Word: russias
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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DIED. Joseph Kessel, 81, globetrotting French journalist and author of some 50 novels; in Avernes, France. Raised in Russia, Kessel flew far-flung missions for the French air force during World War I, experience he later evoked in his war and adventure tales. During World War II, he took a dangerous part in the French Resistance and he wrote lyrics for the movement's anthem, Chant des Partisans. Three of his best-known novels became movies: The Lion, The Horsemen, and Belle de Jour, filmed by Luis...
...that still has a strong hold on the many Russian chauvinists in the elite, who believe that alien forces have caused their homeland's troubles down through the ages. One handy target is the German-born Alexandra, who is described in the novel as a featherbrained traitor to Russia. Pikul's fictional Tsar Alexander III is quoted as saying of his future daughter-in-law and her German relatives, "I have a feeling they have a lot in their pants but very little under their hats...
...separate peace with Germany in World War I and the redistribution of land to the peasants." Some historians will doubtless question Amalrik's contentions that the legendary monk was really as good as all that. Still, in the words of the Boney M. song that is sweeping Russia, Rasputin was obviously "a cat that was really gone...
...roles in the production of the Mayakovsky legend. Settling in France with Aragon, Elsa became the Russian poet's translator and the chief purveyor of his work in Europe. Aragon's high Party connections added luster to his sister-in-law Lili's position in Russia, where she had become the guardian of Mayakovsky's literary legacy...
...pursued the association by welcoming agents to gatherings at the apartment the Briks shared with Mayakovsky. One of the lovers Lili took when Mayakovsky was still alive was a high-level secret police official. But the most shocking anecdote is provided by Rita Rait, now one of Russia's most distinguished translators from English. In the '20s, Lili sought to recruit Rait to spy on Russian emigres in Berlin, and arranged a meeting for the purpose with a police agent in her own apartment...