From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The
Millennium of Russia monument in
Veliky Novgorod , featuring the statues and reliefs of the most celebrated people in the first 1000 years of
Russian history .
Men of enlightenment at the
Millennium of Russia
Statesmen at the
Millennium of Russia
Military men and heroes at the
Millennium of Russia
Writers and artists at the
Millennium of Russia
This is a list of people associated with the modern
Russian Federation , the
Soviet Union ,
Imperial Russia ,
Russian Tsardom , the
Grand Duchy of Moscow ,
Kievan Rus' , and other predecessor states of Russia.
Regardless of ethnicity or emigration, the list includes famous natives of Russia and its predecessor states, as well as people who were born elsewhere but spent most of their active life in Russia. For more information, see the articles
Russian citizens (
Russian : россияне ,
romanized : rossiyane ),
Russians (
Russian : русские ,
romanized : russkiye ) and
Demographics of Russia . For specific lists of Russians, see
Category:Lists of Russian people and
Category:Russian people .
Statesmen
Monarchs
Rurik , ruler of
Novgorod , progenitor of the
Rurikid Dynasty , traditionally the first ruler of Russia
Vladimir the Great
Oleg "the Seer" , conqueror of
Kiev and founder of
Kievan Rus' , famous for his wars with the
Byzantium
Igor "the Old" , the first historically well-attested
Rurikid ruler
Olga , the first woman ruler of Rus' (
regent ), the first
Christian among Russian rulers
Vladimir I "the Great" , turned saint from pagan and enacted the
Christianization of Kievan Rus'
Yaroslav I "the Wise" , reigned in the period when Kievan Rus' reached the zenith of its cultural flowering and military power, founder of
Yaroslavl
Vladimir II Monomakh , defender of Rus' from
Cuman nomads, presided over the end of the
Golden Age of Kiev
Yury I "the Long-Handed" , founder of Moscow
Andrey I "Bogolyubsky" (the God-Loving), key figure in transition of political power from Kiev to
Vladimir-Suzdal
Alexander Nevsky
Vsevolod "the Big Nest" , the Grand Prince of Vladimir during its Golden Age, had 14 children
Alexander Nevsky ,
Prince of Novgorod and Grand Prince of Vladimir, military hero famous for the
Battle of Neva and the
Battle of the Ice ,
patron saint and the
Name of Russia
Ivan I "the Moneybag" , brought wealth and power to Moscow by maintaining his loyalty to the
Golden Horde and acting as its chief tax collector in Russia
Simeon "the Proud" , continued the policies of his father Ivan I, died of the
Black Death
Ivan the Great
Dmitry Donskoy , saint and war hero, the first Prince of Moscow to openly challenge Mongol authority in Russia, famous for the
Battle of Kulikovo
Ivan III "the Great" , reunited the Central and Northern Rus',
put an end to the
Mongol yoke , brought
Renaissance architecture to Russia
Ivan IV , the first
Tsar of Russia , called "the Terrible" in the West; transformed Russia into a multiethnic, multiconfessional, and
transcontinental state
Boris Godunov , the first non-Rurikid monarch
Ivan the Terrible
False Dmitriy I , the first impostor during the
Time of Troubles
Vasili IV
Shuisky , Tsar elected during the Time of Troubles
False Dmitry II , the second impostor during the Time of Troubles
Mikhail , the first
Romanov monarch, oversaw the largest ever expansion of Russia's territory, reaching the Pacific
Peter the Great
Catherine the Great
Alexander I , the first Russian King of Poland and the first Russian Grand Duke of Finland.
Alexander II "the Liberator" , enacted the "Great Reforms" in Russian economy and social structure, including the
emancipation reform of 1861
Alexander III "the Peacemaker" , reversed some of the liberal reforms of his father, Alexander II. This policy is known in Russia as "counter-reforms" , he also opposed any reform that limited his autocratic rule. During his reign, Russia fought no major wars;
Nicholas II , the last actual emperor, forced to abdicate after the
February Revolution , killed with his family during the
Russian Civil War
Statesmen of the Tsardom and Empire
Aleksey Arakcheyev , Minister of War of Alexander I, organized
military-agricultural colonies
Vasily Golitsyn
Abram Gannibal , general and military engineer of
Black African origin, governor of
Reval , the great-grandfather of
Alexander Pushkin and hero of his novel
The Moor of Peter the Great
Vasily Golitsyn , 17th century commander of the Russian Army, Foreign Minister and a favourite of
Tsarevna Sophia , abolished
rank priority in the military, concluded
Eternal Peace Treaty of 1686 with Poland, one of the most educated Russians of the time
Alexander Gorchakov
Fyodor Golovin , associate of Peter the Great,
general admiral , the first Russian
field marshal and
Chancellor , the first Russian count and the first to receive the
Order of St. Andrew , negotiated the
Treaty of Nerchinsk and the
Treaty of Karlowitz
Alexander Gorchakov , Foreign Minister and Chancellor of Alexander II, a friend and rival of
Otto von Bismarck , denounced the
Treaty of Paris (1856) , advocated the
League of the Three Emperors
Ivan Goremykin , twice the Prime Minister of Imperial Russia
Aleksandr Menshikov
Alexander Kerensky , second and the last Prime Minister of the Russian Provisional Government
Franz Lefort , tutor of Peter the Great, general and diplomat, oversaw the foundation of the
Russian Navy
Afanasy Ordin-Nashchokin
Georgy Lvov , first Prime Minister of the Russian Provisional Government
Aleksandr Menshikov , associate and friend of Peter the Great, de facto ruler of Russia for two years after Peter's death,
generalissimus , Prince, the first
Governor of Saint Petersburg
Pavel Milyukov , founder of the
Constitutional Democratic Party , Foreign Minister in the Russian Provisional Government
Nikolay Muravyov-Amursky , governor of the East Siberia, coloniser of the
Priamurye and
Primorye , concluded the
Treaty of Aigun and the
Treaty of Beijing (1860) with China
Karl Nesselrode , Foreign Minister of Alexander II and Nicholas I, a leading European conservative statesman of the
Holy Alliance
Grigory Orlov , favourite of Catherine the Great who enthroned her, progenitor of
Bobrinsky family, founder of the
Free Economic Society , owner of the
Orlov Diamond
Mikhail Speransky
Konstantin Pobedonostsev , tutor to Alexander III and
Éminence grise of his imperial politics
Grigory Potyomkin-Tavrichesky , favourite of Catherine II, conqueror and the first governor of
Novorossiya , founder of
Sevastopol and
Yekaterinoslav
Grigori Rasputin ,
mystic and healer who influenced the latter politics of Nicholas II
Kirill Razumovsky , last
Hetman of Ukrainian Cossacks , the president of the
Russian Academy of Sciences
Nikolay Rumyantsev , Foreign Minister during the
French invasion of Russia , founder of the
Rumyantsev Museum
Mikhail Speransky , chief reformer during the reign of Alexander I, father of
Russian liberalism , oversaw the publication of the Full Collection of Laws of the Russian Empire
Ekaterina Vorontsova-Dashkova
Pyotr Stolypin , Interior Minister and then Prime Minister, put down the
Russian Revolution of 1905 , initiated
Stolypin reform
Ekaterina Vorontsova-Dashkova , closest female friend of
Catherine the Great , a major figure of the Russian Enlightenment, a director of the
Imperial Academy of Arts and Sciences and the founder of
Russian Academy
Sergei Witte , Finance Minister who later became the first
Prime Minister of Russia , presided over extensive
industrialization of the country, and supervised the construction of the
Trans-Siberian Railway
Ivan Serebrennikov , Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Russian state.
Pyotr Vologodsky , Minister of Supply of the Russian State.
Soviet statesmen
Nikolai Bukharin , leading
Bolshevik revolutionary,
Marxist theoretician, economist and prolific author,
Politburo member in the 1920s, editor of government newspapers
Pravda and
Izvestia , author of
The ABC of Communism
Nikolai Bulganin , leading
Communist politician, served as the Minister of Defense and the
Premier of the Soviet Union , backed
de-Stalinization
Mikhail Gorbachev last
General Secretary of the CPSU and the only
President of the Soviet Union , launched the policies of
glasnost and
perestroika , presided over the
dissolution of the Soviet Union
Mikhail Kalinin ,
Old Bolshevik politician and the
Head of state of the Soviet Union in 1938–1946
Nikita Khrushchev , leader of the Soviet Union in 1953–1964, launched
de-Stalinisation and many erratic policies, backed the progress of the early
Soviet space program
Alexei Kosygin , Soviet Premier under Brezhnev, author of the eventually stifled
Kosygin reform which included elements of
capitalist management
Vyacheslav Molotov
Vladimir Lenin , founder of
Bolshevik party , the leader of the
October Revolution , the first Soviet head of state in 1917–1922, founder of the Soviet Union, creator of
Leninism
Anatoly Lunacharsky , first Soviet Minister of Enlightenment
Georgy Malenkov , close associate of Stalin, Soviet Premier and one of the leaders after Stalin's death
Vyacheslav Molotov Soviet Premier in the 1930s, Foreign Minister during World War II, a close associate of Stalin
Yakov Sverdlov , first de jure head of the
Russian SFSR
Mikhail Suslov , leading
ideologist during the Brezhnev era
Gennady Yanayev , leader of the
August Coup that attempted to depose Gorbachev
Nikolai Yezhov , Interior Minister and head of the NKVD during the period of the
Great Purge , was executed soon after
Contemporary Russian politicians
Viktor Chernomyrdin , leading politician and businessman, served as the first Chairman of
Gazprom and the
Premier of Russia
Yegor Gaidar , leading politician and economist, served as the Premier of Russia, launched the controversial
shock therapy reforms aimed at creating a liberal
free market economy in Russia
Boris Gryzlov , leading politician, parliamentarian and diplomat, served as the
Minister of Internal Affairs of Russia and the
Chairman of the State Duma , currently serves as the Russian Ambassador to
Belarus
Mikhail Fradkov , leading politician, intelligence official and scholar, served as Premier of Russia and the Director of the
Foreign Intelligence Service , currently heads the
Russian Institute for Strategic Studies
Sergei Kiriyenko , leading politician and
apparatchik , served as the Premier of Russia and the General Director of
Rosatom , currently serves as the First Deputy Chief of Staff of the
Presidential Administration of Russia
Dmitry Medvedev
Sergey Lavrov , leading politician and diplomat, served as the
Russian Ambassador to the United Nations , currently the
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia
Yury Luzhkov , leading politician, served as the
Mayor of Moscow , was one of the founders of the ruling
United Russia party
Valentina Matviyenko , leading politician, parliamentarian and diplomat, served as the Russian Ambassador to
Malta and Greece as well as the
Governor of Saint Petersburg , currently the
Chairman of the Federation Council
Dmitry Medvedev , leading politician and security official, served as the
President and the
Premier of Russia , currently the Deputy Chairman of the
Security Council of Russia
Sergei Mironov , leading politician and parliamentarian, served as
Chairman of the Federation Council , founder and current Chairman of the
A Just Russia — For Truth party
Yevgeny Primakov , leading politician, diplomat, intelligence officer and academician, served as the Director of the
Foreign Intelligence Service , the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the
Premier of Russia , presided over the start of Russian economic recovery and a significant change in foreign policy
Vladimir Putin , leading politician and intelligence officer, served as the Director of the
Federal Security Service and the Premier of Russia, currently the
President of Russia , presided over impressive Russian economic recovery and military build-up, annexed
Crimea
Vladimir Putin
Anatoly Sobchak , first post-Soviet mayor of St. Petersburg
Sergei Stepashin , Prime Minister in 1999, currently the head of the Account Chamber of Russia (the state audit agency)
Boris Yeltsin , the first President of Russia from 1991 to 1999
Boris Yeltsin
Military
Army
Vasily Chapaev
Ivan Bagramyan ,
Soviet marshal , prominent in the
Baltic Offensive and
Operation Bagration during World War II
Pyotr Bagration , general and hero of the
Napoleonic Wars , mortally wounded in the
Battle of Borodino
Roman Bagration , general and brother of Pyotr Bagration, participated in the
Napoleonic Wars
Aleksandr Baryatinsky , field marshal, perfected the
mountain warfare tactics of the Russian Army, captured
Imam Shamil during the
Caucasian War
Alexander Bekovich-Cherkassky , leader of the first Russian military expeditions into Central Asia, founder of
Krasnovodsk
Vasily Blücher , one of the first five Soviet marshals, prominent in the
Russian Civil War and the
Northern Expedition in China
Maria Bochkareva , founder of the
Women's Battalion of Death during World War I
Aleksei Brusilov , World War I general, led the tactically innovative
Brusilov Offensive , destroying the military of
Austria-Hungary almost completely
Denis Davydov
Semyon Budyonny , Civil War commander, statesman, triple
Hero of the Soviet Union
Vasily Chapayev , legendary Civil War commander, prototype for
Chapaev movie and
Chapayev and Void novel, hero of many
Russian jokes
Mikhail Chernyayev , general, captured
Tashkent during the conquest of Central Asia, the governor of
Russian Turkestan
Vasily Chuikov , commander and hero in the
Battle of Stalingrad , Soviet marshal, double HSU
Denis Davydov , general, guerilla fighter and soldier-poet of the Napoleonic Wars, invented a genre of
hussar poetry noted for its hedonism and bravado
Anton Denikin , Civil War general, one of the leaders of
White Movement
Hans Karl von Diebitsch-Zabalkansky , able field marshal, took
Adrianople during the
Russo-Turkish War (1828–1829)
Mikhail Petrovich Dolgorukov (1780–1808), Russian major-general who was killed in the
Battle of Virta Bro against the Swedes
Nadezhda Durova , "the Cavalry Maiden" , a female hero of the Napoleonic wars
Alexander Gorbatyi-Shuisky ,
voevoda of Tsar
Ivan IV , hero of the
Russo-Kazan Wars and the final
Siege of Kazan (1552)
Nadezhda Durova
Leonid Govorov , World War II Soviet marshal, led
Operation Spark (1943) which broke the
blockade of Leningrad
Andrei Grechko , World War II Soviet marshal,
Soviet Defence Minister under Brezhnev
Ivan Gudovich , field marshal, conquered
Khadjibey and
Anapa in the
Russo-Turkish War (1787–1792) , conquered
Dagestan in the
Russo-Turkish War (1806–1812)
Iosif Gurko , commander and hero of the
Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878) , won the battles of
Shipka Pass ,
Gorni Dubnik and
Plovdiv , liberated the Bulgarian capital
Sofia
Mikhail Frunze , revolutionary, a prominent Civil War commander
Nikolay Kamensky , victor over the Swedes at
Salmi ,
Oravais , and
Sävar , victor over the Turks at
Batin
Konstantin Kaufmann , conqueror of the
Khanate of Khiva , the first governor of
Russian Turkestan
Ivan Konev , Soviet marshal, led
Red Army on the Eastern Front,
Mikhail Golenishchev-Kutuzov-Smolensky double HSU
Nikolay Kamensky
Lavr Kornilov , World War I general, notable for
Kornilov Affair
Nikolay Krylov , Soviet marshal, commander of the
Strategic Rocket Forces under Brezhnev, double HSU
Mikhail Kutuzov , hero of the
Russo-Turkish War (1787–1792) , defeated
Napoleon 's
Grande Armée during
French invasion of Russia in 1812, turning the tide of the Napoleonic Wars
Andrey Kurbsky , associate and then a leading political opponent of Tsar Ivan IV, hero of the
Russo-Kazan Wars
Peter Lacy , field marshal, led the
Siege of Danzig (1734) , commander-in-chief during
Russo-Swedish War (1741–1743)
Rodion Malinovsky , Soviet marshal, prominent at the
Battle of Stalingrad and the
Battle of Budapest ,
Soviet Defense Minister under Khrushchev
Alexander Matrosov , World War II soldier, self-sacrificed himself to win the battle,
Hero of the Soviet Union
Aleksandr Menshikov , associate of
Peter the Great , field marshal in the Great Northern War, won the principal
Battle of Poltava
Kirill Meretskov , Soviet marshal, led the
Petsamo–Kirkenes Offensive which liberated the northern Norway from Nazi occupation, prominent in the
Soviet invasion of Manchuria
Mikhail Miloradovich , hero of the Napoleonic Wars, killed in attempt to pacify the
Decembrist revolt
Kuzma Minin , national hero, merchant who led Russia's struggle for independence against Poland-Lithuania during the
Time of Troubles
Burkhard Christoph von Münnich , field marshal, statesman, founder of the first
Cadet Corps in Russia , led the
Siege of Danzig (1734) , commander-in-chief during
Russo-Austrian-Turkish War (1735–1739)
Semyon Andreevich Pugachov , captain in World War one, commanded several fronts across the USSR.
Rodion Oslyabya , monk from
Trinity Sergius Lavra , hero of the
Battle of Kulikovo
Fabian Gottlieb von Osten-Sacken , conquered the
Duchy of Warsaw and governed Paris during the
War of the Sixth Coalition
Ivan Panfilov , World War II general, hero of the
Battle of Moscow , the commander of
Panfilovtsy , HSU
Pyotr Rumyantsev-Zadunaysky
Ivan Paskevich , hero and commander in the
Russo-Persian War (1826–1828) and the
Russo-Turkish War (1828–1829) , crushed the Polish
November Uprising and the
Hungarian Revolution of 1848
Lyudmila Pavlichenko , World War II
Soviet sniper , credited with 309 kills, the most successful female sniper in history
Alexander Peresvet , monk from Trinity Sergius Lavra, hero of the
Battle of Kulikovo , fought with the Tatar champion Chelubey in
single combat where they killed each other
Grigory Potyomkin-Tavrichesky , conqueror and coloniser of
Novorossiya , reformer of the Russian Army, led the
Siege of Ochakov (1788) during the
Russo-Turkish War (1787–1792)
Dmitry Pozharsky , national hero, prince who led Russia's struggle for independence against Poland-Lithuania during the
Time of Troubles
Alexander Prozorovsky , commander-in-chief during the
Russo-Turkish War (1806–1812)
Nikolay Raevsky , hero of the Napoleonic Wars and the
Battle of Borodino
Anikita Repnin , field marshal in the Great Northern War, conquer and the first governor of
Riga
Nicholas Repnin , field marshal and diplomat, hero of the Russo-Turkish wars, key man in the
Partitions of Poland , pacified the Germans in the
War of the Bavarian Succession
Konstantin Rokossovsky , Soviet and Polish marshal, Defense Minister of Poland, double HSU, oversaw the main Soviet battle operations of the
Eastern Front (World War II) , commanded the
Moscow Victory Parade of 1945
Grigory Romodanovsky , leading Russian general of Tsar Alexey's reign, commander-in-chief during the
Russo-Turkish War (1676–1681)
Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich , commander-in-chief of the Russian Army at the start of World War I, then commanded the
Caucasus front
Pyotr Rumyantsev-Zadunaysky , hero of the Seven Years' War, won the battles of
Larga and
Kagula and concluded the
Russo-Turkish War of 1768–74 by the
Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca , military writer
Pyotr Saltykov , most prominent Russian commander-in-chief during the
Seven Years' War ,
Mikhail Skobelev won the
battle of Paltzig and the
battle of Kunersdorf . Shortly after his Kunersdorf victory,
Zakhar Chernyshev 's Russians
raided Berlin .
