by Ben Atlas on Mar 3, 2010 - 21:48
Mendel Schneerson
David Levine, perhaps the greatest American cultural caricaturist passed away in December. I have a special affinity for this art because my relative Joseph Igin was the Russian counterpart of David Levine. The new York Review of books published the entire archive of David Levin. Take a look at this Russian Writers caricatures, simply superb. Especially interesting are the different takes on the same people, you can see that these were not just semblance portraits but tour de force psychological descriptions, infections of the dominant personality notes. David Levine never seen this photo, yet he captured the Lubavitcher exactly, genius!
by Ben Atlas on Feb 17, 2010 - 09:33
Church of St Vladimir, Podporozhye, Arkhangelsk region (1757). Photo by Richard Davies
In 2007 Matilda Moreton and Richard Davies retraced the 1902 inspirational trip by the famous Russian artist and illustrator Ivan Bilibin. The result is this wonderful virtual exhibition.
When I was in the architecture school in Moscow in the summer students went on a month long trip to paint historic architecture. Some of my classmates went to Kizhi to paint and draw these wooden churches. I went to Kamenetzk-Podolsk to paint the old Turkish ruins and keep an eye for the rare sightings of the bearer of the good name. Those quash paintings are still on my walls.
by Ben Atlas on Jan 18, 2010 - 22:07
Russian dogs, unlike their western cousins, are not neutered. This leads to the population of tens of thousand of stray dogs in Moscow for example. An article in the Financial Times looks at the different social groups of Moscow stray dogs and their intricate ecosystem in the city.
“According to Poyarkov, there are 30,000 to 35,000 stray dogs in Moscow, while the wolf population for the whole of Russia is about 50,000 to 60,000. Population density, he says, determines how frequently the animals come into contact with each other, which in turn affects their behaviour, psychology, stress levels, physiology and relationship to their environment.
“The second difference between stray dogs and wolves is that the dogs, on average, are much less aggressive and a good deal more tolerant of one another,” says Poyarkov. Wolves stay strictly within their own pack, even if they share a territory with another. A pack of dogs, however, can hold a dominant position over other packs and their leader will often “patrol” the other packs by moving in and out of them. His observations have led Poyarkov to conclude that this leader is not necessarily the strongest or most dominant dog, but the most intelligent – and is acknowledged as such. The pack depends on him for its survival.
Moscow’s strays sit somewhere between house pets and wolves, says Poyarkov, but are in the early stages of the shift from the domesticated back towards the wild. That said, there seems little chance of reversing this process. It is virtually impossible to domesticate a stray: many cannot stand being confined indoors”
photo via flickr.com/cronobikes
by Ben Atlas on Jan 8, 2010 - 10:31
The 1938 masterpiece by Sergei Eisenstein, music by Sergei Prokofiev. A prophecy about the German invasion. Wikipedia: “The film depicts the attempted invasion of Novgorod in the 13th century by Teutonic Knights of the Holy Roman Empire and their defeat by the Russian people, led by Prince Alexander, known popularly as Alexander Nevsky. It begins as the knights invade and conquer the city of Pskov with the help of the traitor Tverdilo and massacre its population. In the face of resistance by the boyars and merchants of Novgorod (urged on by the monk Ananias), Nevsky rallies the common people of Novgorod and in a decisive Battle of the Ice, on the surface of the frozen Lake Chudskoe.” The battle was on the 5th of April, 1242. ►►►read more
by Ben Atlas on Jan 1, 2010 - 12:30
Pope Paul II by Cristoforo dell'Altissimo
So I am hearing about all the “Tsars” in the Obama administration, what’s with the name and the authoritarian implications?
Let’s start from the pivotal time in history. Thomas Palaiologina (1409-1465) was a brother of the last Byzantine Emperor Constantine XI (slaughtered by the Turks after the conquest of Constantinople). Thomas Palaiologina technically ruled over the Greek province of Morea and had the tile of “Despot” (not a bad name in those days). Thomas was eventually kicked out of Morea by the Turks and with his family found a refuge in the Papal Rome. He even converted to the Catholicism before his death. Zoe Palaiologina (1455-1503) was the daughter of the Despot Thomas. The Byzantine royal orphans, Zoe and her brothers, were looked after by the Pope Paul II.
Russia, at the time under the rule of Ivan III (Ivan the Great, 1440-1505), was emerging as a superpower. The Pope had a brilliant idea that proved to be the worst political move ever. In hope of bringing about the reunification of the Russian and the Catholic Churches, he sent Zoe Palaiologina to the widower Ivan III as a bride, together with the Cardinal Johannes Bessarion as a persuader. Ivan took Zoe as his wife and promptly discharged the Cardinal back to the Eternal City (Popes should stay the heck away from the matchmaking business).
