the capital of the Autonomous Republic of Adjara, located on the coast of the Black Sea in Georgia's southwest, north of the Georgia-Turkey border, border with Turkey. It is situated in a subtropical zone at the foot of the Caucasus Mountains, Caucasus. Much of Batumi's economy revolves around tourism and gambling (it is nicknamed "The Las Vegas of the Black Sea"), but the city is also an Batumi Seaport, important seaport and includes industries like shipbuilding, food processing and light manufacturing. Since 2010, Batumi has been transformed by the construction of modern high-rise buildings, as well as the restoration of classical 19th-century edifices lining its historic Old Town. History Early history Batumi is located on the site of the ancient Greece, ancient Greek colony in Colchis called "''Bat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Russian Orthodox Church
The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC; ;), also officially known as the Moscow Patriarchate (), is an autocephaly, autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox Christian church. It has 194 dioceses inside Russia. The Primate (bishop), primate of the ROC is the patriarch of Moscow and all Rus'. The History of the Russian Orthodox Church, history of the ROC begins with the Christianization of Kievan Rus', which commenced in 988 with the baptism of Vladimir the Great and his subjects by the clergy of the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople. Starting in the 14th century, Moscow served as the primary residence of the Russian List of metropolitans and patriarchs of Moscow, metropolitan. The ROC declared autocephaly in 1448 when it elected its own metropolitan. In 1589, the metropolitan was elevated to the position of patriarch with the consent of Constantinople. In the mid-17th century, a series of reforms led to Schism of the Russian ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yugoslavia
, common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p1 = State Flag of Serbia (1882-1918).svg , p2 = Kingdom of MontenegroMontenegro , flag_p2 = Flag of the Kingdom of Montenegro.svg , p3 = State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs , flag_p3 = Flag of the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs.svg , p4 = Austria-Hungary , flag_p4 = Flag of Austria-Hungary (1867-1918).svg , p7 = Free State of FiumeFiume , flag_p7 = Flag of the Free State of Fiume.svg , s1 = Croatia , flag_s1 = Flag of Croatia (1990).svg , s2 = Slovenia , flag_s2 = Flag of Slovenia.svg , s3 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bulgaria
Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey to the south, Serbia and North Macedonia to the west, and Romania to the north. It covers a territory of and is the tenth largest within the European Union and the List of European countries by area, sixteenth-largest country in Europe by area. Sofia is the nation's capital and List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, largest city; other major cities include Burgas, Plovdiv, and Varna, Bulgaria, Varna. One of the earliest societies in the lands of modern-day Bulgaria was the Karanovo culture (6,500 BC). In the 6th to 3rd century BC, the region was a battleground for ancient Thracians, Persians, Celts and Ancient Macedonians, Macedonians; stability came when the Roman Empire conquered the region in AD 45. After the Roman state splintered, trib ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukraine to the east, Slovakia and the Czech Republic to the south, and Germany to the west. The territory has a varied landscape, diverse ecosystems, and a temperate climate. Poland is composed of Voivodeships of Poland, sixteen voivodeships and is the fifth most populous member state of the European Union (EU), with over 38 million people, and the List of European countries by area, fifth largest EU country by area, covering . The capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city is Warsaw; other major cities include Kraków, Wrocław, Łódź, Poznań, and Gdańsk. Prehistory and protohistory of Poland, Prehistoric human activity on Polish soil dates to the Lower Paleolithic, with continuous settlement since the end of the Last Gla ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hungary
Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and Slovenia to the southwest, and Austria to the west. Hungary lies within the drainage basin of the Danube, Danube River and is dominated by great lowland plains. It has a population of 9.6 million, consisting mostly of ethnic Hungarians, Hungarians (Magyars) and a significant Romani people in Hungary, Romani minority. Hungarian language, Hungarian is the Languages of Hungary, official language, and among Languages of Europe, the few in Europe outside the Indo-European languages, Indo-European family. Budapest is the country's capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, largest city, and the dominant cultural and economic centre. Prior to the foundation of the Hungarian state, various peoples settled in the territory of present-day Hun ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Estonia
Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Russia. The territory of Estonia consists of the mainland, the larger islands of Saaremaa and Hiiumaa, and over 2,300 other islands and islets on the east coast of the Baltic Sea. Its capital Tallinn and Tartu are the two largest List of cities and towns in Estonia, urban areas. The Estonian language is the official language and the first language of the Estonians, majority of its population of nearly 1.4 million. Estonia is one of the least populous members of the European Union and NATO. Present-day Estonia has been inhabited since at least 9,000 BC. The Ancient Estonia#Early Middle Ages, medieval indigenous population of Estonia was one of the last pagan civilisations in Europe to adopt Christianity following the Northern Crusades in the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eando Binder