Igor Sergeyev , only
marshal of the Russian Federation , Defense minister in the late 1990s
Roza Shanina , World War II Soviet sniper, 54 confirmed kills
Boris Shaposhnikov , Soviet marshal, chief of the general staff during the start of the German invasion, military theorist and author of
The Brain of the Army
Aleksei Shein , first Russian
generalissimo , commander-in-chief during
Azov campaigns
Boris Sheremetev , field marshal in the Great Northern War, won the
battle of Erastfer and the
battle of Poltava
Ivan Sidorenko , World War II Soviet sniper, over 500 confirmed kills
Mikhail Skobelev , the "White General" , conqueror of Central Asia and hero of the
Russo-Turkish War of 1877-78
Sergei Sokolov , Soviet marshal, chief commander during the
Soviet–Afghan War
Alexander Suvorov-Rymniksky
Vasily Sokolovsky , Soviet marshal, prominent in the
Battle of Moscow and the
Battle of Kursk , military theorist
Alexander Suvorov , greatest Russian general of the 18th century,
generalissimo who never lost a battle, won at
Kinburn ,
Focşani ,
the Rymnik , and
Izmail during the
Russo-Turkish War (1787–1792) , crushed
Kościuszko Uprising at
Brest and
Praga , led an outstanding
Italian and Swiss expedition through the
Adda , the
Trebbia , and
Novi , author of The Science of Victory (
Russian : Наука побеждать )
Semyon Timoshenko , World War II Soviet marshal, won the
Winter War , senior professional officer of the Red Army at the start of the German invasion
Fyodor Tolbukhin , World War II Soviet marshal, liberated
Bulgaria and
Yugoslavia
Michael Barclay de Tolly , field marshal, led a strategic retreat during the
French invasion of Russia , led Russian Army to Paris in the
War of the Sixth Coalition
Gennady Troshev , chief general during the
Second Chechen War ,
Hero of Russia
Mikhail Tukhachevsky , Red Army commander during the
Russian Civil War , Soviet marshal, military theorist
Dmitriy Ustinov , Soviet marshal, proponent of the
Soviet space program , Defence Minister in the late Brezhnev era
Aleksandr Vasilevsky , Soviet marshal, Chief of the
Soviet General Staff during most of World War II, led the
Soviet invasion of Manchuria , double HSU
Vera Voloshina (1919–1941), heroic partisan in World War II
Mikhail Vorontsov , field marshal, hero of the Napoleonic Wars, captured
Varna in the
Russo-Persian War (1826–1828) , led decisive campaigns of the
Caucasian War
Eduard Totleben , general and military engineer, hero of the
Siege of Sevastopol (1854–1855)
Kliment Voroshilov , Civil War commander, statesman, double HSU
Mikhail Vorotynsky , defeated the
Ottoman and
Crimean Khanate army in the
Battle of Molodi , eliminating the threat of Ottoman expansion into Russia
Peter Wittgenstein
Peter Wittgenstein , field marshal, defended
St Petersburg in 1812, hero of the
War of the Sixth Coalition
Ivan Yakubovsky , Soviet marshal, commander-in-chief of the
Warsaw Pact under Brezhnev, double HSU
Aleksey Yermolov , hero of the Napoleonic Wars and the
Battle of Borodino , military ruler of the Caucasus at the start of the
Caucasian War
Andrey Yeryomenko , World War II Soviet marshal, prominent in the
Battle of Stalingrad
Yunus-bek Yevkurov , paratrooper, commander of Russian peacekeepers during the
NATO bombing of Yugoslavia ,
Head of Ingushetia ,
Hero of Russia
Vasily Zaytsev ,
Soviet sniper , killed 412 enemy soldiers and officers, including 6 snipers, a hero of the
Battle of Stalingrad
Georgy Zhukov , Soviet marshal, chief of the General Staff and representative of
STAVKA , four times the
Hero of the Soviet Union , oversaw all the main Soviet battle operations of the
Eastern Front (World War II) , inspected the
Moscow Victory Parade of 1945
Navy
Fyodor Apraksin ,
general admiral , won the
Battle of Gangut during the
Great Northern War , led the Russian Navy in the
Russo-Persian War (1722–1723)
Fyodor Apraksin
Aksel Berg , admiral and scientist, major developer of
radiolocation and
cybernetics
Vasily Chichagov ,
admiral , polar explorer, won the battles of
Öland ,
Reval and
Vyborg Bay , effectively bringing the
Russo-Swedish War of 1788-90 to an end
Cornelius Cruys , vice-admiral, the first commander of the
Russian Baltic Fleet
Fyodor Dubasov , admiral, placed
Dalny and
Port Arthur under Russian control
Sergey Gorshkov , admiral, led major landing operations during WII, commander-in-chief of the
Soviet Navy during most of the
Cold War
Samuel Greig , admiral, won the
Battle of Chesma during the
Russo-Turkish War (1768–1774) and the
Battle of Hogland during the
Russo-Swedish War (1788–1790)
Ivan Grigorovich , admiral, chief of Port Arthur's port during the
Siege of Port Arthur
Vasily Chichagov
Lodewijk van Heiden , admiral who won the
Battle of Navarino
Ivan Isakov , admiral, held the rank
Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union , served during World War II
Vladimir Istomin , rear-admiral, hero of the
Siege of Sevastopol (1854–1855) during the
Crimean War , died in action
Aleksandr Kolchak , admiral, polar explorer, a leader of the
White movement during the
Russian Civil War
Vladimir Kornilov , vice-admiral, hero of the
Siege of Sevastopol (1854–1855) , died in the
Battle of Malakoff
Nikolay Krabbe , admiral and naval minister, co-founded the first Russian naval bases in
Primorsky Krai , oversaw the development of
naval artillery and
ironclad ships
Nikolay Kuznetsov , admiral, World War II commander-in-chief of the
Soviet Navy
Mikhail Lazarev , admiral, three times
circumnavigator and discoverer of Antarctica,
Pavel Nakhimov destroyed five enemy warships as a commander of
Azov in the
Battle of Navarino , tutor to Nakhimov, Kornilov and Istomin
Stepan Makarov , vice-admiral, inventor and explorer, performed the first ever successful
torpedo attack (during the
Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878 ), built the first
torpedo boat tender and the
first polar icebreaker , author of the
insubmersibility theory, killed in the Russo-Japanese War when his ship struck a
naval mine
Pavel Nakhimov , admiral, circumnavigated the world with Mikhail Lazarev, fought in the
Battle of Navarino , annihilated the Ottoman fleet in the
Battle of Sinope , commander and hero at the
Siege of Sevastopol (1854–1855)
Andrey Popov , admiral, hero of the Crimean War, led a Russian flotilla to support the
Union during the
American Civil War , designed the first true Russian battleship
Pyotr Velikiy
Fyodor Ushakov
José de Ribas , vice-admiral, founder of
Odessa , hero of the
Siege of Izmail
Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich , general admiral and Naval Minister during the
Russo-Japanese War
Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolayevich , general admiral and statesman, oversaw the rapid transition of the Russian Navy to
ironclad warships
Alexei Senyavin , re-established the
Don Military Flotilla and played a crucial role in Russia's gaining access to the
Black Sea
Dmitry Senyavin , admiral, won the
battle of the Dardanelles (1807) and the
battle of Athos against Ottomans during the
Napoleonic Wars
Naum Senyavin , vice-admiral, won the
Battle of Osel during the Great Northern War
Grigory Spiridov , admiral, destroyed the Ottoman fleet in the
Battle of Chesma during the
Russo-Turkish War (1768–1774)
Jean de Traversay , admiral, commanded the
Russian Black Sea Fleet and
Russian Baltic Fleet , organised early
Russian circumnavigations
Vasily Zavoyko
Vladimir Tributs , admiral, a leading navy commander during the
Siege of Leningrad , led the
Soviet evacuation of Tallinn
Fyodor Ushakov , the most illustrious
Russian admiral of the 18th century, saint, won the battles of
Fidonisi ,
Kerch Strait ,
Tendra and
Cape Kaliakra during the
Russo-Turkish War (1787–1792) , single-handedly carved out the Greek
Septinsular Republic , did not lose a single ship in 43 battles
Ivan Yumashev , admiral, reclaimed Southern
Sakhalin and
Kuril Islands for the USSR during the
Soviet–Japanese War , commander-in-chief of the Soviet Navy in the late 1940s
Vasily Zavoyko , fought in the Battle of Navarino, twice circumnavigated the globe, explored the estuary of the
Amur River , repelled the superior British-French forces in the
Siege of Petropavlovsk during the
Crimean War
Matija Zmajević , vice-admiral, hero of the
battle of Gangut and the
battle of Grengam during the Great Northern War
Air Force
Yekaterina Budanova , World War II pilot, one of the world's two female
fighter aces
Valery Chkalov , leader of the first ultralong flight from Moscow to the
Russian Far East , leader of the first
transcontinental flight by
airplane over the
North Pole ,
Hero of the Soviet Union
Mikhail Devyatayev , fighter pilot known for his incredible escape aboard a stolen bomber from a
Nazi
concentration camp on the Baltic island of
Usedom ,
Hero of the Soviet Union
Nikolai Gastello , first Soviet pilot to direct his burning aircraft on a ground target, HSU
Alexander Golovanov ,
chief marshal of Aviation at the end of World War II, commander of
Long Range Aviation
Sergey Gritsevets , fighter ace during the
Spanish Civil War and the
Battle of Khalkhin Gol , the first to become twice the
Hero of the Soviet Union
Valentina Grizodubova , one of the first Soviet female pilots and
Heroes of the Soviet Union , set a record for woman's ultralong flights
Mikhail Gromov , set a record during the transcontinental flight over the
North Pole , founded the
Gromov Flight Research Institute , HSU
Gromov
Vladimir Ilyushin ,
test pilot for
OKB Sukhoi , HSU
Nikolai Kamanin , polar aviator, among the first to receive the title
Hero of the Soviet Union , trained the first ever
cosmonauts , including
Yuri Gagarin ,
Gherman Titov and
Alexei Leonov
Alexander Kazakov , most successful Russian
flying ace of World War I, the first to perform an
aerial ramming and survive
Sergei Khudyakov ,
Marshal of Aviation during World War II, Chief of Staff of the Soviet Air Force
Vladimir Kokkinaki , famous Soviet
test pilot , set 22 world records, a president of the
Fédération Aéronautique Internationale , double HSU
Zinaïda Kokorina , pilot and flight instructor, in 1925 became the world's first military pilot
Ivan Kozhedub , top fighter ace in the aviation of the
Allies of World War II , credited with 62 individual victories, thrice the
Hero of the Soviet Union
Pavel Kutakhov , World War II fighter ace,
chief marshal of Aviation under
Leonid Brezhnev , double HSU
Sigizmund Levanevsky , polar aviator, among the first to receive the title
Hero of the Soviet Union , died in a transpolar flight attempt
Anatoly Liapidevsky , polar aviator, the very first person to receive the title
Hero of the Soviet Union ,
general major of Aviation
Lydia Litvyak , World War II pilot, one of the world's two female
fighter aces , HSU
Alexey Maresyev , World War II fighter ace, HSU, the prototype for
The Story of a Real Man
Ivan Nagurski , first
polar aviator , World War I flying ace
Pyotr Nesterov , inventor and pioneer of
aerobatics , the first pilot to perform the
aerobatic loop , died in the world's first
aerial ramming during World War I
Alexander Novikov ,
chief marshal of Aviation during World War II, double HSU
Yevgeny Pepelyaev , top Soviet fighter ace in the
Korean War , HSU
Viktor Pokrovsky , World War I flying ace, the first Russian pilot to capture an enemy plane and pilot
Alexander Pokryshkin , World War II fighter ace, credited with 59 individual victories, triple
Hero of the Soviet Union , Marshal of Aviation
Georgy Prokofiev , balloonist who coordinated military stratospheric balloon program in the 1930s, set world record in altitude on
USSR-1
Viktor Pugachyov , test pilot and pioneer of
supermaneuverability , the first to show
Pugachev's Cobra maneuver of
Su-27
Endel Puusepp , long-range bomber pilot, famous for flying a Soviet delegation over the front line from Moscow to Washington, D.C. and back to negotiate the opening of the
Western Front , HSU
Marina Raskova , navigator, founder of the three female air regiments during World War II, HSU
Yevgeniya Rudneva , World War II bomber pilot, one of the
Night Witches , HSU
Yevgeniya Shakhovskaya , first woman military pilot
Mark Shevelev , World War II Soviet polar aviation commander, HSU
Lev Shestakov , top Soviet fighter ace during the
Spanish Civil War , HSU
Pyotr Nesterov
Yakov Smushkevich , commanded the Soviet aviation in the
Spanish Civil War and the
Battle of Khalkhin Gol , double HSU
Nelson Stepanyan , World War II
dive bomber pilot, destroyed scores of enemy ships, tanks, cars, planes and guns, double HSU
Nikolay Sutyagin , top
Korean War Soviet fighter ace, HSU
Victor Talalikhin , World War II fighter ace, among the first to perform
aerial ramming at night, HSU
Andrey Vitruk , World War II fighter ace,
major general of Aviation,
Hero of the Soviet Union and the
Hero of Yugoslavia
Mikhail Vodopianov , polar aviator, among the first to receive the title
Hero of the Soviet Union , commanded the first World War II Soviet air raid on Berlin in 1941
Yekaterina Zelenko , World War II pilot, the only woman ever to have performed and died in
aerial ramming , HSU
Religious figures
Orthodox leaders
Metropolitan Alexius , saint, ruled Russia during Prince
Dmitry Donskoy 's minority
Patriarch Alexy I , longest serving Patriarch in the Soviet era
Patriarch Alexy II , first post-Soviet Patriarch, oversaw the period of major church restoration and religious renaissance
Metropolitan Isidore , attempted a reunion with the
Roman Catholic Church , which instead led to independence of the
Russian Orthodox Church
Patriarch Job , last Metropolitan and the first
Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia
Patriarch Kirill , current
Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia
Patriarch Philaret
Metropolitan Macarius , saint, prominent
iconographer
Patriarch Nikon , introduced major church reforms which eventually led to a lasting
schism in the
Russian Orthodox Church , known as
Raskol
Metropolitan Philaret , saint, the principal Russian theologian of the 19th century
Patriarch Philaret , de facto ruler of Russia during the minority of his son,
Tsar Mikhail
Patriarch Pimen , oversaw the end of the persecution of Christianity in the Soviet Union and the 1000th anniversary of the
Baptism of Rus'
Patriarch Tikhon
Patriarch Sergius , led the Russian Orthodox Church during World War II, when the earlier Soviet militant atheism was scaled down and the Church was re-legalised
Patriarch Tikhon , first
Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia after restoration of the Patriarchate in the early Soviet era
Orthodox saints
Alexander Nevsky ,
Prince of Novgorod and Vladimir, military hero,
patron saint and the
Name of Russia
Boris and Gleb
Andrei Rublev , famous
icon-painter , author of the
Trinity
Anthony of Kiev , co-founder of the
Kyiv Pechersk Lavra , the first
monastery in Russia
Basil Fool for Christ ,
yurodivy who gave his name to
St. Basil's Cathedral on the
Red Square
Boris and Gleb , children of
Vladimir the Great , the first saints canonized in
Kievan Rus'
Tsarevich Dmitry , son of
Ivan IV , mysteriously died or killed, later impersonated by the impostors
False Dmitry I and
False Dmitry II during the
Time of Troubles
Dmitry Donskoy , war hero, the first Prince of Moscow to openly challenge Mongol authority in Russia
Feodor Kuzmich ,
starets who according to a legend was in fact
Alexander I of Russia who faked his death to become a hermit
Ioakim Korsunianin , first bishop of
Novgorod the Great and builder of the original wooden
Saint Sophia Cathedral in Novgorod
John of Shanghai and San Francisco , a leader of the
Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia
Kirill of Beloozero , founder of
Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery
Seraphim of Sarov
Maximus the Greek , 16th century
humanist scholar
Nicholas II of Russia , last Russian emperor, killed in the
Civil War with his family;
they were beatified as
new-martyrs
Nicholas of Japan , brought the
Eastern Orthodoxy to Japan
Olga of Kiev , first
Christian among Russian rulers
Sergius of Radonezh
Savvatiy , founder of
Solovetsky Monastery
Sergius of Radonezh , patron saint of Russia, spiritual and monastic reformer, founder of the
Trinity Sergius Lavra , blessed Dmitry Donskoy for the
Battle of Kulikovo
Vladimir I of Kiev "the Great" , Kievan Prince who turned from pagan to saint and enacted the
Christianization of Kievan Rus'
Explorers
Siberian explorers
Vladimir Atlasov , explorer and coloniser of
Kamchatka
Semyon Dezhnyov
Pyotr Beketov , discoverer of
Buryatia , founder of
Yakutsk and
Chita
Ivan Chersky , geologist and explorer of
Siberia , explained the origin of Lake Baikal
Semyon Dezhnyov , discoverer of
Kolyma ,
Chukchi Peninsula ,
Bering Strait and
the east extremity of
Eurasia ,
Cape Dezhnyov
Johann Georg Gmelin , traveled over 34,000 km through
Siberia , discovered that the
Caspian Sea lies below the ocean level
Kurbat Ivanov , discoverer of
Lake Baikal , author of the earliest maps of the
Russian Far East and the Bering Strait area
Yerofey Khabarov , second Russian to explore the
Amur River , founder of
Khabarovsk
Stepan Krasheninnikov , explorer and author of the first detailed description of
Kamchatka
Alexander Middendorf , explorer of the
Taymyr Peninsula , founder of
permafrost science, discoverer of
Putorana Plateau
Nicolae Milescu , explorer of Siberia and China, the first to point out Baikal's unfathomable depth
Nikolay Muravyov-Amursky
Ivan Moskvitin , first Russian to reach the Pacific Ocean, discoverer of the
Sea of Okhotsk
Nikolay Muravyov-Amursky , explorer and coloniser of the
Amurland and
Primorsky Krai
Gennady Nevelskoy , founder of
Nikolayevsk-on-Amur , proved that
Sakhalin is an island
Vladimir Obruchev , geologist, explorer of Siberia and
Central Asia , wrote the comprehensive Geology of Siberia and two popular
science fiction and travel novels,
Plutonia and
Sannikov Land
Maksim Perfilyev , discoverer of
Transbaikalia , founder of
Yeniseysk and
Bratsk
Fedot Popov , discoverer of Chukotka and the
Bering Strait , possible discoverer of
Kamchatka
Vassili Poyarkov , discoverer of the
Amurland , the first Russian to sail down the
Amur River
Demid Pyanda , credited with discovery of the
Lena River and
Yakutia , made an 8,000 km long journey along the previously unknown Siberian rivers
Semyon Remezov , author of the
Remezov Chronicle and the first large format cartographic atlas of Siberia
Yermak Timofeyevich
Nikolay Shkot , explorer of Sakhalin and
Primorsky Krai , a founder of
Nakhodka and
Vladivostok
Alexander Sibiryakov , sponsor of the multiple expeditions in
Siberia and the
Arctic
Mikhail Stadukhin , discoverer of
Kolyma ,
Chukotka and the northern
Okhotsk Sea
Anikey Stroganov , coloniser of
Perm Krai and the
Urals , established the early trade between Russia and Siberian tribes
Semyon Stroganov , coloniser of the Urals and Siberia, sponsor of Yermak's
conquest of the Khanate of Sibir
Vasily Tatishchev , supervisor of the first instrumental mapping of Russia, coloniser of the Urals and Siberia, founder of
Perm and
Yekaterinburg
Tatyana Ustinova , discoverer of the
Valley of Geysers in Kamchatka, the world's second largest geyser concentration
Yermak Timofeyevich ,
conqueror of Siberia , explorer of
West Siberian rivers
Ivan Yevreinov , author of the first instrumental maps of
Kamchatka and the
Kuril Islands
Explorers of Russian America
Alexander Baranov , explorer and governor of
Russian America , founder of
Fort Ross in
California
Vitus Bering , organiser of the
Great Northern Expedition , explorer of the
Bering Sea and the
Bering Strait , founder of
Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky , discoverer of the southern Alaska, the
Aleutian Islands and the
Commander Islands
Aleksei Chirikov , discoverer of the Aleutian Islands and the northwestern coast of North America
Ivan Fyodorov , discoverer of Alaska