Marble plaque with double-headed eagle in Mystras (birthplace of Zoe in Morea, Greece), marking the spot where the last Byzantine emperor, Constantine XI (Zoe's uncle), was crowned.
Zoe, who changed her name to Sophia while in Rome (Софья (Зоя) Палеолог), had an enormous influence on her husband and on the entire Mother Russia. She initiated Ivan III into the ceremonies and traditions of the Byzantine, more importantly she told him to have fewer consultations with his “parliament” of boyars. Zoe planted in Ivan’s head the idea of Russia as the Third Rome. This was the time when the Russian kings re-branded themselves as Tsars (Csar), a corruption of Caesar. Caesar was originally just the last name of Julius Caesar (ironically caesar being the Latin for hairy) but it became a royal title in the late Roman and Byzantine empires. The name Tsar in Kremlin was intended to solidify the symbolism of Russia as the Third Rome (same as the future German imperial Kaisar). The Double Headed Eagle, the ancient Byzantine symbol, was then introduced as the state seal.
Comrade Putin under the Double Headed Eagle
Ivan III groomed his grandson from his first marriage Dmitry to succeed him as the king. Zoe outmaneuvered Dmitry, convinced Ivan III to install their son Vassily as the Tsar (and had Dmitry and his mother imprisoned). Now, Vassily’s future son was the infamous Ivan the Terrible who was, if are you still following, the grandson of the Byzantine princess raised by the Pope.
At the time in Russia there was the Sect of Skhariya the Jew. Zacharia ben Ahron ha-Cohen from Lithuania was a scholar and translator of scripture who moved to Kiev and then to Novgorod (1470), he was successful in preaching Judaic religious and political concepts to the prominent church authorities and the feudal lords. His sect (Жидовствующие) had powerful patrons including the presumed future king Dmitry and even had the ear of Ivan the Great. (“…this heretical movement spread over Moscow. In 1480, even Ivan III himself invited a few prominent sectarians to visit the city. The Grand Prince’s seemingly strange behavior could be explained by the fact that he had greatly sympathized with heretics’ ideas of secularization and the struggle against feudal division. Thus, the Judaizers enjoyed the support of high-ranking officials, statesmen, merchants”). With the loss of protection from Dmitry, after Vassily’s succession, the Judaic sect was dismantled and some of the heretics burned at the stake (this incidentally might be a factor in the institutionalized monarchical antisemitism in Russia). It’s entirely in the realm of possibility, that if not for the intervention of the Pope’s gift of Zoe, Russia under Dmitry would have become a Judaic state (like the Khazars). Instead, contrary to the Papal political interests, the Great Matriarchy was strengthened as the ideological center of the Greek Orthodoxy and carried on the traditions of the fallen Byzantine Empire.
Zoe's grandson Ivan The Terrible
Back to the New World and the etymological somersault of the term Tsar in America, specifically the executive appointment of a “Drug Tsar” during the Reagan administration (1982). Naturally it made the perfect sense with Russia officially still “the evil empire”. And of course the logical “King” title is historically inappropriate in America. The throwback usage of the intimidating “Tsar” or “Csar” is understandable since the Ceasar(s) brand was relaunched in America as a casino chain, not to mention the crunchy salad that smells of garlic and the Parmesan cheese. The Ceasar(s) American undertone alludes to the hedonistic Rome, inviting the getaway good times and the carnival debauchery, rather than the overtone of the Tsarist, Kremlin-like domination. And the “Tsar” trademark is pretty safe, never to be confused with a salad. It’s like – “Can I have a little “Ivan the Terrible” with extra onions, cucumbers and the Italian dressing on the side?” Don’t think this will catch on.
by Ben Atlas on Dec 20, 2009 - 18:54
I plan several posts from the Russian collection of photos by Margaret Bourke-White. These are all from 1931 in addition to the 1931 Magnitogorsk photos and 1941 Stalin photos.
Worker tightening a bolt on a generator shell. Dnieper River Dam.
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by Ben Atlas on Dec 20, 2009 - 11:02
I continue to curate the Russian collection of photos by Margaret Bourke-White. These photos are all from 1931 in Magnitogorsk, the mining and industrial town on the border with Kazakhstan.
Russian woman grimly holding a slab of meat as other women staunchly stand
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by Ben Atlas on Dec 19, 2009 - 21:22
Margaret Bourke-White (1904-1971) “was born in the Bronx, New York, to Joseph White (who came from an Orthodox Jewish family) and Minnie Bourke, the daughter of an Irish ship’s carpenter and an English cook; she was a Protestant. She grew up in Bound Brook, New Jersey (in a neighborhood now part of Middlesex), but graduated from Plainfield High School. Her father was a naturalist, engineer and inventor. His work improved the four-color printing process that is used for books and magazines.”