Eando Binder () is a pen name used by two mid-20th-century science fiction authors, Earl Andrew Binder (1904–1966) and his brother Otto Binder (1911–1974). The name is derived from their first initials ''(E and O Binder).'' Under the Eando name, the Binders wrote some published science fiction, including stories featuring a heroic robot named Adam Link. The first Adam Link story, published in 1939, is titled " I, Robot". Overview By 1939, Otto had taken over all of the writing, leaving Earl to act as his literary agent. Under his own name, Otto wrote for the Captain Marvel line of comic books published by Fawcett Comics (1941–1953) and the Superman line for Detective Comics (1948–1969), as well as numerous other publishers, with credited stories numbering over 4400. The pen-name Eando Binder is also credited with over 160 comic book stories. Otto Binder was born in Chicago and moved to New York in 1936. He worked as a literary agent for Otis Adelbert Kline for a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Algis Budrys
Algirdas Jonas "Algis" Budrys (January 9, 1931 – June 9, 2008) was a Lithuanian-American science fiction author, copy editing, editor and critic. He was also known under the pen names Frank Mason, Alger Rome in collaboration with Jerome Bixby, John A. Sentry, William Scarff and Paul Janvier. In the 1990s he was the publisher and editor of the science fiction magazine ''Tomorrow Speculative Fiction''. Biography Early life and education Budrys was born in Königsberg, German Empire, Germany (present-day Kaliningrad, Russia). His father Jonas Budrys was the Consul (representative)#Consular rank, consul general of Lithuania. In 1936, when Budrys was five years old, Jonas was appointed as the consul general in New York City. After the Soviet occupation of the Baltic states (1940), Soviet Union's occupation of Lithuania in 1940, Budrys helped his family run a chicken farm in New Jersey while his father was part of the exiled Lithuanian Diplomatic Service, since the United St ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Andrei Tarkovsky
Andrei Arsenyevich Tarkovsky (, ; 4 April 1932 – 29 December 1986) was a Soviet film director and screenwriter of Russian origin. He is widely considered one of the greatest directors in cinema history. Works by Andrei Tarkovsky, His films explore spiritual and metaphysics, metaphysical themes and are known for their Slow cinema, slow pacing and long takes, dreamlike visual imagery and preoccupation with nature and memory. Tarkovsky studied film at the All-Union State Institute of Cinematography under filmmaker Mikhail Romm and subsequently directed his first five features in the Soviet Union: ''Ivan's Childhood'' (1962), ''Andrei Rublev (film), Andrei Rublev'' (1966), ''Solaris (1972 film), Solaris'' (1972), ''Mirror (1975 film), Mirror'' (1975), and ''Stalker (1979 film), Stalker'' (1979). After years of creative conflict with State Committee for Cinematography, state film authorities, he left the country in 1979 and made his final two films—''Nostalghia'' (1983) and ''Th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Social Criticism
Social criticism is a form of academic or journalistic criticism focusing on social issues in contemporary society, in respect to perceived injustices and power relations in general. Social criticism of the Enlightenment The origin of modern social criticism go back at least to the Age of Enlightenment. According to the historian Jonathan Israel the roots of the radical enlightenment can be found in Spinoza and his circle. Radical enlighteners like Jean Meslier were not satisfied with the social criticism of the time, which was essentially a criticism of religion. The focus of his criticism was the suffering of the peasants. In addition, there was also a criticism of civilization for religious reasons, such as that which emanated from the Quakers in England. Jean-Jacques Rousseau developed a social criticism in his political philosophy which influenced the French Revolution andin his pedagogy. Academic forms The positivism dispute between critical rationalism, e.g. between ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Soviet Literature
Russian literature refers to the literature of Russia, its émigrés, and to Russian-language literature. Major contributors to Russian literature, as well as English for instance, are authors of different ethnic origins, including bilingual writers, such as Kyrgyz novelist Chinghiz Aitmatov. At the same time, Russian-language literature does not include works by authors from the Russian Federation who write exclusively or primarily in the native languages of the indigenous non-Russian ethnic groups in Russia, thus the famous Dagestani poet Rasul Gamzatov is omitted. The roots of Russian literature can be traced to the Early Middle Ages when Old Church Slavonic was introduced as a liturgical language and became used as a literary language. The native Russian vernacular remained the use within oral literature as well as written for decrees, laws, messages, chronicles, military tales, and so on. By the Age of Enlightenment, literature had grown in importance, and from the ea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
