Literature 's (1828–1910) notable works include the novels
War and Peace and
Anna Karenina, often cited as pinnacles of
realist fiction.
Russian literature is considered to be among the world's most influential and developed. It can be traced to the
Middle Ages, when epics and chronicles in vernacular
Old East Slavic were composed. By the
Age of Enlightenment, literature had grown in importance, with works from
Mikhail Lomonosov,
Denis Fonvizin,
Gavrila Derzhavin, and the
Sentimentalist Nikolay Karamzin. From the early 1830s, during the
Golden Age of Russian Poetry, literature underwent an astounding golden age in poetry, prose and drama.
Romantic literature permitted a flowering of poetic talent:
Vasily Zhukovsky and later his protégé
Alexander Pushkin came to the fore. Following Pushkin's footsteps, a new generation of poets were born, including
Mikhail Lermontov,
Nikolay Nekrasov,
Aleksey Konstantinovich Tolstoy,
Fyodor Tyutchev and
Afanasy Fet. The first great Russian novelist was
Nikolai Gogol. Then, during the Age of
Realism, came
Ivan Turgenev, who mastered both short stories and novels.
Fyodor Dostoevsky and
Leo Tolstoy soon became internationally renowned.
Ivan Goncharov is remembered mainly for his novel
Oblomov.
Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin wrote prose satire, while
Nikolai Leskov is best remembered for his shorter fiction. In the second half of the century
Anton Chekhov excelled in short stories and became a leading dramatist. Other important 19th-century developments included the fabulist
Ivan Krylov, non-fiction writers such as the critic
Vissarion Belinsky, and playwrights such as
Aleksandr Griboyedov and
Aleksandr Ostrovsky. The beginning of the 20th century ranks as the
Silver Age of Russian Poetry. This era had poets such as
Alexander Blok,
Anna Akhmatova,
Boris Pasternak,
Konstantin Balmont,
Marina Tsvetaeva,
Vladimir Mayakovsky, and
Osip Mandelstam. It also produced some first-rate novelists and short-story writers, such as
Aleksandr Kuprin, Nobel Prize winner
Ivan Bunin,
Leonid Andreyev,
Yevgeny Zamyatin,
Dmitry Merezhkovsky and
Andrei Bely. After the Russian Revolution of 1917, Russian literature split into Soviet and
white émigré parts. In the 1930s,
Socialist realism became the predominant trend in Russia. Its leading figure was
Maxim Gorky, who laid the foundations of this style.
Mikhail Bulgakov was one of the leading writers of the Soviet era.
Nikolay Ostrovsky's novel
How the Steel Was Tempered has been among the most successful works of Russian literature. Influential émigré writers include
Vladimir Nabokov. Some writers dared to oppose Soviet ideology, such as Nobel Prize-winning novelist
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, who wrote about life in the Gulag camps. During the post-Soviet 1990s writers are already not recognised as very special guides by most Russians. At the beginning of the 21st century, the most discussed figures,
postmodernists Victor Pelevin and
Vladimir Sorokin remained the leading Russian writers.
Philosophy Russian philosophy has been greatly influential. Religious and spiritual philosophy is represented by works of
Vladimir Solovyov,
Nikolai Berdyaev,
Pavel Florensky,
Semyon Frank,
Nikolay Lossky,
Vasily Rozanov, and others.
Helena Blavatsky gained international following as the leading theoretician of
Theosophy, and co-founded the
Theosophical Society. Social and political philosophy is also remarkable.
Alexander Herzen is known as one of the fathers of
agrarian populism.
Mikhail Bakunin is referred to as the father of
anarchism.
Peter Kropotkin was the most important theorist of
anarcho-communism.
Mikhail Bakhtin's writings have significantly inspired scholars.
Vladimir Lenin, a major revolutionary, developed a variant of communism known as
Leninism.
Leon Trotsky, on the other hand, founded
Trotskyism.