Mikhail Gvozdev , discoverer of Alaska, author of the first instrumental maps of the
Okhotsk Sea and
Sakhalin shores
Gerasim Izmailov , author of the first detailed map of the
Aleutian Islands , founder of the first permanent Russian settlement in America
Otto von Kotzebue , circumnavigator, discoverer of a number of
Pacific islands and
Kotzebue Sound on Alaska
Gavriil Pribylov , discoverer of the
Pribilof Islands
Grigory Shelikhov
Nikolai Rezanov , founder of the
Russian-American Company , protagonist of the
rock opera
Juno and Avos
Gavriil Sarychev , explorer of the
Sea of Okhotsk and the
Aleutian Islands
Grigory Shelikhov , founded the precursor of the
Russian-American Company and the first permanent Russian settlements in America
Lavrenty Zagoskin , author of the first detailed description of the inner areas of Alaska
Circumnavigators
Fyodor Konyukhov , adventurer, the first Russian to complete the
Three Poles Challenge and
Explorers Grand Slam , set a record for the solo yacht circumnavigation of Antarctica
Mikhail Lazarev , discoverer of Antarctica and a number of
Pacific islands , triple circumnavigator, war hero
Yuri Lisyansky , leader of the first Russian circumnavigation, discoverer of a number of Pacific islands
Fyodor Litke , oceanographer, explorer of
Novaya Zemlya ,
Bering Sea ,
Bonin Islands , and the
Carolines , double circumnavigator
Konstantin Posyet , participant of the circumnavigation on the frigate Pallas ,
Nikolai Rezanov expert on Japan, explorer of the
Possiet Bay , Minister of Ways and Communications of Russia
Yevfimy Putyatin , leader of the circumnavigation on Pallas , diplomat, explorer of the
Sea of Japan
Nikolai Rezanov , leader of the first Russian circumnavigation, explorer of the
Russian America , protagonist of the
rock opera Juno and Avos
Fyodor Tolstoy , "the American" , mischief-making participant of the first Russian circumnavigation, celebrity adventurer
Ivan Unkovsky , leader of the circumnavigation on Pallas
Vasily Zavoyko , double circumnavigator, explored the estuary of the
Amur River , war hero
Travelers in the tropics
Alexander Bulatovich , military advisor of
Menelek II of Ethiopia , explorer of
Eastern Africa
Afanasy Nikitin
Wilhelm Junker , explorer of Eastern and Equatorial Africa
Grigory Langsdorf , explorer of Alaska and Brazil
Nicholai Miklukho-Maklai , anthropologist who lived and traveled among the natives of
Papua New Guinea and
Pacific islands , prominent
anti-racist
Afanasy Nikitin , one of the first Europeans to travel and to document his visit to India, author of
A Journey Beyond the Three Seas
Yuri Senkevich , participant of
Thor Heyerdahl 's voyages on the Ra ,
Ra II and
Tigris (
papyrus and reed boats), anchorman of the Travelers' Club TV show for the record 30 years
Explorers of Central Asia
Alexander Bekovich-Cherkassky , leader of the first Russian military expeditions into
Central Asia , founder of
Krasnovodsk
Nikolai Przhevalsky
Alexey Fedchenko , naturalist and explorer, discovered the
Trans-Alay Range in
Pamir Mountains
Grigory Grum-Grshimailo , discoverer of
Ayding Lake (the second
lowest land point on Earth)
Nikolai Korzhenevskiy , explorer of the Pamir, discoverer of the
Academy of Sciences Range and
Peak Korzhenevskaya
Pyotr Kozlov , explorer of
Mongolia ,
Xinjiang and
Tibet , discoverer of the ancient
Tangut city of
Khara-Khoto
Alexander Nevsky , medieval Russian Prince, saint and national hero, one of the first Europeans to travel into
Mongolia (with his
brother and
father )
Ivan Petlin , first Russian to reach China on an official diplomatic mission, left a popular description of his journey
Grigory Potanin , explorer of Mongolia, Tibet and China
Nikolai Przhevalsky , traveled over 40,000 km through Central Asia, discovered
the only extant species of wild horse
Nicholas Roerich , painter, philosopher, archeologist, writer and public figure, explorer of Mongolia, China and India
Pyotr Semyonov-Tyan-Shansky
Pyotr Semyonov-Tyan-Shansky , explorer of the
Tian Shan Mountains , discoverer of the Peak
Khan Tengri , for 40 years the head of the
Russian Geographical Society
Gombojab Tsybikov , explorer and the first photographer of
Tibet
Polar explorers
Pyotr Anjou , explorer of the
New Siberian Islands and Arctic coastline
Faddey Bellingshausen
Faddey Bellingshausen , discoverer of Antarctica
Vitus Bering , organiser of the
Great Northern Expedition , explorer of the
Bering Sea and the
Bering Strait
Georgy Brusilov , commander of
Svyataya Anna , a prototype for
The Two Captains
Semion Chelyuskin , discoverer of
the north extrimity of
Eurasia ,
Cape Chelyuskin
Artur Chilingarov , leader of the
Arktika 2007 expedition, the first to reach the seabed under the
North Pole
Valery Chkalov , led the first
transcontinental flight by
airplane over the North Pole
Semyon Dezhnyov , discoverer of
Kolyma ,
Chukchi Peninsula , Bering Strait and
Cape Dezhnyov
Yakov Gakkel , oceanographer, creator of the first
bathymetric map of the Arctic Ocean
Matvei Gedenschtrom , explorer of the New Siberian Islands, discoverer of
Siberian polynya
Maria Klenova , a founder of
marine geology , made the first complete seabed map of the
Barents Sea , one of the first women explorers of
Antarctic
Ernst Krenkel ,
radioman for many polar expeditions, set a world record of long-distance radio communication (between
Franz Josef Land and Antarctica)
Artur Chilingarov
Dmitry Laptev , explorer of the
Laptev Sea shores
Khariton Laptev , explorer of the
Laptev Sea shores
Mikhail Lazarev , discoverer of Antarctica, war hero
Fyodor Litke , explorer of
Novaya Zemlya , Bering Sea, and Pacific
Stepan Makarov , oceanographer, builder of
the first polar icebreaker , war hero
Stepan Malygin , author of the first Russian manual on
navigation , leader of the western unit of the
Great Northern Expedition
Alexander Middendorf , explorer of
Taymyr Peninsula , founder of
permafrost science, discoverer of
Putorana Plateau and the
North Cape sea current
Ivan Nagurski , first polar
aviator
Dmitry Ovtsyn , explorer of
Taymyr Peninsula , mapped the
Gydan Peninsula
Pyotr Pakhtusov , explorer of
Novaya Zemlya
Mikhail Lazarev
Ivan Papanin , head of the first
drifting ice station
North Pole-1
Fedot Popov , discoverer of Chukotka and the Bering Strait
Vasili Pronchishchev , discovered the
Byrranga Mountains and multiple islands off
Taymyr Peninsula
Maria Pronchishcheva , first female
Arctic explorer
Vladimir Rusanov , explorer of Novaya Zemlya and
Svalbard , a prototype for
The Two Captains
Anatoly Sagalevich , performed the world's deepest fresh water dive (1637 m in
Lake Baikal ), explored the remains of
RMS Titanic , the first to reach the seabed under the North Pole
Rudolf Samoylovich , founder of the
Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute , saver of the
Airship Italia crew
Yakov Sannikov , explorer of the New Siberian Islands, originated the legend about the
Sannikov Land
Otto Schmidt , leader of the first passage of the
Northern Sea Route without wintering, supervised many Arctic expeditions
Georgy Sedov , explorer of Novaya Zemlya and Kolyma River, died in attempt to reach the North Pole, a prototype for
The Two Captains
Pyotr Shirshov , member of the
North Pole-1 crew, founder of
Shirshov Institute of Oceanology , proved that there is life in high latitudes of the Arctic Ocean
Alexander Sibiryakov , sponsor of the multiple expeditions in
Siberia and the
Arctic , including that of
Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld
Mikhail Somov , head of the second
Soviet drifting ice station North Pole-2, leader of the
1st Soviet Antarctic Expedition , founder of the first Soviet Antarctic stations
Mirny and
Vostok
Eduard Toll , explorer of
Yakutia and the
Arctic , died in search of the legendary
Sannikov Land
Yevgeny Tolstikov , head of the North Pole-4, led the
3rd Soviet Antarctic Expedition , discoverer of the
Gamburtsev Mountains
Alexey Tryoshnikov , head of the North Pole-3, led the
2nd and the
13th Soviet Antarctic Expeditions
Eduard Toll
Nikolay Urvantsev , explorer of Severnaya Zemlya, discoverer of
nickel in Taimyr and founder of
Norilsk
Georgy Ushakov , founder of the first settlement on the
Wrangel Island , explorer of Severnaya Zemlya, discoverer of
Ushakov Island (the last unknown island outside any archipelago)
Boris Vilkitsky , discoverer of
Severnaya Zemlya (the last archipelago on Earth to be explored), led the first voyage from
Vladivostok to
Arkhangelsk via the
Northern Sea Route
Vladimir Vize , scientific leader of many Arctic expeditions, predicted the location of
Vize Island through the analysis of the
pack ice movement in the
Kara Sea
Vladimir Voronin , leader of the first passage of the
Northern Sea Route without wintering, captain of
SS Chelyuskin
Ferdinand Wrangel , explorer of the
East Siberian Sea and Alaska
Cosmonauts
Pavel Belyayev , member of the first two-person space crew
Yuri Gagarin
Georgy Beregovoy , oldest human to go into space (by date of birth, 1921)
Valery Bykovsky , performer of the longest solo
spaceflight
Konstantin Feoktistov , member of the first three-person space crew
Yuri Gagarin , first ever human to travel into
space
Yevgeny Khrunov , participant of the first dual
spacewalk and crew transfer between spacecraft
Vladimir Komarov , member of the first three-person space crew, the first human to die during a space mission (landing accident)
Sergei Krikalyov , accumulated most time in space (803 days) during six flights
Alexei Leonov , first to perform a
spacewalk , a member of the first two-person space crew, space painter
Alexei Leonov
Musa Manarov , first to spend over a year in orbit
Andrian Nikolayev , participant of the first parallel flight, the first to perform spacecraft-to-spacecraft communications, the first to spend two weeks in space
Valeri Polyakov , performer of the longest continuous spaceflight (437 days)
Pavel Popovich , participant of the first parallel flight, the first to perform spacecraft-to-spacecraft communications
Svetlana Savitskaya , second woman to fly into space, the first to perform a
spacewalk
Vitaly Sevastyanov , first to spend two weeks in space
Anatoly Solovyev , person who made most
spacewalks and accumulated most time spacewalking (over 82 hours)
Valentina Tereshkova , first woman and civilian in space
Valentina Tereshkova
Gherman Titov , second human to orbit the Earth, the first who spent a whole day and slept in space, the youngest cosmonaut/astronaut so far
Vladimir Titov , first to spend over a year in orbit
Boris Yegorov , member of the first three-person space crew, the first physician in space
Aleksei Yeliseyev , participant of the first dual spacewalk and crew transfer between spacecraft
Inventors and engineers
Polymath inventors
Genrich Altshuller , inventor of
TRIZ ("The Theory of Solving Inventor's Problems")
Ivan Kulibin
Ivan Kulibin , mechanic and optician, inventor of
searchlight ,
screw-drive elevator ,
self-rolling carriage (with
flywheel ,
brake ,
gear box , and
bearing ),
searchlight
optical telegraph ,
mechanic
artificial leg
Mikhail Lomonosov , polymath scientist and artist, inventor of
coaxial rotor and the first model
helicopter ,
off-axis reflecting telescope and
night vision telescope , co-developed
Russian porcelain and re-invented
smalt
Andrey Nartov , inventor of
mechanic slide rest ,
rose engine lathe ,
quick-firing battery ,
cannon
telescopic sight
Peter the Great , monarch and craftsman, inventor of
decimal currency ,
yacht club ,
sounding line with separating plummet, founder of the
Russian Navy
Andrey Nartov
Vladimir Shukhov , polymath engineer, inventor of
thermal cracking ,
thin-shell structure ,
tensile structure ,
hyperboloid structure ,
gridshell and cylindric
oil depot , built
Shukhov Towers and created modern theory of
pipeline transport
Leon Theremin , inventor and
spy , created
theremin ,
terpsitone ,
rhythmicon (the first
drum machine ) and
passive resonant cavity bug , introduced
interlace technique
Weaponry makers
Andrey Chokhov , maker of the
Tsar Cannon , the world's
largest bombard by caliber
Vasily Degtyaryov , designer of
Degtyaryov -series firearms, inventor of self-loading
carbine
Ivan Fyodorov , 16th century inventor of
multibarreled mortar, introduced
printing to Russia
Vladimir Fyodorov , inventor of
assault rifle (
Fedorov Avtomat )
Leonid Gobyato , inventor of
modern mortar
Mikhail Kalashnikov , inventor of
AK-47 and
AK-74 assault rifles, world's most popular (produced more than all other types of assault rifles combined)
Yuly Khariton , chief designer of the
Soviet atomic bomb , co-developer of the
Tsar Bomb
Sergei Korolyov , inventor of the first
intercontinental ballistic missile (
R-7 Semyorka )
Mikhail Koshkin , designer of
T-34 medium tank, the best and most produced tank of World War II
Mikhail Kalashnikov
Nikolai Lebedenko , designer of the
Tsar Tank , the largest
armoured vehicle in history
Victor Makeyev , developer of the first intercontinental
submarine-launched ballistic missile
Nestor Makhno , anarchist, legendary inventor of
tachanka
Alexander Morozov , designer of
T-54/55 (the most produced
tank in history)
Sergey Mosin , inventor of the
Mosin–Nagant rifle, one of the most produced in history
Alexander Nadiradze , inventor of mobile
ICBM (
RT-21 Temp 2S ) and the first reliable mobile ICBM
RT-2PM Topol
Andrey Nartov , polymath inventor, designed
quick-firing battery and
cannon
telescopic sight
Sergey Nepobedimy , designed the first supersonic
anti-tank guided missile Sturm
Sergey Mosin and other Soviet
rocket weaponry
Aleksandr Porokhovschikov , inventor of
Vezdekhod (the first prototype
continuous track
tank , or
tankette , and the first
continuous track
amphibious ATV )
Andrei Sakharov , physicist, inventor of
explosively pumped flux compression generator , co-developer of the
Tsar Bomb ,
Nobel Peace Prize winner
Vladimir Simonov , inventor of
underwater assault rifle
Fedor Tokarev , designer of
TT-33 handgun and
SVT-40 self-loading rifle, main Soviet guns of WII
Vladimir Utkin , designer of the
railway car -launched
ICBM (
RT-23 Molodets )
Ivan Vyrodkov , inventor of
siege tower
Land transport developers
Fyodor Pirotsky
Fyodor Blinov , inventor of
tracked wagon and steam-powered
caterpillar tractor
Cherepanovs , Yefim and his son Miron, makers of the first
steam locomotive in Russia
Ivan Elmanov , inventor of
monorail
Ivan Kulibin , mechanic and optician, inventor of
self-rolling carriage (with
flywheel ,
brake ,
gear box , and
bearing )
Yury Lomonosov , designer of the first successful mainline
diesel locomotive
Pavel Melnikov , Transport Minister, builder of the first
Russian Railways , introduced
Russian broad gauge
Fyodor Pirotsky , inventor of
railway electrification system and
electric tram
Leonty Shamshurenkov , inventor of the first
self-propelling carriage (a precursor to
quadrocycle and
automobile )
Pyotr Shilovsky , inventor of
gyrocar
Naval engineers
Rostislav Alexeyev , designer of high-speed
Raketa hydrofoils and
ekranoplans , including the
Caspian Sea Monster
Alexey Krylov
Anatoly Alexandrov , inventor of
degaussing , developer of
naval nuclear reactors (including one for the first
nuclear icebreaker )
Mikhail Britnev , designer of the first metal-
hull
icebreaker
Pilot
Stefan Drzewiecki , inventor of electric-powered and
midget submarines , designed the first serial submarine, developed the
blade element theory
Boris Jacobi , inventor of
electric boat , developer of modern
naval mining
Alexei Krylov , inventor of
gyroscopic
damping of ships, author of the
insubmersibility theory
Fyodor Litke , explorer, inventor of recording
tide measurer
Stepan Makarov , admiral, war hero, oceanographer, inventor of
torpedo boat tender , builder of
the first polar icebreaker , author of the insubmersibility theory
Stepan Makarov
Victor Makeyev , developer of the first intercontinental
submarine-launched ballistic missile
Ludvig Nobel , designer of the modern
oil tanker
Pavel Schilling , inventor of
electric
naval mine
Igor Spassky , designer of the
Sea Launch platform and over 200
nuclear submarines , including the world's largest submarines (
Typhoon class )
Vladimir Yourkevitch , designer of
SS Normandie , developer of modern
ship hull design
Aerospace engineers
Rostislav Alexeyev , designer of high-speed
Raketa hydrofoils and
ekranoplans , including the
Caspian Sea Monster
Oleg Antonov , designer of the
An -series aircraft, including
A-40
winged tank and
An-124 (the largest serial
cargo aircraft , later modified to world's largest
fixed-wing aircraft
An-225 )
Georgy Babakin , designer of the first
soft lander spacecraft
Luna 9
Vladimir Barmin , designer of the first rocket
launch complex (
Baikonur Cosmodrome )
Robert Bartini , developer of
ekranoplans and
VTOL
amphibious aircraft , physicist, tutor to many other aerospace designers
Alexander Bereznyak , designer of the first fighter
rocket-powered aircraft ,
BI-1
Georgy Beriev , designer of the
Be -series
amphibious aircraft
Georgy Bothezat , inventor of the
quadrotor helicopter , (
The Flying Octopus )
Vladimir Chelomey , designer of the first
space station
Salyut 1 , creator of
Proton rocket (
the most used heavy lift launch system )
Valentyn Glushko
Evgeniy Chertovsky , inventor of
pressure suit
Nicolas Florine , builder of the first successful
tandem rotor helicopter
Valentyn Glushko , inventor of
hypergolic propellant and
electrically powered spacecraft propulsion , designer of the world's most powerful
liquid-fuel rocket engine
RD-170
Pyotr Grushin , inventor of
anti-ballistic missile
Mikhail Gurevich , designer of the
MiG -series fighter aircraft, including
world's most produced
jet aircraft
MiG-15 and most produced
supersonic aircraft
MiG-21
Sergey Ilyushin , designer of the
Il -series fighter aircraft, including
Il-2 bomber (the
most produced military aircraft in history)
Aleksei Isaev , designer of the first
rocket-powered fighter aircraft,
BI-1
Mstislav Keldysh , co-developer of the first
satellite (
Sputnik ) and
Keldysh bomber
Kerim Kerimov , the secret figure behind the Soviet space program
Nikolay Kamov , designer of the
Ka -series
coaxial rotor helicopters
Alexander Kemurdzhian , inventor of
space exploration rover (
Lunokhod )
Nikolai Kibalchich , pioneer of rocketry, author of an early
propulsive device design
Sergei Korolev , the father of the
Soviet space program , inventor of the first
intercontinental ballistic missile and the first
space rocket (
R-7 Semyorka ), creator of the first
satellite (
Sputnik ), supervisor of the
first human spaceflight
Gleb Kotelnikov , inventor of
knapsack parachute and
drogue parachute
Semyon Lavochkin , designer of the
La -series aircraft and the first operational
surface-to-air missile
S-25 Berkut
Gleb Kotelnikov
Mikhail Lomonosov , polymath, inventor of
coaxial rotor and the first
helicopter
Gleb Lozino-Lozinskiy , designer of the
Buran space shuttle and
Spiral project
Arkhip Lyulka , designer of the
Lyulka -series
aircraft engines , including the first double jet
turbofan
Victor Makeyev , developer of the first intercontinental
SLBM
Artem Mikoyan , designer of the
MiG -series fighter aircraft, including world's most produced jet
MiG-15 and most produced
supersonic aircraft
MiG-21
Mikhail Mil , designer of the
Mi -series helicopters, including
Mil Mi-8 (the world's
most produced helicopter ) and
Mil Mi-12 (the world's largest helicopter)
Alexander Mozhaysky , author of the first attempt to create
heavier-than-air craft in Russia, designed the largest of 19th century
airplanes
Alexander Nadiradze , designer of the first mobile
ICBM
RT-21 Temp 2S and the first reliable mobile ICBM
RT-2PM Topol
Nikolai Polikarpov , designer of the
Po -series aircraft, including
Po-2
Kukuruznik (world's
most produced biplane )
Mikhail Pogosyan , designer of
Sukhoi aircraft, including
Su-47 ,
Su-57 and
SSJ 100
Alexander Procofieff de Seversky , inventor of