View of the bed where Joseph Stalin was born.
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by Ben Atlas on Nov 25, 2009 - 20:51
Vladimir Bukovsky, the former dissident, secretly copied and eventually published on the internet Soviet era Kremlin archive. There is a treasure trove of information that no one wants to touch. The archive can expose multiple politicians that did business with the communist Russia. Similar archive of the Gorbachev era have been copied electronically (not yet revealed, expect in bits and pieces) from the Gorbachev Foundation by Pavel Stroilov who was granted political asylum in Britain because of the archive.
Baroness Ashton was just appointed to the post of High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy in the new EU parliament, equivalent of the European Foreign Ministry. Watch Nigel Farage take Catherine Ashton to task in the EU parliament yesterday. This is a great theater. ►►►read more
by Ben Atlas on Nov 20, 2009 - 10:12
Butyrskaya prison, Reuters
A tragic followup on the post Edmond Safra, Bill Browder, Hermitage Fund and doing Business in Russia. Sergei Magnitsky has died in prison. The Telegraph – Russian authorities have refused to release the body of Sergei Magnitsky, the lawyer campaigning against fraud and corruption who died in a Moscow jail this week, for an independent autopsy:
“His death also came just days before he was due to be released. Under Russian law, defendants can not be held in custody for longer than a year without bringing them to trial – a deadline that expired on November 24. He died on Monday, November 16.
Mr Magnitsky, a 37-year-old married father of two, was charged with participating in R500m (£10m) tax evasion at two subsidiaries of Hermitage Capital Management, the hedge fund managed by Bill Browder.
However, in evidence in court, he claimed to have been the victim of a “personal vendetta” for testifying against a senior police officer, whom he argued was central to an alleged $230m (£140m) tax fraud he had uncovered that implicated the police, members of the judiciary, tax officials, bankers and the Russian mafia.”
Sergei Magnitsky wrote on prison Conditions:
“Rats run freely along the sewer system… and at night you can hear them squeaking. The toilet was “simply a hole in the floor in a corner of the cell” and “in order to use a toilet without exposing yourself to the others you had to use the bed sheets”. On one occasion, “sewage started to rise from the drain under the sink” until the “floor was covered with sewage several centimetres thick”. “It was impossible to walk on the floor and we were forced to move around the cell by climbing on the beds like monkeys …”for the 10 months I have been under arrest, the investigator has not let me meet with my wife, mother or any other relative. Isolation from the outside world exceeds all reasonable limits.”
WSJ - Murder by Natural Causes:
“The slow-motion assassination of the young lawyer marks a new low in Russia. The families of Estemirova, Politkovskaya, Markelov, Baburova, and Litvinenko at least get no argument that their loved ones were murdered, even if the official “investigations” into those crimes will likely prove useless.
With this new milestone, Moscow consummates the marriage of brutality and revisionism. Contemporary Russia is almost comically weak when viewed from the West, which once feared Moscow would destroy the world. But that doesn’t mitigate the merger of Stalinism with Putinism, nor the tragedy that means for the Russian people.”
The Times – Sergei Magnitsky, lawyer for Hermitage Capital in Kremlin case dies in prison:
“Mr Magnitsky’s mother was told of her son’s death when she arrived at Butyrka detention centre to deliver some personal effects and was told he had been moved to Matrosskaya Tishina. On her arrival there, she was told her son had died the previous day.”
Jamison Firestone is an attorney and managing partner of Firestone Duncan, which has offices in Moscow and St. Petersburg. Sergei Magnitsky worked in the office of Jamison Firestone who writes in the Moscow Times – Licensed to Kill:
“Magnitsky testified against a group of Interior Ministry officers who we believe stole more than 5 billion rubles from the Russian treasury. One month later, those same officers arrested Magnitsky on completely false charges that made no legal sense. They held him in prison in horrible conditions. When Magnitsky’s health deteriorated, they denied him access to doctors, medicine and a routine but critical operation. He died Monday evening.
Magnitsky did not die by chance. He died because corrupt Interior Ministry officers killed him: They knowingly imprisoned an innocent man, destroyed his health and denied him access to medical treatment. Maybe the ministry just wanted to put pressure on him. But when detained people are tortured, they sometimes die, and in this case the people applying the pressure become killers.
