Dimitri N. Breschinsky’s favorite…

course to teach: Any course in Russian language or literature, as long as students are willing to get up early and ready to embark on an intellectual journey.

Russian writer: 1) prose: Anton Chekhov, master of the short story genre, 2) poetry: Pushkin, master of all poetic genres.

Russian novel: Yuri Tynianov’s The Death of the Wazir Mukhtar (1927).

Russian painter: Isaak Levitan, who illuminated the Russian countryside with his subdued canvases.

Piece of Russian music: Peter Tchaikovsky’s violin concerto (it rivals Beethoven’s).

American writer in Russian translation: Loren Eiseley, nature writer and master of the personal essay.

Russian city: Novgorod: it’s manageable, it is Kremlin (ancient fortress) is beautiful, and, as in Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Lafayette, a river runs through it.

Russian movie: Andrey Tarkovsky’s Andrey Rublev (uncut version only, please).

Russian actor: Aleksey Batalov, who in many of his film roles plausibly portrays a member of an extinct species: the Russian intelligent (refined intellectual).

Russian word/expression: #*@!! (the Russian language is extraordinarily rich in the unprintable, perhaps because life in Russia has historically been difficult).

Russian leader: Peter the Great, who virtually single-handedly dragged Russia out of the Middle Ages two into the modern world.

Russian dish: Kulich and paskha (Russian Easter bread and Easter cheese cake, which would be a great way of breaking the Lenten fast if I were to observe it).

summer pastime: Bird-watching and canoeing in swampy Canadian backwaters, which resemble those of Karelia.

winter pastime: Scuba-diving in warm Caribbean waters, which resemble nothing in Russia.

hobby: Photography, which allows me to capture animals, people, trees, and clouds on film for future contemplation.

Basketball player: I don’t follow sports, but when it comes to Lady Boilermakers, the choice is obvious: Natasha Bogdanova.

Go Back To the Russian Home Page	During the 2006 Maymester visit to Novgorod.