ionocraft and
gyroscopically stabilized
bombsight
Guy Severin , designer of the first
spacewalk supporting system
Igor Sikorsky , inventor of
airliner and
strategic bomber (
Sikorsky Ilya Muromets ), father of modern
helicopter , founder of the
Sikorsky Aircraft
Boris Shavyrin , inventor of
air-augmented rocket
Pavel Sukhoi , designer of the
Su -series fighter aircraft
Vladimir Syromyatnikov , designer of the
Androgynous Peripheral Attach System
Mikhail Tikhonravov , designer of
Sputniks , including the first artificial satellite
Sputnik 1
Konstantin Tsiolkovsky , principal pioneer of
astronautics
Alexei Tupolev , designer of the
Tu -series aircraft, including the first
supersonic transport
Tu-144
Andrei Tupolev , designer of the Tu-series aircraft, including the
turboprop long-range airliner
Tu-114 and
turboprop strategic bomber
Tu-95
Vladimir Vakhmistrov , supervisor of
Zveno project (the first bomber with
parasite aircraft )
Alexander Yakovlev , designer of the
Yak -series aircraft, including the first
regional jet
Yak-40
Friedrich Zander , designer of the first
liquid-fuel rocket in the Soviet Union,
GIRD -X, pioneer of astronautics
Nikolai Zhukovsky , founder of modern
aero- and
hydrodynamics , pioneer of
aviation
Structural engineers
Nikolai Belelubsky , major bridge designer, invented a number of construction schemes
Vladimir Shukhov
Agustín de Betancourt , polymath-engineer, urban planner, designed the
Moscow Manege and the giant dome of
St. Isaac's Cathedral , founded
Goznak
Vladimir Barmin , designer of the world's first rocket
launch complex (
Baikonur Cosmodrome )
Akinfiy Demidov , built the
Leaning Tower of Nevyansk (the first structure with
rebars and
cast iron
cupola , as well as the first
lightning rod in Europe)
Alexey Dushkin , designer of the first
deep column station ,
Mayakovskaya
Alexander Hrennikoff , founder of the
Finite Element Method
Nikolai Nikitin , engineer of the largest Soviet structures:
Moscow State University ,
Luzhniki Stadium ,
The Motherland Calls and
Ostankino Tower (once the world's
tallest freestanding structure )
Lavr Proskuryakov , builder of multiple bridges along the
Trans-Siberian Railway , inventor and tutor
Vladimir Shukhov , engineer-polymath, inventor of breakthrough
industrial designs (
hyperboloid structure ,
thin-shell structure ,
tensile structure ,
gridshell ), builder of
Shukhov Towers and multiple other structures
Electrical engineers
Schilling
Zhores Alferov , physicist, inventor of
heterotransistor ,
Nobel Prize winner
Nikolay Benardos , inventor of
carbon arc welding (the first practical
arc welding method)
Mikhail Dolivo-Dobrovolsky , inventor of
three-phase electric power
Boris Jacobi , inventor of
electroplating ,
electrotyping ,
galvanoplastic sculpture and
electric boat
Konstantin Khrenov , inventor of
underwater welding
Alexander Lodygin , one of the inventors of
incandescent light bulb , inventor of
electric
streetlight and
tungsten filament
Oleg Losev , inventor of
light-emitting diode and
crystadine
Vasily Petrov , inventor of
electric arc and
arc welding
Fyodor Pirotsky , inventor of
railway electrification system and
electric tram
Alexander Poniatoff , inventor of
videotape recorder
Pavel Yablochkov
Georg Wilhelm Richmann , inventor of
electrometer , died from
ball lightning during an experiment
Pavel Schilling , inventor of
shielded cable ,
electric mine and
electromagnetic telegraph
Nikolay Slavyanov , inventor of
shielded metal arc welding
Aleksandr Stoletov , physicist, inventor of
photoelectric cell
Pavel Yablochkov , inventor of
Yablochkov candle (the first commercially viable
electric lamp ),
transformer and
headlamp
IT developers
Georgy Adelson-Velsky , inventor of
AVL tree algorithm, developer of
Kaissa (the first
World Computer Chess Champion )
Boris Babayan , developer of the
Elbrus supercomputers
Sergey Brin , inventor of the
Google web search engine
Nikolay Brusentsov , inventor of
ternary computer (
Setun )
Mikhail Donskoy , leading developer of
Kaissa , the first computer chess champion
Victor Glushkov , founder of
cybernetics , inventor of the first
personal computer
MIR
Anatoly Karatsuba , developed the
Karatsuba algorithm (the first fast
multiplication algorithm )
Yevgeny Kaspersky , developer of Kaspersky
anti-virus products
Leonid Khachiyan , developed the
Ellipsoid algorithm for
linear programming
Semen Korsakov , first to use
punched cards for information storage and search
Evgeny Landis , inventor of
AVL tree algorithm
Alexey Pajitnov
Sergey Lebedev , developer of the first Soviet and European
electronic computers ,
MESM and
BESM
Vladimir Levenshtein , developed the
Levenshtein automaton ,
Levenshtein coding and
Levenshtein distance
Willgodt Theophil Odhner , inventor of the
Odhner Arithmometer , the most popular mechanical calculator in the 20th century
Alexey Pajitnov , inventor of
Tetris
Eugene Roshal , developer of the
FAR file manager ,
RAR file format ,
WinRAR
file archiver
Valentin Turchin , inventor of
Refal programming language , introduced
metasystem transition and
supercompilation
Optics and photography pioneers
Franz Aepinus , inventor of
achromatic
microscope
Dmitry Maksutov
Nikolay Basov , physicist, co-inventor of
laser and
maser ,
Nobel Prize winner
Yuri Denisyuk , inventor of
3D holography
Semyon Kirlian , inventor of
Kirlian photography
Ivan Kulibin , polymath inventor, introduced
candle
searchlight and
searchlight -based
optical telegraph
Sergey Levitsky , inventor of the
bellows camera, one of the earliest photography pioneers
Mikhail Lomonosov , polymath scientist and artist, inventor of
off-axis reflecting telescope and
night vision telescope
Alexander Makarov , inventor of
orbitrap
Dmitry Maksutov , inventor of the
Maksutov telescope
Sergey Prokudin-Gorsky
Boris Mamyrin , inventor of
reflectron
Alexander Prokhorov , physicist, co-inventor of
laser and
maser , Nobel Prize winner
Sergey Prokudin-Gorsky , pioneer of
colour photography , inventor of colour
film slides and colour
motion pictures , famous for his multiple colour photos of
Russian Empire
Yevgeny Zavoisky , inventor of
EPR spectroscopy , co-developer of
NMR spectroscopy
Communication engineers
Hovannes Adamian , inventor of the first
RGB -based mechanical colour TV system
Alexander Popov
Leonid Kupriyanovich , inventor of man-portable
mobile phone and pocket
mobile phone
Oleg Losev , inventor of
crystadine radio
Constantin Perskyi , inventor of the word "television", TV pioneer
Alexander Popov , inventor of
lightning detector , one of the
inventors of radio
Boris Rosing , the first to use
cathode ray tube in a
TV system
Pavel Schilling , inventor of
electric telegraph
Leon Theremin , polymath, inventor of
interlace
Vladimir Zworykin , "the Father of television" , inventor of
iconoscope and
kinescope
Musical instrument makers
Vasily Andreyev , developed the standard
balalaika , revived
domra and
gusli
Vasily Andreyev
Vladimir Baranov-Rossine , inventor of
Optophonic Piano
Motorins , Ivan his son Mikhail, makers of the
Tsar Bell , the
largest bell in the world
Yevgeny Murzin , inventor of the
ANS synthesizer
Andrei Sychra , inventor of the
Russian guitar
Leon Theremin , inventor of
theremin (the first successful
electronic musical instrument ),
terpsitone and
rhythmicon (the first
drum machine )
Miscellaneous inventors
Vitaly Abalakov , mountaineer, inventor of the
camming devices and
V-thread
Sergey Malyutin '
Alexandre Alexeieff , inventor of
pinscreen animation
Anatoly Kharlampiev , developer of
sambo martial art
Lisitsyns family, producers of the first Russian
samovars
Sergey Malyutin , painter, inventor of
matryoshka doll
Vera Mukhina , sculptor, inventor of
welded sculpture
Lucien Olivier , inventor of
Salad Olivier
Ivan Polzunov , inventor of the two-cylinder
steam engine
Franz San Galli
Scientists and scholars
Polymaths
Alexander Borodin , chemist and composer, author of the famous opera
Prince Igor , discovered
Borodin reaction , co-discovered
Aldol reaction
Alexander Chizhevsky , interdisciplinary scientist, biophysicist, philosopher and artist, founder of
heliobiology and modern
air ionification ,
Russian cosmist
Mikhail Lomonosov , polymath scientist, artist and inventor; founder of the
Moscow State University ; proposed the law of
conservation of matter ; disproved the
phlogiston theory ; invented
coaxial rotor and the first
helicopter ;
Mikhail Lomonosov invented the
night vision telescope and
off-axis reflecting telescope ; discovered the
atmosphere of Venus ; suggested the
organic origin of
soil ,
peat ,
coal ,
petroleum and
amber ; pioneered the research of
atmospheric electricity ; coined the term
physical chemistry ; the first to record
freezing of
mercury ; co-developed the
Russian porcelain , re-discovered
smalt and created a number of
mosaics dedicated to
Petrine era ; author of an early account of
Russian history and the first opponent of the
Normanist theory ; reformed Russian literary language by combining
Old Church Slavonic with vernacular tongue in his early grammar; influenced
Russian poetry through his
odes
Vladimir Obruchev , geologist, paleontologist, geographer and explorer of
Siberia and
Central Asia , author of the comprehensive Geology of
Siberia and two popular
science fiction novels,
Plutonia and
Sannikov Land
Peter Simon Pallas , polymath naturalist, geographer, ethnographer, philologist, explorer of
European Russia and
Siberia , discoverer of the first
pallasite meteorite (
Krasnojarsk meteorite ) and multiple animals, including the
Pallas's cat ,
Pallas's squirrel , and
Pallas's gull
Yakov Perelman , a founder of
popular science , author of many popular books, including the Physics Can Be Fun and Mathematics Can Be Fun
Pyotr Semyonov-Tyan-Shansky , geographer, geologist, entomologist, explorer of the
Tian Shan Mountains , discoverer of the Peak
Khan Tengri , for 40 years the head of the
Russian Geographical Society , statistician, organiser of the first
Russian Empire Census
Vasily Tatishchev , statesman, economist, geographer, ethnographer, philologist and historian, supervisor of the first instrumental mapping of Russia, coloniser of the
Urals and Siberia, founder of
Perm and
Yekaterinburg , discovered and published
Russkaya Pravda ,
Sudebnik and the controversial
Ioachim Chronicle , wrote the first full-scale account of Russian history, compiled the first
encyclopedic dictionary of
Russian language
Vladimir Vernadsky , philosopher, geologist, a founder of
geochemistry ,
biogeochemistry and
radiogeology , creator of
noosphere theory, popularized the term
biosphere , major
Russian cosmist
Ivan Yefremov , paleontologist, philosopher, sci-fi and historical novelist, founder of
taphonomy , author of
The Land of Foam ,
Andromeda: A Space-Age Tale and
Thais of Athens
Earth scientists
Karl Baer , naturalist, formulated the geological
Baer's law on
river erosion
Ivan Chersky , geologist, explorer of
Siberia , explained the origin of
Lake Baikal , pioneered the
geomorphological evolution theory
Alexander Fersman , a founder of
geochemistry , discovered
copper in
Monchegorsk ,
apatites in
Khibiny ,
sulfur in
Central Asia
Boris Golitsyn , inventor of
electromagnetic
seismograph , the President of International Association of
Seismology
Ivan Gubkin , founder of the
Gubkin Russian State University of Oil and Gas
Alexander Karpinsky , geologist and mineralogist, the first President of the
Soviet Academy of Sciences
Vladimir Köppen ,
meteorologist , author of the commonly used
Köppen climate classification
Stepan Krasheninnikov , geographer, the first Russian naturalist, made the first scientific description of
Kamchatka
Pyotr Shirshov , polar explorer, founder of the
Shirshov Institute of Oceanology , proved that there is life in high latitudes of the Arctic Ocean
Yuly Shokalsky , first head of the
Soviet Geographical Society , coined the term
World Ocean
Vladimir Vernadsky , philosopher, geologist, a founder of
geochemistry ,
biogeochemistry and
radiogeology , creator of
noosphere theory, popularized the term
biosphere
Biologists and paleontologists
Johann Friedrich Adam , discovered the
Adams mammoth , the first complete
woolly mammoth skeleton
Andrey Bolotov
Karl Baer , naturalist, founded the
Russian Entomological Society , formulated
embryological
Baer's laws
Nikolai Bernstein , neurophysiologist, coined the term
biomechanics
Andrey Bolotov , major 18th century
agriculturist , discovered
dichogamy , pioneered
cross-pollination
Alexander Chizhevsky , founder of
heliobiology and modern
air ionification
Andrey Famintsyn ,
plant physiologist , inventor of
grow lamp , developer of
symbiogenesis theory
Yuri Filipchenko , entomologist, coined the terms
microevolution and
macroevolution
Johann Georg Gmelin , the first researcher of
Siberian flora
Dmitry Ivanovsky
Alexander Gurwitsch , originated the
morphogenetic field theory and discovered the
biophoton
Ilya Ivanov , researcher of
artificial insemination and the
interspecific hybridization of animals, attempted to create a
human-ape hybrid
Dmitry Ivanovsky , discoverer of
viruses
Georgii Karpechenko , inventor of
rabbage (the first ever non-sterile
hybrid obtained through
crossbreeding )
Nikolai Koltsov , discoverer of
cytoskeleton
Vladimir Komarov ,
plant geographer , President of the
Soviet Academy of Sciences , founder of the
Komarov Botanical Institute
Ilya Mechnikov , pioneer researcher of
immune system ,
probiotics and
phagocytosis , coined the term
gerontology ,
Nobel Prize in Medicine winner
Konstantin Merezhkovsky , major
lichenologist , developer of
symbiogenesis theory, a founder of
endosymbiosis theory
Ivan Michurin ,
pomologist ,
selectionist and
geneticist , practiced
crossing of geographically distant plants, created hundreds of fruit
cultivars
Ivan Michurin
Alexander Middendorf , zoologist and explorer, studied the influence of
permafrost on living beings, coined the term
radula , prominent
horse breeder
Victor Motschulsky , prominent researcher of
beetles
Sergei Navashin , discovered
double fertilization
Alexey Olovnikov , predicted existence of
Telomerase , suggested the
Telomere hypothesis of aging and the
Telomere relations to cancer
Aleksandr Oparin , biologist and
biochemist , proposed the "
Primordial soup " theory of
life origin , showed that many
food production processes are based on
biocatalysis
Heinz Christian Pander , embryologist, discovered
germ layers
Peter Simon Pallas , polymath naturalist, explorer, discoverer of multiple animals, including the
Pallas's cat ,
Pallas's squirrel , and
Pallas's gull
Ivan Pavlov , founder of modern
physiology , the first to research
classical conditioning , Nobel Prize in Medicine winner
Nikolai Vavilov
Vladimir Pravdich-Neminsky , published the first
EEG and the
evoked potential of the mammalian brain
Carl Schmidt , researcher of biochemical crystal structures, proved the chemical similarity of animal and plant cells
Boris Schwanwitsch , entomologist, applied colour patterns of insect wings to
military camouflage during World War II
Ivan Sechenov , founder of
electrophysiology and
neurophysiology
Georg Wilhelm Steller , naturalist, participant of
Vitus Bering 's voyages, discoverer of
Steller's jay ,
Steller's eider , extinct
Steller's sea cow and multiple other animals
Lina Stern , pioneer researcher of
blood–brain barrier
Armen Takhtajan , developer of
Takhtajan system of
flowering plant classification, major
biogeographer
Kliment Timiryazev , plant physiologist and evolutionist, major researcher of
chlorophyll
Sergey Vinogradsky
Lev Tsenkovsky , pioneer researcher of the
ontogenesis of
lower plants and animals
Mikhail Tsvet , inventor of
chromatography
Nikolai Vavilov , botanist and geneticist, gathered the world's largest collection of plant
seeds , identified the
centres of origin of main cultivated plants
Sergey Vinogradsky , microbiologist, ecologist and soil scientist, pioneered the
biogeochemical cycle concept, discovered
lithotrophy and
chemosynthesis , invented the
Winogradsky column for breeding of
microorganisms
Ivan Yefremov , paleontologist, sci-fi author, founded
taphonomy
Sergey Zimov , creator of the
Pleistocene Park
Physicians and psychologists
Ilya Mechnikov
Ivan Pavlov
Ivan Sechenov
Vladimir Bekhterev , neuropathologist, founder of
objective psychology , noted the role of the
hippocampus in memory, a developer of
reflexology , studied the
Bekhterev's Disease
Vladimir Betz , discovered
Betz cells of
primary motor cortex
Sergey Botkin , major
therapist and court physician
Nikolay Burdenko , major developer of
neurosurgery
Konstantin Buteyko , developed the
Buteyko method for the treatment of breathing disorders
Vladimir Demikhov , major pioneer of
transplantology
Vladimir Filatov ,
ophthalmologist ,
corneal transplantation pioneer
Svyatoslav Fyodorov , inventor of
radial keratotomy
Georgy Gause , inventor of
gramicidin S and other
antibiotics
Oleg Gazenko , founder of
space medicine ; selected and trained
Laika , the first
space dog
Vera Gedroitz , first female Professor of
Surgery in the world
Waldemar Haffkine , invented the first vaccines against
cholera and
bubonic plague
Gavriil Ilizarov , invented
Ilizarov apparatus , developed
distraction osteogenesis
Nikolai Korotkov , invented
auscultatory blood pressure measurement , pioneered
vascular surgery
Sergey Korsakov , studied the effects of
alcoholism on the
nervous system , described
Korsakoff's syndrome , introduced
paranoia concept
Aleksey Leontyev , founder of
activity theory in psychology
Peter Lesgaft , founder of the modern system of
physical education in Russia
Alexander Luria , co-developer of activity theory and
cultural-historical psychology , major researcher of
aphasia
Ilya Mechnikov , pioneer researcher of
immune system ,
probiotics and
phagocytosis ; coined the term
gerontology ,
Nobel Prize in Medicine winner
Pyotr Nikolsky ,
dermatologist , discoverer of
Nikolsky's sign
Alexey Olovnikov , predicted existence of
Telomerase , suggested the
Telomere hypothesis of aging and the
Telomere relations to cancer
Ivan Pavlov , founder of modern
physiology , the first to research
classical conditioning , Nobel Prize in Medicine winner
Nikolay Pirogov , pioneer of
ether
anaesthesia and modern
field surgery , the first to perform anaesthesia in the field conditions, invented a number of surgical operations
Leonid Rogozov , performed an
appendectomy on himself during the sixth
Soviet Antarctic Expedition , a famous case of
self-surgery
Grigory Rossolimo , pioneer of child
neuropsychology
Ivan Sechenov , founder of
electrophysiology and
neurophysiology , author of the classic work
Reflexes of the
Brain
Victor Skumin , described
Skumin syndrome
Lina Stern , pioneer researcher of
blood–brain barrier
Fyodor Uglov , oldest practicing surgeon in history
Alexander Varshavsky , researched
ubiquitination ,
Wolf Prize in Medicine winner
Luka Voyno-Yasenetsky , founder of
purulent
surgery , saint
Lev Vygotsky , founder of
cultural-historical psychology , major contributor to
child development and
psycholinguistics , introduced
zone of proximal development and
cultural mediation concepts
Josias Weitbrecht , first to describe the construction and function of
intervertebral discs
Sergei Yudin , inventor of
cadaveric blood transfusion
Bluma Zeigarnik , psychiatrist, discovered the
Zeigarnik effect , founded experimental
psychopathology
Economists and sociologists
Alexander Chayanov , developed the
consumption-labour-balance principle
Leonid Kantorovich
Georges Gurvitch , major developer of
sociology of knowledge and
sociology of law
Leonid Kantorovich , mathematician and economist, founded
linear programming , developed the theory of
optimal allocation of resources,
Nobel Prize in Economics winner
Nikolai Kondratiev , discoverer of the
Kondratiev waves
Andrey Korotayev , historian, anthropologist, a founder of
cliodynamics , prominent developer of
