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Outstanding
People of Russia
Russia has a very rich history and has a lot of outstanding
people most of whom are world famous, and it is almost
impossible to tell about all of them. It was our country that
gave birth to such people as Alexander Pushkin, Dmitry
Mendeleyev, Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, Yuri Gagarin, Ilya Repin and
many others. Today, Russia also has got famous people who work
in various fields. They are pop stars, sportsmen and
sportswomen, actors and actresses, world famous doctors and
physicists, writers and politicians.
I would like to tell you about some of Russian outstanding
people of the past and of today.
Mikhail Lomonosov
Mikhail Lomonosov was a Russian polymath, scientist and writer,
who made important contributions to literature, education, and
science of the country. Lomonosov is considered to be the
"father" of Russian science.
Mikhail Lomonosov was born in 1711 in a small village of
Arkhangelsk Region. He always wanted to study and when he was
nineteen he joined a caravan travelling to Moscow. He entered
the Slavic-Greek-Latin Academy and six years later was sent to
Germany to complete his studies in Chemistry and mining.
Lomonosov returned to Russia in 1741 and a year later he was
named adjutant to the Russian Academy of Science at the Physics
Department. In May 1743, Lomonosov was arrested and held under
house arrest for eight months, after he supposedly insulted a
few people who worked at the Academy. He was released and
pardoned in January 1744 after apologising to all people
involved.
Later Lomonosov was made a full member of the Academy, and named
professor of Chemistry. He established the Academy's first
chemistry laboratory. Eager to improve Russian educational
system, Lomonosov joined his patron Count Ivan Shuvalov in
founding the Moscow State University which is now named after
him.
Lomonosov made research in electricity, gravity and the
character of colour. He was also the author of several odes and
poems and published a lot of scientific works, including the
first book on Russian grammar. 300 years passed since
Lomonosov's birth and there were a lot of events in his memory
all over Russia in 2011.
Leonid Roshal
Professor Leonid Roshal is a world-famous Russian doctor,
whose reputation continues to grow as the years pass.
Roshal was born in Livny, a small town in Oryol Region. From the
time he was a small boy, he knew that he would grow up to become
a doctor.
After finishing secondary school, he entered a medical institute
where he decided to join the pediatric faculty partly because of
his love for children. After graduating, however, he realised
that he wanted to continue his studies and went on to become a
pediatric surgeon.
Roshal's many prestigious titles and awards include Doctor of
Medicine, Professor, Director of the Moscow Research Institute
of Child Surgery and Traumatology and President of the national
Charity Fund set up to help child victims of dis¬asters and
catastrophes.
In spite of his very heavy workload as the director of the
Moscow Research Institute, Professor Roshal still devotes much
time to his patients both as a medical doctor and a surgeon.
Of all the honours that Roshal has received throughout his
career, he insists that the title of Children's Doctor of the
World, given to him in 1996, has pleased him the most.
Boris Akunin
Boris Akunin is the pen name of Grigory Shalvovich
Chkhartishvili. He was born in Zestafoni, and is an expert on
Japan, an essayist, a translator and a writer of detective
fiction. He is best known for his historical mysteries set in
Imperial Russia with tsarist-era detectives.
Akunin used to work as an assistant to the Editor-in-Chief of
the Foreign Literature magazine but left to pursue a career as a
fiction writer.
Under his given name of Grigory Chkhartishvili, he serves as the
Editor-in-Chief of the 20-volumed Anthology of Japanese
Literature and Chairman of the board of a large Pushkin Library.
He has also contributed literary criticism and translations from
Japanese, American and English literature under his own name.
Under the pseudonym Boris Akunin, he has written a lot of works
of fiction, mainly novels and stories in the series The
Adventures of Erast Fandorin, The Adventures of Sister Pelagia,
The Adventures of the Master (following Nicholas Fandorin,
Erast's grandson).
With more than a dozen crime novels published, Akunin has been
named the champion of Russian crime fiction. His novels have
been translated into many languages.
Dima Bilan
Dima Bilan, born Victor Belan, is a famous Russian pop singer.
At the age of two he moved to his grandmother's place in
Naberezhnye Chelny, Tatarstan Republic. When he was six, his
family moved to Kabardino-Balkaria where he went to school with
his sister. He took part in school performances, recited poems
and sang songs.
Dima graduated from the Gnesins Academy of Music as a classical
vocal performer. Bilan made his debut when he took fourth place
at the Russian-Latvian festival New Wave in 2002.
In 2003, Bilan released his debut album titled Night Hooligan.
Bilan represented Russia at the famous Eurovision Song Contest
2006 with Never Let You Go, finishing second, and he won the
contest in 2008 in Belgrade, with the song Believe. He still has
concert and club performances and has several Russian No 1 hits.
ПЛАН-ОТВЕТ. OUTSTANDING PEOPLE OF RUSSIA
1. Вступление (Russia has a very rich history and has a lot of
outstanding people most of whom are world-famous, and it is
almost impossible to tell about all of them. It was our country
that gave birth to such people as ... and many others. Today,
Russia also has got famous people who work in various fields.
They are pop stars, sportsmen and sportswomen .... I would like
to tell you about some of Russian outstanding people of the past
and of today.).
2. Рассказать кратко об известных людях России по следующей
схеме: occupation (writer/singer/actor/politician, etc.), date
of birth/place of birth, childhood and family, achievements
(awards/famous books/roles, etc.), your personal opinion about
him/her.
QUESTIONS
1. What world-famous writers, inventors and poets did Russia
give birth to?
2. Who was Mikhail Lomonosov and what is he famous for?
3. What can you tell about Lomonosov in brief?
4. Have you read any books or watched the films about Lomonosov?
5. Is the name Leonid Roshal familiar to you?
6. What can you tell about Leonid Roshal? What is he famous for?
7. Who is Boris Akunin and what is he famous for?
8. Have you ever read any of Akunin's books? What are your
impressions?
9. What do you know about Dima Bilan? Do you like his songs? Why
(not)?
10. Have you watched the Eurovision Song Contest in 2006 and
2008 where Bilan performed? What can you say about his
performance?
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