The current president of Russia. He was re-elected President twice since 2000 and has been running the country for 20 years. Putin is the fourth president of Russia. He was born in St. Petersburg and is highly educated with a law degree. He also served 16 years as a Russian intelligence officer before the presidency. From being a political nobody when he was elected as prime minister from 1999 to 2000, to now running one of the biggest countries in the world. After being elected, Putin has made a significant impact on rebuilding Russia up from the chaos left after Yeltsin’s presidency. He brought stability back to Russia’s economic growth.
Joseph Brodsky was born in Leningrad (St. Petersburg). He survived the Nazi siege of Leningrad during world war II. Brodsky was known to have opposing views towards the soviet system and after many tribulations, he then emigrated to America in the late 1970s. Brodsky’s upbringing during the end of the second world war inspired his poetic talent. His work emanated the darkness of the oppressive Soviet regime. Today, Joseph Brodsky remains one of St. Petersburg’s most widely read writers.
Durov was born in St. Petersburg, Russia but grew up in Turin, Italy. He returned to Russia and graduated from the philology departments of the Saint Petersburg state university in 2006. Durov comes from a very noble family as his grandfather served in world war II. Pavel Durov founded the social networking app VK and the instant messaging service, Telegram Messenger, greatly influenced by Facebook. He has been nicknamed the Mark Zuckerberg of Russia.
McFadden was born in St. Petersburg in 1989 with spina bifida, a disorder that meant she was paralyzed from the waist down. She was adopted from a Russian orphanage by Debora McFadden, she then migrated to the United States. Growing up, McFadden participated in many sports in order to build muscle especially because she uses her arms to get around. She began racing at the age of eight and became the youngest Paralympic wheelchair racer at the age of 15. McFadden entered many marathons across the world, she also returned to Russia to compete in the Winter Paralympic Games in 2014.
Nabokov was born in St. Petersburg in 1899. He came from a very aristocratic family as his father, V.D. Nabokov was also an author for numerous books and articles on criminal law. Nabokov went to trinity college, in Cambridge and studied French and Russian literature. Nabokov is famous for his work, Lolita (1955) and Pale Fire (1962) which is performed in plays across Europe. He was also a seven-time finalist for the National Book Award for Fiction.
Rushing to Russia | A Guide 