social cycle theory
Gleb Krzhizhanovsky , developer of the
GOELRO plan , the first Chief of
Gosplan
Simon Kuznets , discovered the
Kuznets swings , built the
Kuznets curve , disproved the
Absolute Income Hypothesis , Nobel Prize in Economics winner
Vladimir Lenin , leader of the
October Revolution and founder of the Soviet Union, introduced
planned economy and
Leninism
Pitirim Sorokin
Evsei Liberman , laid the scientific support for the Soviet
Kosygin reform in economy
Wassily Leontief , developed
input-output analysis and the
Leontief paradox , Nobel Prize in Economics winner
Vasily Nemchinov , created the mathematical basis for the Soviet
central planning
Grigory Orlov , founder of the
Free Economic Society
Pitirim Sorokin , sociologist, a prominent developer of the
social cycle theory
Stanislav Strumilin , pioneer of the
planned economy , developed the first
five-year plans
Historians and archaeologists
Mikhail Artamonov , historian and archaeologist,
Mikhail Artamonov founder of modern
Khazar studies, excavated a great number of
Scythian and Khazar
kurgans and settlements, including
Sarkel
Artemiy Artsikhovsky , archaeologist, discoverer of
birch bark documents in
Novgorod
Vasily Bartold ,
turkologist , the "
Gibbon of
Turkestan " , an archaeologist of
Samarcand
Konstantin Bestuzhev-Ryumin , 19th-century historian and
paleographer , founder of the
Bestuzhev Courses for women
Nikita Bichurin , a founder of
Sinology , published many documents on
Chinese and
Mongolian history , opened the first Chinese-language school in Russia
Nikolay Danilevsky , ethnologist, philosopher and historian, a founder of
Eurasianism , the first to present an account of history as a series of distinct
civilisations
Igor Diakonov , historian and linguist, a prominent researcher of
Sumer and
Assyria
Boris Farmakovsky , archaeologist of
Ancient Greek colony
Olbia
Nikolay Danilevsky
Vladimir Golenishchev , egyptologist, excavated
Wadi Hammamat , discovered over 6,000 antiquities, including the
Moscow Mathematical Papyrus , the
Story of Wenamun , and various
Fayum portraits
Timofey Granovsky , a founder of
mediaeval studies in Russia, disproved the historicity of
Vineta
Boris Grekov , major researcher of
Kievan Rus' and the
Golden Horde
Lev Gumilev , historian and ethnologist, prominent researcher of the ancient
Central Asian peoples, related
ethnogenesis and
biosphere , influenced the rise of
Neo-Eurasianism
Boris Hessen , physicist who brought
externalism into modern
historiography of science
Pyotr Kafarov , prominent sinologist, discovered
The Secret History of the Mongols
Nikolai Karamzin ,
sentimentalist writer and historian, author of the 12-volume History of the Russian State
Nikolai Karamzin
Vasily Klyuchevsky , dominated Russian historiography at the turn of the 20th century, shifted focus from politics and society to geography and economy
Alexander Kazhdan ,
Byzantinist , editor of the
Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium
Nikodim Kondakov , prominent researcher of
Byzantine art
Andrey Korotayev , historian and anthropologist, a founder of
cliodynamics , a prominent developer of
social cycle theory
Pyotr Kozlov , explorer of Central Asia, discoverer of the ancient
Tangut city of
Khara-Khoto and
Xiongnu royal burials at
Noin-Ula
Nikolay Likhachyov , first and foremost Russian
sigillographer , major developer of auxiliary historical disciplines
Aleksey Lobanov-Rostovsky , statesman, published the major Russian
Genealogical Book
Mikhail Lomonosov , polymath scientist and artist, the first opponent of the
Normanist theory , published an early account of Russian history
Friedrich Martens , legal historian, drafted the
Martens Clause of the
Hague Peace Conference
Nestor the Chronicler
Vladimir Minorsky , prominent historian of
Persia
Yagutil Mishiev , author of books about the history of
Derbent ,
Dagestan , Russia
Gerhardt Friedrich Müller , co-founder of the
Russian Academy of Sciences , explorer and the first academic historian of
Siberia , a founder of
ethnography , author of the first academic account of
Russian history , put forth the
Normanist theory
Aleksei Musin-Pushkin , prominent collector of ancient Russian manuscripts, discoverer of
The Tale of Igor's Campaign
Nestor the Chronicler , author of the
Primary Chronicle (the first
East Slavic chronicle) and several
hagiographies , saint
Alexey Okladnikov , prominent historian and archaeologist of
Siberia and
Mongolia
Sergey Oldenburg , a founder of Russian
Indology and the
Academic Institute of Oriental Studies
George Ostrogorsky , preeminent 20th-century
Byzantinist
Avraamy Palitsyn , 17th-century historian of the
Time of Troubles
Anna Pankratova (1897–1957), leading Soviet historian
Evgeny Pashukanis , legal historian, wrote The General Theory of Law and
Marxism
Tatyana Proskuryakova
Boris Piotrovsky , prominent researcher of
Urartu ,
Scythia , and
Nubia , long-term director of the
Hermitage Museum
Mikhail Piotrovsky , orientalist, current director of the
Hermitage Museum
Mikhail Pogodin , leading mid-19th-century Russian historian, proponent of the
Normanist theory
Mikhail Pokrovsky ,
Marxist historian prominent in the 1920s
Natalia Polosmak , archaeologist of
Pazyryk burials , discoverer of
Pazyryk Ice Maiden
Alexander Polovtsov , statesman, historian and
Maecenas , founder of the Russian Historian Society
Tatyana Proskuryakova ,
Mayanist scholar and archaeologist, deciphered the ancient
Maya script
Semyon Remezov , cartographer and the first historian of
Siberia , author of the
Remezov Chronicle
Mikhail Rostovtsev , archeologist and economist, the first to thoroughly examine the social and economic systems of the
Ancient World , excavated
Dura-Europos
Sergey Solovyov
Nicholas Roerich , painter, archeologist, explorer of Central Asia, initiated the international
Roerich's Pact on historical monuments protection
Sergei Rudenko , discoverer of
Scythian
Pazyryk burials
Boris Rybakov , historian and chief Soviet archaeologist for 40 years, primary opponent of the
Normanist theory
Viktor Sarianidi , discoverer of the
Bactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex and the
Bactrian Gold in Central Asia
Mikhail Shcherbatov , man of
Russian Enlightenment , conservative historian
Sergey Solovyov , principal Russian 19th-century historian, author of the 29-volume History of Russia
Vasily Struve , orientalist and historian of the
Ancient World , put forth the
Marxist theory of five socio-economic formations that dominated the Soviet education
Yevgeny Tarle , author of the famous studies on
Napoleon's invasion of Russia and on the
Crimean War
Vasily Tatischev
Vasily Tatischev , statesman, geographer and historian, discovered and published the
Russkaya Pravda ,
Sudebnik and the controversial
Ioachim Chronicle ; wrote the first full-scale account of Russian history
Mikhail Tikhomirov , major
paleographer , published the
Complete Collection of Russian Chronicles
Boris Turayev , author of the first full-scale History of
Ancient East
Peter Turchin , population biologist and historian, coined the term
cliodynamics
Aleksey Uvarov , founder of the first Russian archaeological society, discovered over 750 ancient
kurgans
Nikolai Yadrintsev , discoverer of
Genghis Khan 's capital
Karakorum and the
Orkhon script of ancient
Türks
Valentin Yanin , preeminent researcher of
birch bark documents
Dmitry Yurasov , historian of soviet repression
Linguists and ethnographers
Vasily Abaev , major researcher of
Iranian languages
Ivan Baudouin de Courtenay
Alexander Afanasyev , leading Russian
folklorist , recorded and published over 600
Russian fairy tales , by far the largest folktale collection by any one man in the world
Ivan Baudouin de Courtenay , co-invented the concept of
phoneme and the systematic treatment of
linguistical alternations , pioneered
synchronic analysis and
mathematical linguistics
Vladimir Bogoraz , researcher of
Chukchi people , founder of the
Institute of the Peoples of the North
Otto von Böhtlingk , prominent
Indologist and
Sanskrit grammarian
Fyodor Buslaev , philologist and folklorist, representative of the
Mythological school of
comparative literature
Marina Butovskaya ,
ethologist and cultural anthropologist
Vladimir Dahl ,
Russian language
lexicographer of the 19th century, folklorist and
turkologist , author of the
Explanatory Dictionary of the Live Great Russian language
Johann Gottlieb Georgi , explorer, published the first full-scale work on ethnography of
indigenous peoples of Russia
Dmitry Gerasimov , medieval translator, diplomat and philologist, correspondent of European
Renaissance scholars
Vladimir Dahl
Vladislav Illich-Svitych , founder of
Nostratic linguistics
Vyacheslav Ivanov , founder of
glottalic theory of
Indo-European
consonantism
Roman Jakobson , preeminent 20th century linguist and literary theorist, a founder of
phonology , major
Slavist , author of
Jackobson's Communication Model
Pyotr Kafarov , prominent
sinologist , developed the
cyrillization of Chinese , discovered
The Secret History of the Mongols
Yuri Knorozov , linguist,
epigrapher and ethnographer, deciphered the
Maya script , proposed a decipherment for the
Indus script
Nikolay Krushevsky , co-inventor of the concept of
phoneme and the systematic treatment of linguistical alternations
Gerasim Lebedev , pioneer of
Indology , introduced
Bengali script typing to Europe, founded the first European-style
theater in India
Dmitry Likhachov , major 20th century expert on
Old East Slavic and literature
Nicholai Miklukho-Maklai
Mikhail Lomonosov , polymath scientist and artist, wrote a
grammar that reformed Russian literary language by combining
Old Church Slavonic with vernacular tongue
Nikolay Lvov , polymath artist and scientist, compiled the first significant collection of
Russian folk songs , published epic
bylinas
Richard Maack , naturalist and ethnographer of
Siberia
Sergey Malov , turkologist, classified the
Turkic alphabets , deciphered the ancient
Orkhon script
Nicholas Marr , put forth a pseudo-linguistic
Japhetic theory on the
origin of language
Igor Melchuk , structural linguist, author of
Meaning-Text Theory
Nicholai Miklukho-Maklai , anthropologist who lived and traveled among the natives of
Papua New Guinea and
Pacific islands , prominent
anti-racist
Semyon Novgorodov ,
Yakut politician and linguist, creator of written
Yakut language (
Sakha scripts )
Nikolai Trubetzkoy
Stephan of Perm , 14th century missionary, converted
Komi Permyaks to Christianity and invented the
Old Permic script
Yevgeny Polivanov , linguist, orientalist and
polyglot , developed the
cyrillization of Japanese
Nicholas Poppe , prominent
Altaic-language researcher
Vladimir Propp ,
formalist scholar, major researcher of
folk tales and
mythology
Isaac Jacob Schmidt , first researcher of
Mongolian language
Leopold von Schrenck , naturalist and ethnographer, coined the term
Paleo-Asiatic peoples , the first director of the
Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography
Aleksey Shakhmatov , founder of
textology , prepared major 20th century
reforms of Russian orthography , pioneered the systematic research of
Old Russian and medieval
Russian literature
Andrey Zaliznyak
Lev Shcherba ,
phonetician and
phonologist , author of the
glokaya kuzdra phrase
Fyodor Shcherbatskoy ,
Indologist , initiated the scholarly study of
Buddhist philosophy in the West
Izmail Sreznevsky , leading 19th century
Slavist , published
Codex Zographensis ,
Codex Marianus and
Kiev Fragments
Sergei Starostin , prominent supporter of
Altaic theory, proposed the
Dené–Caucasian languages
macrofamily , reconstructed several Eurasian proto-languages
Vasily Tatischev , geographer, ethnographer and historian, compiled the first encyclopedic
dictionary of
Russian language
Tenevil ,
Chukchi
reindeer herder who created a writing system for the
Chukchi language
Nikolai Trubetzkoy , principal developer of
phonology and inventor of
morphophonology , defined
phoneme , a founder of the
Prague School of
structural linguistics
Dmitry Ushakov , author of the academic
Explanatory Dictionary of the Russian Language
Ludwik Zamenhof
Max Vasmer , leading
Indo-European ,
Finno-Ugric and
Turkic
etymologist , author of the Etymological dictionary of the
Russian language
Viktor Vinogradov , linguist and philologist, founder of the
Russian Language Institute
Alexander Vostokov , coined the term
Old Church Slavonic , discovered the
Ostromir Gospel (the most ancient book in
East Slavic language ), pioneered the research of
Russian grammar
Andrey Zaliznyak , author of the comprehensive systematic description of Russian
inflection , prominent researcher of the
Old Novgorod dialect and
birch bark documents , proved the authenticity of the
Tale of Igor's Campaign
L. L. Zamenhof , inventor of
Esperanto , the most widely spoken
constructed
international auxiliary language
Mathematicians
Aleksandr Aleksandrov , developer of
CAT(k) space and
Alexandrov's uniqueness theorem in geometry
Pafnuti Chebyshev
Pavel Alexandrov , author of the
Alexandroff compactification and the
Alexandrov topology
Dmitri Anosov , developed
Anosov diffeomorphism
Vladimir Arnold , an author of the
Kolmogorov–Arnold–Moser theorem in
dynamical systems , solved
Hilbert's 13th problem , raised the
ADE classification and
Arnold's rouble problems
Sergey Bernstein , developed the
Bernstein polynomial ,
Bernstein's theorem and
Bernstein inequalities in probability theory
Nikolay Bogolyubov , mathematician and theoretical physicist, author of the
edge-of-the-wedge theorem ,
Krylov–Bogolyubov theorem ,
describing function and multiple contributions to
quantum mechanics
Nikolai Chebotaryov , author of
Chebotarev's density theorem
Pafnuti Chebyshev , prominent tutor and founding father of Russian mathematics,
Leonhard Euler contributed to
probability ,
statistics and
number theory , author of the
Chebyshev's inequality ,
Chebyshev distance ,
Chebyshev function ,
Chebyshev equation etc.
Boris Delaunay , inventor of
Delaunay triangulation , organised the first
Soviet Student Olympiad in mathematics
Vladimir Drinfeld , mathematician and theoretical physicist, introduced
quantum groups and
ADHM construction ,
Fields Medal winner
Eugene Dynkin , developed
Dynkin diagram ,
Doob–Dynkin lemma and
Dynkin system in
algebra and
probability
Leonhard Euler , preeminent 18th century mathematician, arguably the greatest of all time, made important discoveries in
mathematical analysis ,
graph theory and number theory, introduced much of the modern mathematical terminology and notation (
mathematical function ,
Euler's number ,
Euler circles etc.)
Yevgraf Fyodorov , identified
Periodic graph in geometry, the first to identify all of the 230
space groups of crystals
Boris Galerkin , developed the
Galerkin method in
numerical analysis
Sofia Kovalevskaya
Israel Gelfand , contributed to many areas of mathematics, including
group theory ,
representation theory and
linear algebra , author of the
Gelfand representation ,
Gelfand pair ,
Gelfand triple ,
integral geometry etc. Wolf Prize winner.
Alexander Gelfond , author of
Gelfond's theorem , provided means to obtain infinite number of
transcendentals , including
Gelfond–Schneider constant and
Gelfond's constant ,
Wolf Prize in Mathematics winner
Mikhail Gromov , a prominent developer of
geometric group theory , inventor of
homotopy principle , introduced Gromov's compactness theorems in
geometry and
topology ,
Gromov norm ,
Gromov product etc., Wolf Prize winner
Leonid Kantorovich , founder of
linear programming , introduced the
Kantorovich inequality and
Kantorovich metric , developed the theory of
optimal allocation of resources,
Nobel Prize in Economics winner
Aleksandr Khinchin , developed the
Pollaczek-Khinchine formula ,
Wiener–Khinchin theorem and
Khinchin inequality in probability
Nikolai Lobachevsky
Andrey Kolmogorov , preeminent 20th century mathematician, Wolf Prize winner; developed
probability axioms ,
Chapman–Kolmogorov equation and
Kolmogorov extension theorem in
probability ;
Kolmogorov complexity etc.
Maxim Kontsevich , author of the
Kontsevich integral and
Kontsevich quantization formula , Fields Medal winner
Sofia Kovalevskaya , the first woman professor in Northern Europe and Russia, the first female professor of mathematics, discovered the
Kovalevskaya top
Mark Krein , developed the
Tannaka–Krein duality ,
Krein–Milman theorem and
Krein space , Wolf Prize winner
Nikolay Krylov , author of the
edge-of-the-wedge theorem ,
Krylov–Bogolyubov theorem and
describing function
Yuri Linnik , developed
Linnik's theorem in
analytic number theory
Nikolai Lobachevsky , a
Copernicus of
Geometry who created the first
non-Euclidean geometry (
Lobachevskian or
hyperbolic geometry )
Aleksandr Lyapunov
Nikolai Lusin , developed
Luzin's theorem ,
Luzin spaces and
Luzin sets in
descriptive set theory
Aleksandr Lyapunov , founder of
stability theory , author of the
Lyapunov's central limit theorem ,
Lyapunov equation ,
Lyapunov fractal ,
Lyapunov time etc.
Yuri Manin , author of the
Gauss–Manin connection in
algebraic geometry ,
Manin-Mumford conjecture and
Manin obstruction in
diophantine geometry
Grigory Margulis , worked on
lattices in
Lie groups , Wolf Prize and
Fields Medal winner
Andrey Markov , invented the
Markov chains , proved
Markov brothers' inequality , author of the
hidden Markov model ,
Markov number ,
Markov property ,
Markov's inequality ,
Markov processes ,
Markov random field ,
Markov algorithm etc.
Yuri Matiyasevich , author of
Matiyasevich's theorem in
set theory , provided negative solution for
Hilbert's tenth problem
Pyotr Novikov , solved the
word problem for groups and
Burnside's problem
Andrey Markov
Sergey Novikov , worked on
algebraic topology and
soliton theory , developed
Adams–Novikov spectral sequence and
Novikov conjecture , Wolf Prize and Fields Medal winner
Andrei Okounkov , researcher of
infinite symmetric groups and
Hilbert scheme , Fields Medal winner
Mikhail Ostrogradsky , mathematician and physicist, author of
divergence theorem and
partial fractions in integration
Grigori Perelman , major contributor to
Riemannian geometry and
topology , proved
Geometrization conjecture and
Poincaré conjecture , won a
Fields medal and the first Clay
Millennium Prize Problems Award (declined both)
Lev Pontryagin , blind mathematician, developed
Pontryagin duality and
Pontryagin classes in topology, and
Pontryagin's minimum principle in
optimal control
Lev Schnirelmann , developed the
Lusternik–Schnirelmann category in topology and
Schnirelmann density of numbers
Sergei Sobolev
Moses Schönfinkel , inventor of
combinatory logic
Yakov Sinai , developed the
Kolmogorov–Sinai entropy and
Sinai billiard , Wolf and Abel Prize winner
Stanislav Smirnov , prominent researcher of
triangular lattice , Fields Medalist
Sergei Sobolev , introduced the
Sobolev spaces and
mathematical distributions , co-developed the first
ternary computer
Setun
Vladimir Steklov , founder of
Steklov Institute of Mathematics , proved theorems on
generalized Fourier series
Jakow Trachtenberg , developed the
Trachtenberg system of
mental calculation
Andrey Tikhonov , author of
Tikhonov regularization of
ill-posed problems ,
Tikhonov space and
Tikhonov's theorem (central in
general topology ), invented
magnetotellurics
Pavel Urysohn , developed the
metrization theorems ,
Urysohn's Lemma and
Fréchet–Urysohn space in topology
Nicolay Vasilyev , inventor of
non-Aristotelian logic , the forerunner of
paraconsistent and
multi-valued logics
Ivan Vinogradov , developed
Vinogradov's theorem and
Pólya–Vinogradov inequality in
analytic number theory
Vladimir Voevodsky , introduced a
homotopy theory for schemes and modern
motivic cohomology , Fields Medalist
Georgy Voronoy , invented the
Voronoi diagram
Dmitry Yegorov , author of
Egorov's Theorem in
mathematical analysis