Alexander Zinoviev was a prominent philosopher and writer in the second half of the 20th century.
Aleksandr Dugin, known for his
fascist views, has been regarded as the "guru of geopolitics".
Science (1837–1906) is best known for formulating the
Periodic Law and creating a version of the
periodic table of elements.
Mikhail Lomonosov proposed the
conservation of mass in
chemical reactions, discovered the
atmosphere of Venus, and founded modern
geology. Since the times of
Nikolay Lobachevsky, who pioneered the
non-Euclidean geometry, and a prominent tutor
Pafnuty Chebyshev, Russian
mathematicians became among the world's most influential.
Dmitry Mendeleev invented the
Periodic table, the main framework of modern
chemistry.
Sofya Kovalevskaya was a pioneer among
women in mathematics in the 19th century.
Grigori Perelman was offered the first ever Clay
Millennium Prize Problems Award for his final proof of the
Poincaré conjecture in 2002, as well as the Fields Medal in 2006, both of which he declined.
Alexander Popov was among the
inventors of radio, while
Nikolai Basov and
Alexander Prokhorov were co-inventors of
laser and
maser.
Zhores Alferov contributed significantly to the creation of
modern heterostructure physics and electronics.
Oleg Losev made crucial contributions in the field of
semiconductor junctions, and discovered
light-emitting diodes.
Vladimir Vernadsky is considered one of the founders of
geochemistry,
biogeochemistry, and
radiogeology.
Élie Metchnikoff is known for his groundbreaking research in
immunology.
Ivan Pavlov is known chiefly for his work in
classical conditioning.
Lev Landau made fundamental contributions to many areas of
theoretical physics.
Nikolai Vavilov was best known for having identified the
centers of origin of
cultivated plants. Many famous Russian scientists and inventors were
émigrés.
Igor Sikorsky was an
aviation pioneer.
Vladimir Zworykin was the inventor of the
iconoscope and
kinescope television systems.
Theodosius Dobzhansky was the central figure in the field of
evolutionary biology for his work in shaping the
modern synthesis.
George Gamow was one of the foremost advocates of the
Big Bang theory.
Konstantin Tsiolkovsky is called the father of theoretical
astronautics, whose works had inspired leading Soviet rocket engineers, such as
Valentin Glushko, and many others. In 1961, the first human trip into space was successfully made by
Yuri Gagarin. In 1963,
Valentina Tereshkova became the first and youngest
woman in space, having flown a solo mission on
Vostok 6. In 1965,
Alexei Leonov became the first human to conduct a
spacewalk, exiting the
space capsule during
Voskhod 2.
Painting 's
Maslenitsa, 1916 Early Russian painting is
represented in icons and vibrant
frescos. In the early 15th century, the master icon painter
Andrei Rublev created some of Russia's most treasured religious art. The
Russian Academy of Arts, which was established in 1757, to train Russian artists, brought Western techniques of secular painting to Russia. In the 18th century, academicians
Ivan Argunov,
Dmitry Levitzky,
Vladimir Borovikovsky became influential. The early 19th century saw many prominent paintings by
Karl Briullov and
Alexander Ivanov, both of whom were known for
Romantic historical canvases.
Ivan Aivazovsky, another Romantic painter, is considered one of the greatest masters of
marine art. In the 1860s, a group of critical
realists (
Peredvizhniki), led by
Ivan Kramskoy,
Ilya Repin and
Vasiliy Perov broke with the academy, and portrayed the many-sided aspects of social life in paintings. The turn of the 20th century saw the rise of
symbolism; represented by
Mikhail Vrubel and
Nicholas Roerich. The
Russian avant-garde flourished from approximately 1890 to 1930; and globally influential artists from this era were
El Lissitzky,
Kazimir Malevich,
Natalia Goncharova,
Wassily Kandinsky, and
Marc Chagall.