Magnitsky’s story is all the more terrible because it is now routine. Let’s be honest, the so-called law enforcement agencies are detested by everyone and respected by no one. Corrupt officers routinely open criminal cases against the innocent, imprison people, kill people and steal with impunity. They are not above the law: They are the law. They are in effect licensed to kill.”
by Ben Atlas on Nov 9, 2009 - 17:05
Sir George Clausen, Study of a group of field workers, ca. 1901
On the subject of my post Psoy Korolenko – Ekh Lyuli Lyuli. OK, I am done speaking about Slavoj Zizek without actually reading his work. Today’s article in the NYT is a good start – 20 Years of Collapse. I find his views refreshing, nothing to disagree about. In fact the views of democracy, as a self-fulfilling utopia, ring true to me:
“Where does this resurrection of anti-Communism draw its strength from? Why were the old ghosts resuscitated in nations where many young people don’t even remember the Communist times? The new anti-Communism provides a simple answer to the question: “If capitalism is really so much better than Socialism, why are our lives still miserable?”
It is because, many believe, we are not really in capitalism: we do not yet have true democracy but only its deceiving mask, the same dark forces still pull the threads of power, a narrow sect of former Communists disguised as new owners and managers — nothing’s really changed, so we need another purge, the revolution has to be repeated …
What these belated anti-Communists fail to realize is that the image they provide of their society comes uncannily close to the most abused traditional leftist image of capitalism: a society in which formal democracy merely conceals the reign of a wealthy minority. In other words, the newly born anti-Communists don’t get that what they are denouncing as perverted pseudo-capitalism simply is capitalism.”
A monumental shift occurred in America over the past decades. The appeal of the American model was not because you could become rich here, people instinctively understand that’s a lottery. The American appeal was because a mechanic in Detroit can live a comfortable life where his hard work is rewarded. This all changed. The rich got themselves the access to the global workforce and the middle class got pretty much demolished. There are structural changes in this country and not a single person knows how it will all play out.
At the same time America went to war(s) to impose its way of life on the savage world. The ideological underpinning and motivations came courtesy of Natan Sharansky and the Jewish neocons. It was the messianic vision – the flame of democracy engulfing the world (iz iskry vozgoritse plamya). The vision of the messianic peace and prosperity. But the realities of Iraq and Afghanistan put an end to the rhetoric and as always in history the messianic good intentions inevitably lead to bloodshed and massive death. Appropriately a post religious Russian Jew Natan Sharansky found new metaphors to articulate the central reckless messianic ethos of our Russian Jewish heritage. So we now have two pillars of the democratic utopia collapsing in front of our very eyes. America is no longer the model with its ruinous middle class and the repelled and defeated democratic jihad in the Middle East.
The so-called Chinese and Russian democracies are monarchical lordships, with no middle class to begin with. It took decades for America to destroy its middle class and Russia and China pretty mush had a clean slate. And this is the reason for the perceived and actual economic efficiencies in Russia and especially in China. No middle class to get in a way, just super rich apparatchiks and people who are accustomed to punishing work and orders. No such luck in America, weighted down by the obsolete middle class. The whiny and spoiled populace with unmet expectations. In this context Slavoj Zizek’s is honest and timely:
“How did we come to this? Deceived by 20th-century Communism and disillusioned with 21st-century capitalism, we can only hope for new Kravchenkos — and that they come to happier ends. On the search for justice, they will have to start from scratch. They will have to invent their own ideologies. They will be denounced as dangerous utopians, but they alone will have awakened from the utopian dream that holds the rest of us under its sway.”
P.S. Performance of US stock market recently decoupled from the economic reality. The rate of the dollar is more important for a global corporation than the unemployed one-third of the American workforce. As long as the global markets are intact to manufacture and sell, who cares about the American middle class.
Image licensed courtesy of Picture Library of the Royal Academy of Arts
The great Edmond Safra founded Hermitage Capital Management with Bill Browder in mid nineties for investments in Russia. Edmond Safra died in a fire in his home in Monaco in 1999 (his death was a freak accident set up by his own bodyguard, evidently not related to Russia or Edmond Safra’s fight with the American Express corporation). After exhausting all legal venues in Russia, Bill Browder produced this video (via emerging markets).
Background from the Hermitage press release: “…Mr Browder’s strategy is to target a leading company with close connections to government and to conduct a forensic examination of its investments. Upon discovering fraud and embezzlement, a very public campaign of exposure and denunciation ensues, followed by partial recovery of funds and huge stock price appreciation. It finally ends with Mr Browder being chased out of Russia.
Hermitage Capital’s campaign against fraud at Gazprom made enormous amounts of money for investors, including many who never put their money in Mr Browder’s fund. He started with $25million in 1996, achieving almost tenfold gains in 18 months and then raised $1billion from new investors. At one stage the pot totalled $4billion and Hermitage became Russia’s biggest foreign portfolio investor. However, Mr Browder offended someone with great power – he insists that he still does not know who – and in November 2005 was refused re-entry into Russia. He has not returned since.” ►►►read more