Efim Zelmanov , solved the
restricted Burnside problem , Fields Medal winner
Astronomers and cosmologists
Viktor Ambartsumian , one of the founders of
theoretical astrophysics , discoverer of
stellar associations , founder of
Byurakan Observatory
Alexander Fridman
Vladimir Belinski , an author of the
BKL singularity model of the Universe
Aristarkh Belopolsky , invented a
spectrograph based on the
Doppler effect , among the first photographers of
stellar spectra
Fyodor Bredikhin , developed the theory of
comet tails,
meteors and
meteor showers , a director of the
Pulkovo Observatory
Jacob Bruce , statesman, naturalist and astronomer, founder of the first
observatory in Russia (in the
Sukharev Tower )
Lyudmila Chernykh , astronomer, discovered 268
asteroids
Nikolai Chernykh , astronomer, discovered 537 asteroids and 2 comets
Alexander Fridman , derived the
Friedmann equations (
expanding-universe solution to the
field equations of
general relativity ), an author of the
FLRW metric of Universe
George Gamow , discovered
alpha decay via
quantum tunneling and
Gamow factor in
stellar nucleosynthesis , introduced the
Big Bang nucleosynthesis theory, predicted
cosmic microwave background
Matvey Gusev , first to prove the non-sphericity of the
Moon , pioneer of photography in astronomy
Nikolai Kardashev , astrophysicist, inventor of
Kardashev scale for ranking the space civilizations
Isaak Khalatnikov , an author of the
BKL singularity
Marian Kowalski , first to measure the rotation of the
Milky Way
Anders Johan Lexell , mathematician, researcher of
celestial mechanics and
comet astronomy, proved that
Uranus is a planet rather than a
comet
Andrei Linde , created the
chaotic inflation theory of the Universe
Evgeny Lifshitz , an author of the
BKL singularity
Mikhail Lomonosov polymath, invented the
off-axis reflecting telescope , discovered the
atmosphere of Venus
Friedrich Wilhelm Struve
Dmitri Dmitrievich Maksutov , invented the
Maksutov telescope
Viktor Safronov , author of the
planetesimal hypothesis of
planet formation
Grigory Shayn , first director of the
Crimean Astrophysical Observatory , co-developed a method for
stellar rotation measurement
Iosif Shklovsky , prominent
radio astronomer ,
cosmic rays and
extraterrestrial life researcher
Friedrich Wilhelm Struve , founder and the first director of the
Pulkovo Observatory , prominent researcher of
double stars , initiated the construction of 2,820 km long
Struve Geodetic Arc , progenitor of the
Struve family of astronomers
Otto Lyudvigovich Struve , co-developed a method for
stellar rotation measurement, directed several U.S. observatories
Otto Wilhelm von Struve , director of the Pulkovo Observatory, discovered over 500
double stars
Rashid Sunyaev , co-predicted the
Sunyaev–Zel'dovich effect of CMB distortion
Rashid Sunyaev
George Volkoff , predicted the existence of
neutron stars
Boris Vorontsov-Velyaminov , discovered the absorption of light by
interstellar dust , author of the
Morphological Catalogue of Galaxies
Ivan Yarkovsky , discovered the
YORP and
Yarkovsky effect of
meteoroids and
asteroids
Aleksandr Zaitsev , coined the term
Messaging to Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence , conducted the first intercontinental
radar astronomy experiment, transmitted the
Cosmic Calls
Yakov Zeldovich , physicist, astrophysicist and cosmologist, the first to suggest that
accretion discs around massive
black holes are responsible for the
quasar radiation, co-predicted the
Sunyaev–Zel'dovich effect
Physicists
Alexei Abrikosov , discovered how
magnetic flux can penetrate a
superconductor (the
Abrikosov vortex ),
Zhores Alferov
Nobel Prize winner
Franz Aepinus , related
electricity and
magnetism , proved the electric nature of
pyroelectricity , explained
electric polarization and
electrostatic induction , invented
achromatic
microscope
Zhores Alferov , inventor of modern
heterotransistor , Nobel Prize winner
Abram Alikhanov , a prominent researcher of cosmic rays, built the first
nuclear reactors in the USSR, founder of
Institute for Theoretical and Experimental Physics (ITEP)
Lev Artsimovich , builder of the first
tokamak , researcher of high temperature
plasma
Gurgen Askaryan , predicted
self focusing of light, discovered
Askaryan effect in the
particle physics
Nikolay Basov , physicist, co-inventor of
laser and
maser , Nobel Prize winner
Nikolay Bogolyubov , co-developed the
BBGKY hierarchy , formulated a microscopic theory of
superconductivity , suggested a triplet
quark model, introduced a new quantum degree of freedom (
color charge )
Gersh Budker , invented
electron cooling , co-invented
collider
Boris Jacobi
Sergey Chaplygin , a founder of
aero- and
hydrodynamics , formulated the
Chaplygin's equations and
Chaplygin gas concept
Pavel Cherenkov , discoverer of
Cherenkov radiation , Nobel Prize winner
Yuri Denisyuk , inventor of
3D holography
Nikolay Dollezhal , designer of the reactor for the
first nuclear power plant , developer of
VVER -type reactors
Ludvig Faddeev , discoverer of
Faddeev–Popov ghosts and
Faddeev equations in
quantum physics
Georgy Flyorov , an initiator of the
Soviet atomic bomb project , co-discoverer of
seaborgium and
bohrium , founder of the
Joint Institute for Nuclear Research
Vladimir Fock , developed the
Fock space ,
Fock state and the
Hartree–Fock method in
quantum mechanics
Ilya Frank , explained the phenomenon of
Cherenkov radiation , Nobel Prize winner
Pyotr Kapitsa
Yakov Frenkel , introduced the notion of
electron hole , discovered the
Frenkel defect of a
crystal lattice , described the
Poole–Frenkel effect in
solid-state physics
Andre Geim , inventor of
graphene , developer of
gecko tape , Nobel Prize winner, and also
Ig Nobel Prize winner for
diamagnetic levitation of a living
frog
Vitaly Ginzburg , co-author of the
Ginzburg–Landau theory of
superconductivity , a developer of
hydrogen bomb , Nobel Prize winner
Vladimir Gribov , introduced
pomeron ,
DGLAP equations and
Gribov ambiguity
Abram Ioffe , founder of the Soviet physics school, tutor of many prominent scientists
Dmitri Ivanenko , proposed the first
atomic nucleus and
nuclear shell models , predicted the
synchrotron radiation , author of the hypothesis of
quark stars
Boris Jacobi , formulated the
Maximum power theorem in
electrical engineering , invented
electroplating ,
electrotyping ,
galvanoplastic sculpture and
electric boat
Pyotr Kapitsa , originated the techniques for creating ultrastrong
magnetic fields , co-discovered a way to measure the magnetic field of an
atomic nucleus discovered
superfluidity , Nobel Prize winner
Yuly Khariton , chief designer of the
Soviet atomic bomb , co-developer of the
Tsar Bomb
Orest Khvolson , first to study the
Chwolson ring effect of
gravitational lensing
Igor Kurchatov , builder of the first
nuclear power plant , developer of the first
marine nuclear reactors for surface ships
Lev Landau , theoretical physicist, developed the
Ginzburg–Landau theory of
superconductivity , explained the
Landau damping in
plasma physics , pointed out the
Landau pole in
quantum electrodynamics , co-author of the famous
Course of Theoretical Physics , Nobel Prize winner
Grigory Landsberg , co-discoverer of
Raman scattering of light
Mikhail Lavrentyev , founder of the
Siberian Division of the
Soviet Academy of Sciences and
Akademgorodok in
Novosibirsk
Pyotr Lebedev , first to measure the
radiation pressure on a solid body, thus privoving the
Maxwell's theory of electromagnetism
Lev Landau
Heinrich Lenz , discovered the
Lenz's law of
electromagnetism
Evgeny Lifshitz , an author of the
BKL singularity model of the Universe, co-author of the
Course of Theoretical Physics
Mikhail Lomonosov , polymath scientist, artist and inventor; proposed the law of
conservation of matter , disproved the
phlogiston theory
Oleg Losev , inventor of
light-emitting diode and
crystadine
Alexander Makarov , inventor of
orbitrap
Boris Mamyrin , inventor of
reflectron
Leonid Mandelshtam , co-discoverer of
Raman effect
Konstantin Novoselov , inventor of
graphene , developer of
gecko tape , Nobel Prize winner
Yuri Oganessian , nuclear physicist in the
Joint Institute for Nuclear Research , co-discoverer of the heaviest elements in the periodic table; element
Oganesson
Vasily Petrov , discoverer of
electric arc , proposed
arc lamp and
arc welding
Heinrich Lenz
Boris Podolsky , an author of
EPR Paradox in
quantum physics
Alexander Polyakov , developed the concepts of
Polyakov action ,
't Hooft–Polyakov monopole and
BPST instanton
Isaak Pomeranchuk , predicted
synchrotron radiation
Bruno Pontecorvo , a founder of
neutrino
high energy physics , whose work led to the discovery of
PMNS matrix
Alexander Popov , inventor of
lightning detector , one of the
inventors of radio , recorded the first experimental
radiolocation at sea
Victor Popov , co-discoverer of
Faddeev–Popov ghosts in quantum field theory
Alexander Prokhorov , co-inventor of
laser and
maser , Nobel Prize winner
Georg Wilhelm Richmann , inventor of
electrometer , pioneer researcher of
atmospheric electricity , killed by a
ball lightning in experiment
Andrei Sakharov , co-developer of
tokamak and the
Tsar Bomb , inventor of
explosively pumped flux compression generator ,
Nobel Peace Prize winner
Vasily Petrov
Nikolay Semyonov , physical chemist, co-discovered a way to measure the magnetic field of an
atomic nucleus , Nobel Prize in Chemistry winner
Lev Shubnikov , discoverer of
Shubnikov–de Haas effect , one of the first researchers of
solid hydrogen and
liquid helium
Dmitri Skobeltsyn , first to use
cloud chamber for studying
cosmic rays , the first to observe
positrons
Aleksandr Stoletov , inventor of
photoelectric cell , built the
Stoletov curve , pioneered the research of
ferromagnetism
Igor Tamm , explained the phenomenon of
Cherenkov radiation , co-developer of
tokamak , Nobel Prize winner
Nikolay Umov , discovered the
Umov–Poynting vector and
Umov effect , the first to propose the formula
E
=
k
m
c
2
{\displaystyle E=kmc^{2}}
Petr Ufimtsev , developed the theory that led to modern
stealth technology
Sergey Vavilov , co-discoverer of
Cherenkov radiation , formulated the
Kasha–Vavilov rule of
quantum yields
Aleksandr Stoletov
Vladimir Veksler , inventor of
synchrophasotron , co-inventor of
synchrotron
Evgeny Velikhov , leader of the international program
ITER (thermonuclear experimental
tokamak )
Alexey Yekimov , discoverer of
quantum dots
Yevgeny Zavoisky , inventor of
EPR spectroscopy , co-developer of
NMR spectroscopy
Yakov Zeldovich , physicist and cosmologist, predicted the
beta decay of a
pi meson and the
muon
catalysis , co-predicted the
Sunyaev–Zel'dovich effect of CMB distortion
Nikolai Zhukovsky , a founder of
aero- and
hydrodynamics , the first to study airflow, author of
Joukowsky transform and
Kutta–Joukowski theorem , founder of
TsAGI , pioneer of aviation
Chemists and material scientists
Ernest Beaux , inventor of
Chanel No. 5 , "the world's most legendary fragrance"
Aleksandr Butlerov
Nikolay Beketov , inventor of
aluminothermy , a founder of
physical chemistry
Friedrich Konrad Beilstein , proposed the
Beilstein test for
halogen detection, compiled the
Beilstein database in
organic chemistry
Boris Belousov , discoverer of
Belousov–Zhabotinsky reaction , a classical example of
non-equilibrium thermodynamics
Alexander Borodin , chemist and composer, the author of the famous opera
Prince Igor , discovered
Borodin reaction , co-discovered
Aldol reaction
Aleksandr Butlerov , discovered
hexamine ,
formaldehyde and
formose reaction (the first synthesis of
sugar ), the first to incorporate
double bonds into structural formulae, a founder of
organic chemistry and the theory of
chemical structure
Dmitry Chernov , founder of modern
metallography , discovered
polymorphism in metals, built the
iron –
carbon
phase diagram
Aleksei Chichibabin , discovered
Chichibabin pyridine synthesis ,
Bodroux-Chichibabin aldehyde synthesis and
Chichibabin reaction
Karl Ernst Claus , chemist and botanist, discoverer of
ruthenium
Yevgraf Fyodorov
Aleksandr Dianin , discovered
Bisphenol A and
Dianin's compound
Constantin Fahlberg , inventor of
saccharin , the first
artificial sweetener
Alexey Favorsky , discoverer of
Favorskii rearrangement and
Favorskii reaction in organic chemistry
Alexander Frumkin , a founder of modern
electrochemistry , author of the theory of
electrode reactions
Yevgraf Fyodorov , the first to enumerate all of the 230
space groups of
crystals , thus founding the modern
crystallography
Andre Geim , inventor of
graphene , developer of
gecko tape , Nobel Prize in Physics winner
Vladimir Ipatieff , inventor of
Ipatieff bomb , a founder of
petrochemistry
Isidore , legendary inventor of
Russian vodka
Boris Jacobi , re-discovered and commercialized
electroplating
Sergei Lebedev
Pyotr Kapitsa , discovered
superfluidity while studying
liquid helium , Nobel Prize in Physics winner
Gottlieb Kirchhoff , discoverer of
glucose
Ivan Knunyants , inventor of
poly-caprolactam , a developer of Soviet
chemical weapons
Sergei Lebedev , inventor of
polybutadiene , the first commercially viable
synthetic rubber
Mikhail Lomonosov , polymath, coined the term
physical chemistry , re-discovered
smalt , disproved the
phlogiston theory , the first to record the
freezing of
mercury
Aleksandr Loran , inventor of
fire fighting foam
Konstantin Novoselov , inventor of
graphene , developer of
gecko tape , Nobel Prize in Physics winner
Vladimir Markovnikov , author of the
Markovnikov's rule in organic chemistry, discoverer of
naphthenes
Dmitri Mendeleyev
Dmitri Mendeleyev , invented the
Periodic table of
chemical elements , the first to predict the properties of elements yet to be discovered, inventor of
pyrocollodion , developer of
pipelines and a prominent researcher of
vodka
Nikolai Menshutkin , discoverer of
Menshutkin reaction in organic chemistry
Ilya Prigogine , researcher of
dissipative systems ,
complex systems and
irreversibility , Nobel Prize winner
Sergey Reformatsky , discoverer of the
Reformatsky reaction in organic chemistry
Nikolay Semyonov , physical chemist, author of the
chain reaction theory, Nobel Prize winner
Vladimir Shukhov , polymath, inventor of
chemical cracking
Mikhail Tsvet , botanist, inventor of
chromatography
Victor Veselago , the first researcher of materials with negative
permittivity and
permeability
Mikhail Tsvet
Dmitry Vinogradov , inventor of the
Russian porcelain
Paul Walden , discovered the
Walden inversion and
ethylammonium nitrate , the first room temperature
ionic liquid
Alexander Zaytsev , author of the
Zaitsev's rule in organic chemistry
Nikolay Zelinsky , inventor of
activated charcoal
gas mask in Europe during World War I, co-discoverer of
Hell-Volhard-Zelinsky halogenation , a founder of
petrochemistry
Nikolai Zinin , discovered
benzidine , co-discovered
aniline , the first President of the Russian Physical-Chemical Society
Philosophers
Imperial period
Soviet period
Modern
Orientalists
East Asian studies
Middle East studies
Art
Visual arts
Architects
Aloisio da Milano , builder of the
Kremlin towers and
Terem Palace
Alexander Brullov
Aloisio the New , builder of the
Archangel Cathedral
Gavriil Baranovsky , builder of
Elisseeff Emporium and the
Buddhist Temple in
St Petersburg
Vasily Bazhenov , architect of the
Tsaritsyno Park and the
Russian State Library
Joseph Bové , chief architect of Moscow after the
Fire of 1812
Vincenzo Brenna , court architect of
Paul I of Russia
Alexander Brullov , builder of the
Pulkovo Observatory
Charles Cameron , architect of
Tsarskoye Selo and
Pavlovsk Palace
Yury Felten
Alberto Cavos , builder of the
Bolshoi Theatre and the
Mariinsky Theatre
Alexey Dushkin , inventor of the first
deep column station
Yury Felten , mover of the
Thunder Stone , maker of the
Summer Garden grille, builder of
St Petersburg embankments
Aristotile Fioravanti , builder of the
Dormition Cathedral in Moscow
Ivan Fomin , master of
Russian neoclassical revival and
postconstructivism
Moisei Ginzburg , master of
Constructivist architecture , founder of the
OSA Group
David Grimm , builder of the
Church of Maria Magdalene and
Chersonesus Cathedral
Alexander Kokorinov
Boris Iofan , grandmaster of
Stalinist architecture
Matvei Kazakov , builder of the
Kremlin Senate
Roman Klein , builder of the
Pushkin Museum and
TsUM
Alexander Kokorinov , builder of the
Imperial Academy of Arts
Fyodor Kon , builder of the
Smolensk Kremlin and Moscow's
Bely Gorod
Nikolai Ladovsky , leader of
rationalist architecture of
ASNOVA
Nikolay Lvov , polymath scientist and artist, adapted
rammed earth technology for northern climate, pioneered
HVAC technology, built
Priory Palace in
Gatchina
Konstantin Melnikov
Georg Johann Mattarnovy , architect of
Kunstkamera
Auguste de Montferrand , builder of
Saint Isaac's Cathedral and the
Alexander Column
Arkady Mordvinov , architect of
the tallest hotel in Europe
Nikolai Nikitin , engineer of the largest Soviet structures:
Moscow State University ,
Luzhniki Stadium ,
The Motherland Calls and
Ostankino Tower (once
the world's tallest )
Vyacheslav Oltarzhevsky , architect of the
All-Russia Exhibition Centre and
Hotel Ukraina (Moscow)
Bartolomeo Rastrelli
Petrok Maly , builder of the
Kitai-gorod Wall and the Ascension Church in
Kolomenskoye
Anatoly Polyansky , architect of the
Museum of the Great Patriotic War, Moscow
Alexander Pomerantsev , builder of the
GUM and the
Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, Sofia
Giacomo Quarenghi , builder of the
Hermitage Theatre and
Smolny Institute
Bartolomeo Rastrelli , grandmaster of
Russian baroque , builder of
Peterhof Palace ,
Saint Andrew's Church in Kiev ,
Smolny Convent ,
Catherine Palace ,
Winter Palace
Antonio Rinaldi , architect of
Oranienbaum and
Tsarskoye Selo , builder of the
Marble Palace
Carlo Rossi , architect of the neoclassical ensembles of
St Petersburg , author of the
Russian Museum ,
Alexandrinsky Theater ,
General Staff Building in St. Petersburg
Lev Rudnev , builder of
Stalinist skyscrapers
Marco Ruffo , builder of
Kremlin towers and the
Palace of Facets
Fyodor Schechtel , master of
Art Nouveau , builder of
Yaroslavsky Rail Terminal
Vladimir Shchuko , builder of the
Lenin Library , master of
Stalinist architecture
Aleksey Shchusev , builder of
Lenin's Mausoleum on
Red Square and the
Hotel Moskva (Moscow)
Vladimir Sherwood , builder of the
State Historical Museum
Vladimir Shukhov , engineer-
polymath , inventor of breakthrough
industrial designs (
hyperboloid structure ,
thin-shell structure ,
tensile structure ,
gridshell ), builder of
Shukhov Towers and multiple other structures
Konstantin Thon
Pietro Antonio Solari , builder of the
Spasskaya tower and the
Palace of Facets
Vasily Stasov , inventor of the
Russian Revival style, builder of the
Moscow Triumphal Gates and
Narva Triumphal Gates
Andrei Stackenschneider , builder of the
Mariinsky Palace and
Beloselsky-Belozersky Palace
Ivan Starov , builder of the
Tauride Palace
Vladimir Tatlin , author of
Tatlin's Tower project
Konstantin Thon , builder of the
Grand Kremlin Palace ,
Kremlin Armoury and the
Cathedral of Christ the Saviour (the world's
tallest Orthodox church )
Domenico Trezzini , the first architect of
St Petersburg , builder of the
Peter and Paul Fortress ,
Summer Palace of Peter the Great ,
Twelve Collegia and
Peter and Paul Cathedral (the world's
tallest Orthodox belltower )
Andrey Voronikhin
Vesnin brothers , leaders of
constructivist architecture
Andrey Voronikhin , builder of the
Kazan Cathedral and
Saint Petersburg Mining Institute
Postnik Yakovlev , builder of
Saint Basil's Cathedral on
Red Square
Andreyan Zakharov , builder of the
Russian Admiralty
Mikhail Zemtsov , architect of
Catherinethal
Pyotr Baranovsky , preservationist of ancient Russian architecture, notable for saving
Saint Basil's Cathedral from destruction by the Soviet authorities in the 1930s.