Music '' was composed by
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840–1893) Until the 18th century, music in Russia consisted mainly of church music and folk songs and dances. In the 19th century, it was defined by the tension between classical composer
Mikhail Glinka along with other members of
The Mighty Handful, and the
Russian Musical Society led by composers
Anton and
Nikolay Rubinstein. The later tradition of
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, one of the greatest composers of the
Romantic era, was continued into the 20th century by
Sergei Rachmaninoff, one of the last great champions of the Romantic style of European classical music. World-renowned composers of the 20th century include
Alexander Scriabin,
Alexander Glazunov,
Igor Stravinsky,
Sergei Prokofiev,
Dmitri Shostakovich,
Georgy Sviridov and
Alfred Schnittke. Soviet and Russian conservatories have turned out generations of world-renowned soloists. Among the best known are violinists
David Oistrakh and
Gidon Kremer, cellist
Mstislav Rostropovich, pianists
Vladimir Horowitz,
Sviatoslav Richter, and
Emil Gilels, and vocalist
Galina Vishnevskaya. During the Soviet times,
popular music also produced a number of renowned figures, such as the two
balladeers—
Vladimir Vysotsky and
Bulat Okudzhava, and performers such as
Alla Pugacheva.
Jazz, even with sanctions from Soviet authorities, flourished and evolved into one of the country's most popular musical forms. By the 1980s,
rock music became popular across Russia, and produced bands such as
Aria,
Aquarium,
DDT, and
Kino.
Pop music in Russia has continued to flourish since the 1960s, with globally famous acts such as
t.A.T.u. In the recent times,
Little Big, a
rave band, has gained popularity in Russia and across Europe.
Cinema '' (1925) by Sergei Eisenstein, which was named the
greatest film of all time at the
Brussels World's Fair in 1958. Russian and later
Soviet cinema was a hotbed of invention, resulting in world-renowned films such as
The Battleship Potemkin. Soviet-era filmmakers, most notably
Sergei Eisenstein and
Andrei Tarkovsky, would go on to become among of the world's most innovative and influential directors. Eisenstein was a student of
Lev Kuleshov, who developed the groundbreaking
Soviet montage theory of film editing at the world's first
film school, the
All-Union Institute of Cinematography.
Dziga Vertov's "
Kino-Eye" theory had a huge impact on the development of documentary filmmaking and cinema realism. Many Soviet socialist realism films were artistically successful, including
Chapaev,
The Cranes Are Flying, and
Ballad of a Soldier. The 1960s and 1970s saw a greater variety of artistic styles in Soviet cinema. The comedies of
Eldar Ryazanov and
Leonid Gaidai of that time were immensely popular, with many of the catchphrases still in use today. In 1961–68
Sergey Bondarchuk directed an
Oscar-winning
film adaptation of Leo Tolstoy's epic
War and Peace, which was
the most expensive film made in the Soviet Union. In 1969,
Vladimir Motyl's
White Sun of the Desert was released, a very popular film in a genre of
ostern; the film is traditionally watched by
cosmonauts before any trip into space. In 2002,
Russian Ark was the first feature film ever to be shot in a single take. Today, the Russian cinema industry continues to expand.
Architecture , built between 1555 and 1683 and combined earlier
Russian church and the
Tatar east styles, Moscow The history of
Russian architecture begins with early woodcraft buildings of ancient Slavs, and the
architecture of Kievan Rus'. Following the
Christianization of Kievan Rus', for several centuries it was influenced predominantly by the
Byzantine Empire. Due to Mongol occupation cut ties with the Byzantine Empire Russian architecture inreached some original innovations, among them the church altar screen dividing
iconostasis.