Sculptors and jewellers
Mikhail Anikushin , monumentalist, author of celebrated statues of
Pushkin
Peter Clodt
Mihail Chemiakin , author of
Children Are the Victims of Adult Vices
Peter Clodt , famous for equestrian statues, author of the
Anichkov Bridge Horse Tamers
Vasily Demut-Malinovsky , author of the chariot groups on the
Narva Triumphal Gates and the
General Staff Building in St. Petersburg
Peter Carl Fabergé , jeweller, creator of the
Fabergé Eggs
Naum Gabo , sculptor, pioneer of
kinetic art
Mikhail Gerasimov , forensic sculptor, reconstructed the appearance of
Tamerlane ,
Yaroslav the Wise ,
Rudaki and many other historical figures
Ilya Kabakov , conceptual installation artist
Peter Carl Fabergé
Vyacheslav Klykov , author of the monuments to
Marshal Zhukov ,
Saints Cyril and Methodius , the
Battle of Kursk
Sergey Konenkov , sculptor, "the Russian
Rodin "
Mikhail Kozlovsky , neoclassical sculptor, author of the
Samson fountain in
Peterhof and monument to
Suvorov the
Mars
Ivan Martos , author of the
Monument to Minin and Pozharsky on
Red Square
Mikhail Mikeshin , author of the
Millennium of Russia , the monument to
Catherine II in
St Petersburg , the monument to
Bohdan Khmelnytsky in
Kyiv
Mikhail Mikeshin
Vera Mukhina , sculptor, inventor of
welded sculpture , author of the
Worker and Kolkhoz Woman
Andrei Molodkin (born 1966), sculpture and installation
Ernst Neizvestny , author of the
Lotus Flower at the
Aswan Dam in
Egypt
Alexander Opekushin , author of early monuments to
Pushkin ,
Lermontov ,
Aleksandr II
Boris Orlovsky , author of the statues of
Kutuzov and
Barclay de Tolly in front of
Kazan Cathedral, St. Petersburg
Avenir Sumin , competitor of Fabergé
Nikolai Tomsky , author of multiple
Lenin statues and the
Tomb of the Unknown Soldier (Moscow)
Zurab Tsereteli , author of the
Peter the Great Statue ,
To the Struggle Against World Terrorism ,
St. George statues at the
Moscow War Memorial and the
Freedom Monument (Tbilisi)
Yevgeny Vuchetich , author of the
Soviet War Memorial in Berlin ,
Let Us Beat Swords into Plowshares in the New York
UN garden, and
The Motherland Calls in
Volgograd
Painters
Ivan Aivazovsky , author of
The Ninth Wave and over 6000 paintings, mostly
seascapes
Ivan Aivazovsky
Fyodor Alekseyev , prominent
landscapist , "the Russian
Canaletto "
Ivan Argunov , major 18th century portraitist
Léon Bakst , stage and costume designer for the
Ballets Russes , author of the
Terror Antiquus
Alexandre Benois , artist and art critic, influential stage designer, author of the celebrated illustrations to
Pushkin 's
Bronze Horseman
Ivan Bilibin , painter and stage designer, famous for illustrations of
Slavic mythology and
sets for
Russian fairy tale -based
Russian operas
Victor Borisov-Musatov ,
post-impressionist painter, creator of Russian Symbolism
Vladimir Borovikovsky , famous portraitist at the turn of the 19th century
Marc Chagall
Karl Briullov , neoclassical painter, author of
The Last Day of Pompeii
Marc Chagall ,
polymath -artist, pioneer of
modernism and
figurative art , author of famous
stained glasses
Pavel Chistyakov , history and portrait painter, tutor of many celebrated artists
Alexander Deyneka , master of
socialist realism , author of the mosaics at
Mayakovskaya (Moscow Metro)
Dionisy , medieval
icon painter , author of
frescoes in the
Ferapontov Monastery
Julia Dolgorukova, painter, landscapist, famous for works on stage, costume designer and new synthetic technologies in painting
Julia Dolgorukova
Andrey Esionov , painter
Vladimir Favorsky , graphic artist, famous for
woodcut illustrations of classic books
Pavel Fedotov , realist painter, "the Russian
Hogarth "
Nikolai Ge , realist painter, famous for works on historical and religious motifs
Wassily Kandinsky
Feofan Grek , medieval
fresco and icon-painter in
Byzantine Empire and Russia
Alexander Ivanov , neoclassical painter, author of
The Appearance of Christ before the People
Sergey Ivanov , author of famous illustrations of
Russian history
Wassily Kandinsky , inventor of pure
abstract art , founder of
Der Blaue Reiter
Orest Kiprensky , romantic painter and portraitist
Konstantin Korovin , leading Russian
impressionist painter
Ivan Kramskoi , painter and art critic, author of the
Christ in the Desert and the
Unknown Woman
Boris Kustodiev
Boris Kustodiev , author of famous portraits, holiday scenes and "Kustodiev's women" (
The Merchant's Wife ,
Bathing ,
The Russian Venus )
Mikhail Larionov ,
avant-garde painter, inventor of
rayonism
Alexei Leonov , cosmonaut and painter, made some of his works in
outer space
Isaac Levitan , landscapist, author of the
Over Eternal Peace
Rafail Sergeevich Levitsky , Peredvizhniki artist and court photographer to the Romanov dynasty
El Lissitzky ,
avant-garde painter, typographer, author of
Beat the Whites with the Red Wedge
Kazimir Malevich
Konstantin Makovsky , famous for idealized history paintings
Kazimir Malevich , inventor of
suprematism , author of the
Black Square
Sergey Malyutin , painter and folk artist, designed the first
matryoshka doll
Vladimir Mayakovsky ,
futurist poet and
propaganda artist, author of the
Rosta Windows
agitprop
Mikhail Nesterov , religious symbolist painter, portraitist, author of
The Vision of the Youth Bartholomew
Ivan Nikitin , famous
Petrine era portraitist
Ilya Repin
Vasily Perov , realist painter, author of the
Troika and
The Hunters at Rest
Kuzma Petrov-Vodkin , symbolist painter, author of the
Bathing of a Red Horse
Vasily Polenov , landscape painter, author of
A courtyard in Moscow and
Grandma's garden
Ilya Repin , archetypical Russian painter, famous for his portraits and history scenes, author of the
Barge Haulers on the Volga and the
Reply of the Zaporozhian Cossacks
Alexander Rodchenko ,
avant-garde artist, graphic designer and
constructivist painter
Nicholas Roerich , artist, scientist, traveler, public figure, initiator of the international
Roerich Pact , author of over 7000 paintings
Nicholas Roerich
Andrei Rublev , most famous Russian
icon-painter , author of the
Trinity
Andrei Ryabushkin , history painter, works devoted mostly to the 17th century Russia
Alexei Savrasov ,
landscape painter , creator of the lyrical landscape style
Zinaida Serebriakova , the most prolific woman painter of Russia, famous for female portraits and
nudes
Valentin Serov ,
impressionist painter, portraitist, author of
The Girl with Peaches and
The Kidnapping of Europe
Taras Shevchenko , romantic poet and painter
Ivan Shishkin , author of the most celebrated Russian landscapes: the
Morning in a Pine Forest ,
Rye Fields , the
Rain in an Oak Forest
Konstantin Somov , prominent
Russian literature illustrator
Vasily Surikov , author the famous
Russian history paintings:
The Morning of Streltsy's Execution ,
Boyarynya Morozova ,
The March of Suvorov through the Alps
Vasily Tropinin , romantic and realist portraitist
Israel Tsvaygenbaum , painter
Israel Tsvaygenbaum
Simon Ushakov , prolific late 17th century
icon painter , author of the
Saviour Not Made by Hands
Feodor Vasilyev , lyrical landscape painter
Apollinary Vasnetsov ,
Russian history illustrator, many works devoted to Moscow
Viktor Vasnetsov , famous for Russian history and
Slavic mythology images, inventor of
budenovka , author of the
Flying Carpet ,
Tsar Ivan The Terrible , the
Bogatyrs
Alexey Venetsianov , prominent genre painter, founder of the "Venetsianov school"
Zinaida Serebriakova
Vasily Vereshchagin , battle painter, author of
The Apotheosis of War and the
Blowing from Guns in British India
Romanov Viktor (born 1959), painter
Mikhail Vrubel , leader of the Russian Symbolism , author of
The Demon Sitting and
The Swan Princess
Nikolai Yaroshenko , realist genre painter and portraitist
Pyotr Zakharov-Chechenets , portrait painter of
Chechen origin
Leon Zernitsky , illustrator and artist
Karp Zolotaryov , late 17th century
icon painter , notable for realistic style
Literature
Novel and short story authors
Fyodor Dostoevsky
Nikolai Gogol
Leo Tolstoy
Chinghiz Aitmatov ,
Kyrgyz and Russian writer, author of
Jamilya
Vasily Aksyonov , author of the Moscow
saga
Generations of Winter
Boris Akunin , famous for his
detective fiction , author of
The Diamond Chariot
Sholem Aleichem , important
Russian Jewish writer, the famous musical
Fiddler on the Roof was based on Aleichem's story
Tevye the Dairyman
Isaac Babel , well-known
Russian Jewish writer, author of
The Odessa Tales
Andrei Bely , author of the novel
Petersburg , poet
Alexander Belyayev , major science fiction writer, author of
Amphibian Man and
Ariel
Valery Bryusov , important
symbolist writer, author of the novel
The Fiery Angel
Mikhail Bulgakov , author of
The Master and Margarita , which
The Times of London has called one of the masterpieces of the 20th century
Kir Bulychev , author of the science fiction anthology
Half a Life
Ivan Bunin , short story writer and poet, first Russian to be awarded the
Nobel Prize for Literature
Anton Chekhov , famous for his short stories and plays; author of
The Lady with the Dog ,
The Black Monk
Nikolai Chernyshevsky , influential revolutionary writer, author of
What Is to Be Done?
Fyodor Dostoevsky , author of
Crime and Punishment ,
The Idiot ,
The Possessed ,
The Brothers Karamazov
Sergei Dovlatov , Russian writer who
emigrated to the US, author of the novel
Affiliate
Dmitry Glukhovsky , author of the
post-apocalyptic novel
Metro 2033
Nikolai Gogol , considered the "father" of Russian
realism , author of
The Overcoat ,
The Nose ,
Dead Souls
Ivan Goncharov , author of
Oblomov
Maxim Gorky , founder of
socialist realism , author of
Twenty-six Men and a Girl
Vasily Grossman , author of
Life and Fate , described by
Le Monde as "the greatest Russian novel of the twentieth century"
Ilf and Petrov popular satirists, authors of
The Twelve Chairs
Nikolai Karamzin , prominent
sentimentalist writer and major historian, author of Poor Liza
Valentin Katayev , author of the industrial novel
Time, Forward!
Veniamin Kaverin , author of the social and adventure novel
The Two Captains
Daniil Kharms , Soviet
surrealist and
absurdist writer
Mikhail Lermontov , author of
A Hero of our Time , poet
Nikolai Leskov , author of
Lefty and
Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk
Sergey Lukyanenko , most popular contemporary Russian
sci-fi writer, author of the
Night Watch
Vladimir Nabokov , author of
Lolita , which was ranked at #4 on the list of the
Modern Library 100 Best Novels
Nikolay Nosov ,
children's writer , author of the popular
Neznaika series
Vladimir Obruchev , geologist and explorer, author of the
science fiction and travel novels
Plutonia and
Sannikov Land
Yuri Olesha , author of the innovative novel
Envy
Nikolai Ostrovsky ,
socialist realist writer, best known for his novel
How the Steel Was Tempered
Boris Pasternak , author of
Doctor Zhivago , poet and translator,
Nobel Prize winner (was forced to decline the prize)
Viktor Pelevin ,
postmodernist writer, author of the short novel
Omon Ra
Andrei Platonov , author of
The Foundation Pit
Aleksandr Pushkin , the greatest Russian poet, novelist, author of
The Captain's Daughter
Alexander Radishchev ,
radical writer, author of
Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow
Ayn Rand , creator of
Objectivism , author of
The Fountainhead , and
Atlas Shrugged
Varlam Shalamov ,
Gulag survivor, author of
Kolyma Tales
Mikhail Sholokhov ,
Nobel Prize for Literature , author of
And Quiet Flows the Don
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn ,
Nobel Prize for Literature , author of
One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich
Vladimir Sorokin , one of the most popular writers in modern Russian literature
Boris and Arkady Strugatsky ,
collaborative duo of Soviet science fiction writers
Tatyana Tolstaya , writer,
TV host ,
publicist , novelist, and
essayist from the
Tolstoy family
Aleksey Nikolayevich Tolstoy ,
Soviet writer, best known for his works of
science fiction , author of
Aelita
Leo Tolstoy , widely considered to be one of the world's greatest novelists, author of
War and Peace ,
Anna Karenina , and
The Death of Ivan Ilyich
Ivan Turgenev , author of
A Sportsman's Sketches , which had an influence on the abolition of
serfdom in Russia
Yury Tynyanov , important member of the
Russian Formalist school, author of
Lieutenant Kijé
Eduard Uspensky , children's writer known for his fictional characters
Gena the Crocodile and
Cheburashka
Vladimir Voinovich , author of the well-known novel
The Life and Extraordinary Adventures of Private Ivan Chonkin
Ivan Yefremov , paleontologist and science fiction writer, founder of
taphonomy , author of
The Land of Foam ,
Andromeda: A Space-Age Tale and
Thais of Athens
Yevgeny Zamyatin , author of the
dystopian novel
We , which influenced
George Orwell 's
Nineteen Eighty-Four , and
Ayn Rand 's
Anthem
Philosophers and critics
Pavel Florensky
Aleksey Khomyakov
Vladimir Solovyov
Mikhail Bakhtin , philosopher, literary critic,
semiotician , and scholar who worked on literary theory, ethics, and the philosophy of language
Mikhail Bakunin , well-known
revolutionary and theorist of
collectivist anarchism
Vissarion Belinsky , influential critic, and editor of two major literary magazines:
Otechestvennye Zapiski , and
Sovremennik
Nikolai Berdyaev , religious and political philosopher
Helena Blavatsky , founder of
Theosophy and the
Theosophical Society
Alexander Bogdanov ,
physician , philosopher, science fiction writer, and a key figure in the early history of the
Bolsheviks
Nikolay Chernyshevsky , famous for his philosophical novel
What is To Be Done? , he was the leader of the revolutionary democratic movement of the 1860s, and an influence on
Vladimir Lenin
Nikolay Danilevsky ,
naturalist ,
economist ,
ethnologist , philosopher, historian, and
ideologue of the
pan-Slavism and
Slavophile movements
Sergei Diaghilev , art critic and impresario
Nikolay Dobrolyubov ,
literary critic ,
journalist , and
revolutionary
democrat
Pavel Florensky ,
Orthodox
theologian , philosopher, mathematician,
electrical engineer , and
inventor
Leonid Grinin , important modern
sociologist and philosopher of history
Alexander Herzen , highly influential proponent of
populism ,
socialism , and
collectivization
Mikhail Katkov , conservative journalist and literary critic influential during the reign of
Alexander III
Ivan Kireyevsky , literary critic and philosopher, co-founder of the
Slavophile movement
Aleksey Khomyakov , religious poet and philosopher, co-founder of the
Slavophile movement, coined the term
sobornost
Peter Kropotkin , naturalist, geographer and one of the world's foremost
anarcho-communists
Pyotr Lavrov , prominent Russian philosopher, publicist, sociologist, and
theorist of
narodism
Konstantin Leontiev ,
conservative ,
monarchist
reactionary philosopher
Aleksei Losev , one of the most prominent figures in Russian philosophical and religious thought of the 20th century
Nikolay Novikov , writer and philanthropist, a man of
Russian Enlightenment , often considered to be the first Russian
journalist
Peter D. Ouspensky ,
esoteric philosopher, author of
In Search of the Miraculous
Dmitri Pisarev ,
radical writer and social critic whose works had an important influence on
Lenin
Ayn Rand ,
Objectivist philosopher, best known for her novels
The Fountainhead and
Atlas Shrugged
Lev Shestov , influential Ukrainian/Russian
existentialist philosopher, author of the well-known works Penultimate Words and All Things are Possible
Vladimir Solovyov , philosopher, poet, pamphleteer, and literary critic, who played a significant role in the development of Russian philosophy and poetry at the end of the 19th century
Vladimir Stasov , preeminent 19th century
art critic in Russia
Leo Tolstoy ,
Christian anarchist and
pacifist , whose ideas and social writings were the basis of the
Tolstoyan movement.
Leon Trotsky ,
Bolshevik , and
Marxist , one of the leaders of the
Russian Revolution of 1917
Playwrights
Anton Chekhov
Alexander Ostrovsky
Leonid Andreyev , author of many popular plays, including
He Who Gets Slapped
Hizgil Avshalumov , soviet novelist, poet and playwright
Mikhail Bulgakov , popular Soviet writer, author of the play
Flight
Anton Chekhov , famous for his short stories and plays, author of
The Cherry Orchard ,
Uncle Vanya ,
Three Sisters ,
The Seagull
Denis Fonvizin , known chiefly for his famous play The Minor
Nikolai Gogol , author of the great
satirical play
The Government Inspector
Maxim Gorky , author of
The Lower Depths , a hallmark of
socialist realism
Aleksandr Griboyedov , author of the popular play
Woe from Wit
Mikhail Lermontov , author of the play
Masquerade
Vladimir Mayakovsky , one of the foremost representatives of
Russian Futurism
Alexander Ostrovsky , known for his plays dealing with the
merchant class, most notably
The Storm
Aleksey Pisemsky , realist writer, author of the well-known play
A Bitter Fate , considered to be the first Russian realistic tragedy
Alexander Pushkin , Russia's national poet, also known for his plays, including
Boris Godunov and
The Stone Guest
Alexander Sumarokov , poet and playwright who single-handedly created classical theatre in Russia
Aleksey Konstantinovich Tolstoy , author of historical dramas, including
The Death of Ivan the Terrible and
Tsar Fyodor Ioannovich
Leo Tolstoy , one of the greatest Russian writers, author of the plays
The Power of Darkness ,
The Fruits of Enlightenment , and
The Living Corpse
Ivan Turgenev , author of the well known play
A Month in the Country
Poets
Anna Akhmatova
Aleksandr Blok
Vladimir Mayakovsky
Alexander Pushkin
Sergei Yesenin
Anna Akhmatova ,
modernist poet, author of Requiem
Bella Akhmadulina , Soviet and Russian poet who has been cited by
Joseph Brodsky as the best living poet in the Russian language
Innokenty Annensky , poet, critic, and translator, representative of the first wave of
Russian Symbolism
Konstantin Balmont ,
symbolist poet, one of the major figures of the
Silver Age of Russian Poetry
Evgeny Baratynsky , lauded by
Alexander Pushkin as the finest Russian elegiac poet, rediscovered by
Anna Akhmatova and
Joseph Brodsky as a supreme poet of thought.
Konstantin Batyushkov , an important precursor of
Alexander Pushkin
Andrey Bely ,
symbolist poet, namesake of the important
Andrei Bely Prize .
Alexander Blok , leader of the
Russian Symbolist movement , author of "
The Twelve "
Joseph Brodsky , winner of the 1987
Nobel Prize in Literature
Korney Chukovsky , one of the most popular children's poets in the
Russian language
Denis Davydov , guerilla fighter and soldier-poet of the
Napoleonic Wars , invented a genre of
hussar poetry noted for its hedonism and bravado
Gavrila Derzhavin , one of the greatest Russian poets before
Alexander Pushkin
Aleksandr Drakokhrust , Soviet poet
Gabriel El-Registan , one of the writers of the
National Anthem of the Soviet Union
Afanasy Fet , had a profound influence on the
Russian Symbolists , especially
Annensky and
Blok
Nikolay Gumilyov , founded the
acmeism movement
Vyacheslav Ivanov , poet and playwright associated with the
Russian Symbolism movement
Antiochus Kantemir , Russian poet-satirist, activist of early
Russian Enlightenment
Velimir Khlebnikov , influential member of the
Russian Futurist movement , regarded by his contemporariesas as "a poet's poet"
Ivan Krylov , Russia's best known
fabulist
Yuri Kublanovsky , poet, essayist, critic and art historian
Mikhail Lermontov , most important Russian poet after
Alexander Pushkin 's death, his influence on later
Russian literature is still felt in modern times
Osip Mandelstam ,
Acmeist poet , author of Tristia
Vladimir Mayakovsky , among the most important representatives of early-20th century
Russian Futurism
Apollon Maykov , his lyrical poems often showcase images of Russian villages, nature, and Russian history
Nikolai Nekrasov , one of Russia's most popular poets, author of the long poem Who is Happy in Russia?
Boris Pasternak , author of the influential poem My Sister Life ,
Nobel Prize winner (was forced to decline the prize)
Nikolai Ogarev , known to every Russian, not only as a poet, but as the fellow-exile and collaborator of
Alexander Herzen on
Kolokol , a newspaper printed in England and smuggled into Russia
Yakov Polonsky , leading
Pushkinist poet
Symeon of Polotsk , academically trained
Baroque Belarusian born Russian poet
Alexander Pushkin , greatest Russian poet, author of
Eugene Onegin
Ilya Selvinsky , leader of the
Constructivist movement
Igor Severyanin , Russian lyrical poet who presided over the circle of the so-called Ego-Futurists.
Boris Slutsky , one of the most important representatives of the
War generation of Russian poets
Fyodor Sologub , influential
symbolist poet and writer
Aleksey Konstantinovich Tolstoy , popular poet and dramatist, known for his humorous and satirical verse
Vasily Trediakovsky , helped lay the foundations of classical
Russian literature
Marina Tsvetaeva , known primarily for her lyric poetry, widely admired by her fellow poets
Aleksandr Tvardovsky , chief editor of
Novy Mir for many years, author of
Vasili Tyorkin
Fyodor Tyutchev ,
romantic poet, author of The Last Love
Maximilian Voloshin ,
Symbolist poet , famous
freemason
Pyotr Yershov , author of the famous fairy-tale poem The Humpbacked Horse
Sergei Yesenin , one of the most popular and well-known Russian poets of the 20th century
Yevgeny Yevtushenko , Soviet/Russian poet, director of several films
Nikolay Zabolotsky , one of the founders of the
Russian avant-garde
absurdist group
OBERIU
Vasily Zhukovsky , credited with introducing the
Romantic Movement to
Russian literature
Performing arts
Actors
Yul Brynner
Nikita Mikhalkov
Vera Alentova , known for her leading role in the famous 1980 Soviet drama
Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears
Sergei Bodrov, Jr. , played lead roles in several popular movies, son of playwright, actor, director and producer
Sergei Bodrov
Sergei Bondarchuk , acted in and directed the Academy Award-winning 1966–67 film production of
War and Peace
Yul Brynner , won the Academy Award for best actor in the 1956 film
The King and I
Armen Dzhigarkhanyan , played in more than 170 films, founded his own theater in Moscow
Leonid Filatov , received many awards, including the
Russian Federation State Prize and
People's Artist of Russia in 1996
Milla Jovovich , actress, model, and musician, best known for her role in the widely popular
Resident Evil movies
Lila Kedrova , winner of the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 1964 for the role of Mme Hortense in
Zorba the Greek .
Nikita Mikhalkov , co-wrote, directed and acted in the Academy Award-winning film
Burnt by the Sun
Helen Mirren , British actress born to Russian father and English mother.
Lubov Orlova , theatre actress and gifted singer, the first recognized star of Soviet cinema
Marina Orlova , host of the most popular
YouTube guru channel, HotForWords
Arkady Raikin ,
stand-up comedian who led the school of Soviet and Russian humorists for about half a century
Tatiana Samoylova (1934–2014), actress
Alexander Slastin , actor, best known for his role as Soviet general
Vasily Chuikov in the 2004 film
Downfall
Georgy Vitsin , comic actor, best known for his comic roles such as Trus (Coward ), a member of an
antihero comic trio in a series of films by
Leonid Gaidai
Fyodor Volkov , 18th century actor and founder of the first permanent Russian theater
Natalie Wood , three-time Academy Award nominee, winner of the Golden Globe Award for her role in the TV series
From Here to Eternity
Vladimir Zharikov , actor, stuntman, cinematographer
Theatre directors
Konstantin Stanislavski
Michael Chekhov , Russian-American actor, director, author, and theatre practitioner, nephew of
Anton Chekhov
Anatoly Efros , famous Russian and Soviet theatre director, collaborated with the stage director
Yury Lyubimov
Yury Lyubimov , Soviet and Russian stage actor and director associated with the
Taganka Theatre which he founded
Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko , theatre director, writer, pedagogue, playwright, producer, and co-founder of the
Moscow Art Theatre
Konstantin Stanislavski , famous actor, theatre director, creator of a widely used
system of acting, and co-founder of the
Moscow Art Theatre
Yevgeny Vakhtangov , friend and mentor of Michael Chekhov, founded the
Vakhtangov Theatre
Fyodor Volkov , actor and founder of the first permanent Russian
theater
Film directors and animators
Sergei Eisenstein
Eldar Ryazanov
Ladislas Starevich
Lev Atamanov , animation director of
Soyuzmultfilm , best known for
The Snow Queen
Fyodor Bondarchuk , director of the acclaimed film
The 9th Company , son of
Sergei Bondarchuk
Grigori Chukhrai , Academy Award nominee for Best Original Screenplay for the film
Ballad of a Soldier
Pavel Chukhrai , Academy Award nominee for Best Foreign Language Film for
The Thief
Alexander Dovzhenko , often cited as one of the most important early Soviet filmmakers
Sergei Eisenstein , his work profoundly influenced early filmmakers owing to his innovative use of and writings about
montage
Vasily Goncharov , directed the first Russian feature film
Defence of Sevastopol
Leonid Gaidai , his movies broke theatre attendance records and are still some of the top-selling DVDs in Russia
Roman Kachanov , one of the founders and leaders of Russian
stop-motion
animation
Andrei Konchalovsky , director of popular movies including
Runaway Train and
Tango & Cash
Fjodor Khitruk , one of the most influential Russian animators and animation directors
Elem Klimov , best known for his film
Come and See
Grigori Kozintsev , known for his silent films and adaptations of Shakespeare
Lev Kuleshov , taught at and helped establish the world's first film school (the Moscow Film School)
Aleksandr Petrov , won the Academy Award for Animated Short Film for
The Old Man and the Sea
Yakov Protazanov , one of the founding fathers of
Russian cinema
Aleksandr Ptushko , referred to as "the Soviet Walt Disney", due to his prominent early role in animation in the Soviet Union
Mikhail Romm , director and teacher, known for his film
Nine Days in One Year
Eldar Ryazanov , Soviet/Russian director famous for his comedies
Karen Shakhnazarov , chairman of
Mosfilm , one of the largest and oldest film studios in Russia
Vasily Shukshin , actor, writer, screenwriter and movie director who specialized in rural themes
Alexander Sokurov , critically acclaimed director, a regular at the Cannes Film Festival
Ladislas Starevich , Russian and French stop-motion animator who used insects and animals as his protagonists
Genndy Tartakovsky , Russian-American animator best known for
Dexter's Laboratory ,
Samurai Jack , and
Star Wars: Clone Wars
Andrei Tarkovsky , internationally renowned director and
film theorist
Dziga Vertov , pioneering documentary film director and writer
Ballet dancers and choreographers
Irina Baronova
Anna Pavlova
Irina Baronova , ballerina, choreographer
Mikhail Baryshnikov , ballet dancer
Sergei Diaghilev , ballet
impresario
Irina Dvorovenko , ballet dancer
Michel Fokine , choreographer, dancer
Elizaveta Gerdt , ballerina
Pavel Gerdt , dancer
Alexander Godunov , ballet dancer
Tamara Karsavina , ballerina
Mathilde Kschessinska , prima ballerina
Natalia Makarova , ballerina
Vaslav Nijinsky , ballet dancer, choreographer
Ivan Novikoff , ballet master
Rudolf Nureyev , ballet dancer
Valery Panov , ballet dancer, choreographer
Anna Pavlova , ballerina
Maya Plisetskaya , ballerina
Olga Preobrajenska , ballerina
Tatiana Riabouchinska , ballerina
Yuri Soloviev , ballet dancer
Galina Ulanova , ballerina
Agrippina Vaganova , ballet teacher
Svetlana Zakharova , ballerina
Maria Khoreva , ballet dancer
Classical composers and musicians
Alexander Borodin
Mikhail Glinka
Mussorgsky
Prokofiev
Mstislav Rostropovich
Alexander Vasilyevich Alexandrov , composer
Anton Arensky , composer
Mily Balakirev , composer
Alexander Borodin , composer
Sergei Bortkiewicz , composer
Valeri Brainin , composer, musical scientist
César Cui , composer
Maria Eklund , conductor
Michael L. Geller , composer, viola player
Valery Gergiev , pianist, conductor
Emil Gilels , pianist
Alexander Glazunov , composer
Mikhail Glinka , composer of
Russlan and Ludmilla
Nikolai Golovanov , conductor
Alexander Gretchaninoff , composer
Vladimir Horowitz , pianist
Dmitry Kabalevsky , composer
Aram Khachaturian , composer
Tikhon Khrennikov , composer
Leonid Kogan , violinist
Anatoly Konstantinovich Lyadov , composer
Sergei Lyapunov , composer
Nikolai Medtner , composer, pianist
Modest Mussorgsky , composer of
Boris Godunov , Pictures at an Exhibition
Nikolai Myaskovsky , composer
Natasha Paremski , pianist
Mikhail Pletnev , pianist
Gregor Piatigorsky , composer
Sergei Prokofiev , composer, pianist and conductor
Sergei Rachmaninoff , pianist, composer, conductor
Vadim Repin , violinist
Sviatoslav Richter , pianist
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov , composer
Mstislav Rostropovich , cellist and conductor
Gennady Rozhdestvensky , conductor
Nikolai Rubinstein , pianist, conductor and composer
Alexei Rumiantsev , pianist, composer
Vasily Ilyich Safonov , composer and music educator
Alfred Schnittke , composer
Alexander Scriabin , composer and pianist
Dmitri Shostakovich , composer and pianist
Igor Stravinsky , composer
Alexander Serov , composer
Rodion Shchedrin , composer
Vissarion Shebalin , composer
Regina Spektor , musician
Georgy Sviridov , composer
Aleksandr Taneyev , composer
Sergey Taneyev , composer
Mikael Tariverdiev , composer
Pyotr Tchaikovsky , composer
Boris Tchaikovsky , composer
Alexander Tcherepnin , composer
Galina Ustvolskaya , composer
Aleksander Vakoulsky , conductor
Maxim Vengerov , violinist
Opera and choir singers
Feodor Chaliapin
Modern musicians, singers and bands
Eduard Khil
Yuri Antonov , composer, singer
Sasha Argov (1914–95), composer
Dima Bilan , composer, Eurovision winner
Polina Gagarina , Singer, Eurovision runner-up
Lena Katina , singer of musical duo
t.A.T.u.
Eduard Khil (1934–2012), singer
Philipp Kirkorov , pop singer
Sergey Lazarev , vocalist
Origa , singer, performs theme songs for various
anime series
Natalia O'Shea , linguist, songwriter, musician (
Irish harp ,
guitar ), vocalist and leader of the bands
Melnitsa (
folk-rock ) and
Clann Lir (traditional
Celtic folk )
Aleksandra Pakhmutova , composer
Alla Pugacheva , singer and composer
Second Hand Band , musical group from Moscow
Andrey Shibko (born 1975), pianist
Regina Spektor , musician
Valery Leontiev , singer
Viktor Tsoi , poet, composer, musician, actor in the 1980s
Julia Volkova , singer of musical duo
t.A.T.u.
Vladimir Vysotsky (1938–80), poet, composer, musician, actor in the 1970s
KREC , rap band from St. Petersburg
Alyona Shvets , pop singer
Radio and TV people
Igor Kirillov
Ivan Urgant
Anatoly Wasserman
Joe Adamov , journalist and presenter on
Radio Moscow and its successor the
Voice of Russia for over 60 years
Dinara Sadretdinova , TV presenter
Nikolai Fomenko , musician, comic actor, showman and motor racer, president of
Marussia Motors company which produces the first Russian
supercar ,
Marussia
Maxim Galkin ,
parodist , singer and host for the Russian adaptations of
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? from 2001 to 2008, and
The Million Pound Drop
Igor Kirillov , for 30 years a
news anchor of the
Soviet Central Television 's prime time news program
Vremya
Mikhail Leontyev ,
political pundit on national TV
Channel One , host and author of the program Odnako
Vladislav Listyev , arguably the most renowned Russian journalist and TV anchor in the 1980s and 1990s, the first director of the
Channel One , founder of the
Pole Chudes and other popular TV shows
Alexander Maslyakov , for over 45 years the host for the humour
game show
KVN
Yevgeny Petrosyan , popular stand-up comedian and host of a number of humour TV shows
Vladimir Posner , political pundit and host on radio and TV, for many years working in the United States, Soviet Union and Russia
Yuri Senkevich , participant of
Thor Heyerdahl 's voyages, anchorman of the Travelers' Club show for the record 30 years
Margarita Simonyan , journalist, editor-in-chief of
RT (Russia Today)
Kseniya Sobchak , TV celebrity, host for a number of popular programs, Russia's "
It girl " and "Russia's
Paris Hilton "
Roman Trakhtenberg , actor, popular host of humour shows on radio and TV, an expert on
Russian jokes
Vladimir Turchinsky ,
bodybuilder , TV and radio presenter, actor and singer
Ivan Urgant , showman and actor, host of many popular Russian TV shows and ceremonies, such as
Projectorparishilton and
2009 Eurovision Song Contest
Vladimir Voroshilov , author, producer and anchorman of the intellectual game show
What? Where? When? from 1975 to 2000
Leonid Yakubovich , actor and TV anchorman, the host for the
Pole Chudes show for 20 years
Anatoly Wasserman , erudite, journalist and political pundit, a frequent winner of intellectual TV games such as
What? Where? When? and
Svoya Igra (Russian version of
Jeopardy! )
Mikhail Zadornov , stand-up comedian and writer, particularly famous for his satirical comparisons of Russians and nationals of other countries, especially Americans
Fashion models
Oxana Fedorova
Natalia Vodianova
Sportspeople
Basketball
David Blatt , U.S. college & Israeli professional guard; coach in Israel & Russia,
Russian national basketball team
[1]
Alex Chubrevich (born 1986), Israeli basketball player
Alexander Gomelsky , head coach of
USSR national team for 30 years, including victory in
1988 Summer Olympics , Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, FIBA Hall of Fame
Andrei Kirilenko ,
NBA basketball player
Daniel Koperberg (born 1997), Israeli basketball player
Egor Koulechov (born 1994), Israeli-Russian professional basketball player for Israeli team
Ironi Nahariya
Kirill Pishchalnikov ,
PBL ,
NCAA , basketball player
Boxers
Natascha Ragosina
Boris Lagutin , double Olympic gold medalist light-middleweight division
Oleg Maskaev , professional boxer, former
WBC Heavyweight Champion
Dmitry Pirog , professional boxer,
WBO Middleweight Champion
Alexander Povetkin , Olympic gold medalist
Natascha Ragosina , boxing world champion
Shamil Sabirov , Olympic gold medalist light flyweight
Oleg Saitov , double Olympic gold medalist in the welterweight division
Aleksei Tishchenko , Olympic gold medalist featherweight and lightweight divisions
Kostya Tszyu , professional boxer, former Undisputed Junior Welterweight champion
Nikolai Valuev , professional boxer, former 2x
WBA Heavyweight champion
Chess players
Vladimir Kramnik
Garry Kasparov
Fencers
Sergey Bida (born 1993), épée fencer, Olympic silver medalist living in the United States
Violetta Khrapina Bida (born 1994), Olympic épée fencer living in the United States
Konstantin Lokhanov (born 1998), sabre fencer, 2x junior world champion and Olympic fencer living in the United States
Maria Mazina (born 1964), épée fencer, Olympic gold medalist, bronze
Mark Midler (1931–2012), foil fencer, 2-time Olympic champion
Mark Rakita (born 1938), saber fencer, 2-time Olympic champion, 2-time silver
Yakov Rylsky (1928–1999), saber fencer, Olympic champion
Sergey Sharikov (1974–2015), sabre fencer, two-time Olympic gold medalist, silver, bronze
David Tyshler (1927–2014), sabre fencer, Olympic bronze medalist
Eduard Vinokurov (1942–2010), sabre fencer, 2-time Olympic gold medalist, silver, six-time team world champion
Iosif Vitebskiy (born 1938), épée fencer, Soviet Ukrainian Olympic medalist and world champion, US fencing coach
Figure skaters
Evgeni Plushenko
Ludmila Belousova , two-time Olympic pairs champion
Ekaterina Gordeeva , two-time Olympic pairs champion
Aleksandr Gorelik , pair skater, Olympic silver, World Championship 2-time silver, bronze
Sergei Grinkov , two-time Olympic pairs champion
Gennadi Karponossov , Olympic champion, 2-time World Champion, silver, 2-time bronze, ice dancer & coach
Evgenia Medvedeva , 2-time Olympic silver, 2 time World Champion, 2-time European champion, European silver, World Bronze, First singles skater to set a 13-competition winning Streak, 2-time back to back
Grand Slam (figure skating) winner.
Evgeni Plushenko , 2006 Olympic champion
Oleg Protopopov , two-time Olympic pairs champion
Julia Shapiro , pair skater
Irina Slutskaya , two-time World Champion, 3-time silver, bronze, Olympic silver, bronze
Maxim Staviski , World Champion ice dancer, silver, bronze
[2]
Alexandra Trusova , First woman to land a quad Lutz jump, quad Toe loop and quad flip, Olympic silver.
Alexei Urmanov , 1994 Olympic champion
Alexei Yagudin , 2002 Olympic champion
Alina Zagitova , 2018 Olympic champion and
Grand Slam (figure skating) winner
Gymnasts
Aliya Mustafina
Nikolai Andrianov , winner of 15 Olympic medals
Yelena Davydova , 1980 Olympic all-around champion
Svetlana Khorkina , winner of 7 Olympic medals
Olga Korbut , winner of 4 Olympic medals
Yevgeniya Kanayeva , only rhythmic gymnast to win two Olympic all-around gold medals
Sofia Muratova , winner of 8 Olympic medals
Aliya Mustafina , 2012 Olympic gold medalist
Alexei Nemov , winner of 12 Olympic medals
Natalia Shaposhnikova , 2x Olympic champion
Yelena Shushunova , Olympic champion
Aleksandr Tkachyov , 2x Olympic champion
Ice hockey players
Viacheslav Fetisov
Valeri Kharlamov
Vladislav Tretiak
Alexander Ovechkin
Maxim Afinogenov ,
NHL player
Yevgeny Babich , Olympic gold medalist
Ilya Bryzgalov ,
Phoenix Coyotes goalie. former
NHL star.
Pavel Bure , NHL player
Valeri Bure
Pavel Datsyuk , NHL player
Vitaly Davydov , 3-time Olympic gold medalist, World & European champion 1963–71, runner-up 1972
Sergei Gonchar , NHL player
Sergei Fedorov , NHL player
Viacheslav Fetisov
Kirill Kaprizov , NHL player
Nikolai Khabibulin , NHL goalie
Valeri Kharlamov , international ice hockey player
Vladimir Konstantinov
Ilya Kovalchuk , NHL player
Alexei Kovalev
Vyacheslav Kozlov
Alfred Kuchevsky , Olympic champion 1956, bronze 1960; twice world champion.
Oleg Kvasha
Igor Larionov
Yuri Lyapkin (born 1945), ice hockey player, Soviet Hockey League, Olympic gold medal, Russian and Soviet Hockey Hall of Fame
Evgeni Malkin , NHL player
Sergei Makarov
Andrei Markov
Boris Mikhailov
Alexander Ovechkin , NHL player
Alexander Radulov ,
KHL player
Semyon Varlamov , NHL goalie
Vladimir Petrov
Alexei Ponikarovsky
Alexander Semin , NHL player
Vladislav Tretiak , goalie
Alexander Yakushev
Alexie Yashin forward
Yevgeni Zimin Olympic champion 1968–72, World & European champion 1968–69, 1971
Viktor Zinger , Olympic champion 1968; world champion 1965–69
Sergei Zubov
Motorsport
Daniil Kvyat
Nikita Mazepin
Vitaly Petrov
Sergey Sirotkin
Andrei Arshavin
Lev Yashin
Eduard Streltsov
Igor Akinfeev , goalkeeper
Dmitri Alenichev , midfielder
Andrei Arshavin , midfielder, striker
Vladimir Beschastnykh , striker
Konstantin Beskov , striker, coach
Grigori Bogemsky , striker
Valentin Bubukin , midfielder, coach
Mikhail Gershkovich (born 1948), striker, coach
Valentin Ivanov, Sr. , striker, coach
Gavriil Kachalin , midfielder, coach
Andrei Kanchelskis , midfielder
Valery Karpin , midfielder, coach
Dmitri Kharine , goalkeeper
Rushan Khasanov , defender, midfielder, striker
Shmuel Kozokin (born 1987), Israeli defender
Gennady Logofet (1942–2011), footballer and football coach
Aleksandr Mostovoi , midfielder
Igor Netto , defender, coach
Viktor Onopko , defender
Sergei Ovchinnikov , goalkeeper, coach
Roman Pavlyuchenko , striker
Boris Razinsky (1933—2012), goalkeeper/striker, Olympic gold medal, manager
Oleg Salenko , striker
Nikita Simonyan , first vice-president of the
Russian Football Union
Eduard Streltsov , midfielder, striker
Andrey Tikhonov , midfielder
Arkadi Tyapkin (1895-1942), defender
Lev Yashin (1929—1990), voted the
best goalkeeper of the 20th century by the
IFFHS .
[3]
Ivan Yegorov (1891–1943), striker
Valery Voronin , midfielder
Yuri Zhirkov (born 1983), defender, midfielder
Mihail Titow , forward
Swimmers
Semyon Belits-Geiman
Tennis players
Maria Sharapova
Yevgeny Kafelnikov
Nikolay Davydenko , former consistent top 10 player
Elena Dementieva , silver medal at the 2000 Summer Olympics and gold medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics
Natela Dzalamidze (born 1993), tennis player, took on Georgian citizenship
Yevgeny Kafelnikov , former world no. 1 tennis player
Anna Kournikova , former top 10 tennis player
Svetlana Kuznetsova , former world no. 2 tennis player. Won the 2004 U.S. Open and 2009 French Open
Evgenia Linetskaya (born 1986), Russian-born Israeli tennis player
Anastasia Myskina , former world no. 2 tennis player. Won the 2004 French Open (becoming the first Russian woman to win a grand slam title)
Daniel Prenn (1904–1991), Russian-born German, Polish, and British world-top-ten tennis player
Marat Safin , former world no. 1 tennis player. Won 2000 U.S. Open and 2005 Australian Open.
Dinara Safina , former world no. 1 ladies tennis player
Maria Sharapova , former world no. 1 tennis player. Won 2004 Wimbledon, 2006 U.S. Open, 2008 Australian Open, 2012 French Open and silver medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics
Vera Zvonareva , two time Grand Slam finalist
Daniil Medvedev , former world no. 1 tennis player and
2021 US Open champion.
Weightlifters
Wrestlers
Other sportspeople
Fedor Emelianenko
Yelena Isinbaeva
Evgeny Abalakov , mountaineer
Vitaly Abalakov , mountaineer
Inga Artamonova , speed skater
John Barsha , American football player
Yuriy Borzakovskiy , middle distance runner
Anatoli Boukreev , mountaineer
Fedor Emelianenko , MMA fighter
Khabib Nurmagomedov , former
UFC Lightweight Champion
Lisa Cross , body builder
Maria Leontyavna Itkina , sprinter
Mikhail Mamistov , 2-time world champion acrobatic pilot
Natalya Nazarova , sprinter
Svetlana Kapanina , pilot
Svetlana Krivelyova , shot putter
Yelena Isinbayeva , pole vaulter, 2004 Olympic gold medalist
Nina Romashkova , powered and
glider
aerobatic pilot
Lidia Skoblikova , 2x Olympic gold medalist speed skater
Lev Vainshtein , shooter
Activists and revolutionaries
Legendary and folk heroes
Dobrynya Nikitich ,
Ilya Muromets and
Alyosha Popovich
Alyosha Popovich , young and cunning
bogatyr of priest origin, defeated the dragon
Tugarin Zmeyevich by trickery
Baba Yaga ,
witch -like character in
Russian folklore , flies around on a giant
mortar and lives in the
cabin on chicken legs
Dobrynya Nikitich ,
bogatyr of noble origin, defeated the dragon
Zmey Gorynych
Ilya Muromets ,
bogatyr of peasant origin, saint, the greatest of all the legendary bogatyrs, defeated the forest-dwelling monster
Nightingale the Robber , defended Rus' from numerous attacks by the
steppe people
Ivan Tsarevich , typical noble protagonist of
Russian fairy tales , often engaged in a struggle with
Koschei and rescuing young girls
Ivan the Fool , typical simple-minded but lucky protagonist of
Russian fairy tales
Koschei "the Deathless" , chief male antagonist of
Russian fairy tales , an ugly senile sorcerer and kidnapper of young maids, possesses immortality
Nikita the Furrier , town craftsman who released the daughter of Prince
Vladimir the Fair Sun from the dragon's captivity
Sadko , musician and merchant from
Veliky Novgorod , procured wealth and wife from the
Sea Tsar by playing
gusli
Svyatogor , giant "sacred mountain" bogatyr, passed his strength to
Ilya Muromets
Vasilisa the Beautiful , young, attractive and often cunning heroine of
Russian fairy tales
See also
References