Aristotle Fioravanti and other Italian architects brought
Renaissance trends into Russia, especially in reconstruction of
Kremlin. The 16th century saw the development of the unique
tent-like churches; and the
onion dome design, which is a distinctive feature of Russian architecture. In the 17th century, the "fiery style" of ornamentation flourished in Moscow and
Yaroslavl, gradually paving the way for the
Naryshkin baroque of the 1690s. After the reforms of Peter the Great, Russia's architecture became influenced by Western European styles. The 18th-century taste for
Rococo architecture led to the splendid works of
Bartolomeo Rastrelli and his followers. During the reign of Catherine the Great, Saint Petersburg was transformed into an outdoor museum of
Neoclassical architecture. During
Alexander I's rule,
Empire style became the
de facto architectural style, and
Nicholas I opened the gate of
Eclecticism to Russia. The second half of the 19th-century was dominated by the
Neo-Byzantine and
Russian Revival style. In early 20th-century,
Russian neoclassical revival became a trend. and
Socialist Classicism.
Religion in Russia; the
Russian Orthodox Church has experienced a great revival since the
dissolution of the Soviet Union, a country that had a policy of
state atheism. ' service for the
Bright Easter Week,
Moscow Oblast. Most religious Russians are
Eastern Orthodox Christians. According to differing sociological surveys on religious adherence, between 41% to over 80% of the total population of Russia adhere to the
Russian Orthodox Church. Non-religious Russians may associate themselves with the Orthodox faith for cultural reasons. Some Russian people are
Old Believers: a relatively small
schismatic group of the Russian Orthodoxy that rejected the liturgical reforms introduced in the 17th century. Other schisms from Orthodoxy include
Spiritual Christianity, namely
Doukhobors which in the 18th century rejected secular government, the Russian Orthodox priests, icons, all church ritual, the Bible as the supreme source of divine revelation and the divinity of Jesus, and later emigrated into Canada. Another Spiritual Christian movement were
Molokans which formed in the 19th century and rejected Czar's
divine right to rule, icons, the
Trinity as outlined by the
Nicene Creed, Orthodox
fasts, military service, and practices including
water baptism. Other world religions have negligible representation among ethnic Russians. The largest of these groups are
Islam with over 100,000 followers from national minorities, and
Baptists with over 85,000 Russian adherents. Others are mostly
Pentecostals,
Evangelicals,
Seventh-day Adventists,
Lutherans,
The Salvation Army, and
Jehovah's Witnesses. Since the fall of the Soviet Union various new religious movements have sprung up and gathered a following among ethnic Russians. The most prominent of these are
Rodnovery, the revival of the Slavic native religion also common to other
Slavic nations.
Sports Football is the most popular sport in Russia. The
Soviet Union national football team became the first European champions by winning
Euro 1960, and reached the finals of
Euro 1988. In 1956 and 1988, the Soviet Union won gold at the
Olympic football tournament. Russian clubs
CSKA Moscow and
Zenit Saint Petersburg won the
UEFA Cup in 2005 and 2008. The
Russian national football team reached the semi-finals of
Euro 2008. Russia was the host nation for the
2017 FIFA Confederations Cup, and the
2018 FIFA World Cup.
Ice hockey is very popular in Russia. The
Soviet Union men's national ice hockey team dominated the sport internationally throughout its existence, and the modern-day
Russia men's national ice hockey team is among the most successful teams in the sport. The
Russian national basketball team won the
EuroBasket 2007, and the Russian basketball club
PBC CSKA Moscow is among the most successful European basketball teams. The annual
Formula One Russian Grand Prix was held at the
Sochi Autodrom in the
Sochi Olympic Park. Russia is the leading nation in
rhythmic gymnastics; and Russian
synchronized swimming is considered to be the world's best.
Figure skating is another popular sport in Russia, especially
pair skating and
ice dancing. Russia has produced a number of famous
tennis players, such as
Maria Sharapova and
Daniil Medvedev.
Chess is also a widely popular pastime in the nation, with many of the world's top chess players being Russian for decades. The
1980 Summer Olympic Games were held in Moscow, and the
2014 Winter Olympics and the
2014 Winter Paralympics were hosted in Sochi. ==See also==