“In the beginning was the Word…”

The seventieth rector of St Petersburg State University Professor Liudmila Verbitskaya Ph.D: “As we speak, so we live.”

…8

In a Whirl of Waltzes

The history of this institution mirrored the festive, elegant live of St Petersburg’s elite.

…18

“I put up my hand and surrender…”

His homesickness was stronger than his desire for freedom, stronger than his instinct for self-preservation.

…30

The Aura of Old Walls

Such buildings have the invisible presence of something that is impossible to touch, but impossible not to feel – the spiritual legacy of generations of people that lived there.

…40

The Sheremetev Palace – Celebrating a Rebirth!

With colourful costumed performance and a tremendous firework display abovte he Neva, on 27 May the Taleon company will present to St Petersburg a palace of the venerable Russian Sheremetev family reborn from the ashes.

…44

Enlightened Charity

Honorary citizens of St Petersburg and the city’s governor assumed the unaccustomed role of “salespeople” for architectural masterpieces in need of restoration.

…46

Defying Despair

The Taleon Club hosted the first St Petersburg charity auction of elite drinks with the aim of helping the patients of the children’s Hospice.

…48

Out of the Frying-pan…

The more pancakes you eat at Shrovetide, so they say, the more success you will have in the coming year.

…52

The Bloody Jealousy of the Sancy Diamond

According to esoteric texts the diamond is proud to the point of arrogance, a cold and unarguably perfidious stone.

…58

Brusilov’s Breakthroughs

The time called for decisive actions and men capable of taking them. Brusilov was just that sort of commander.

…70

A Purely Aristocratic Betrayal

Society could not fail to notice what was going on between the young aristocrat and the celebrated man of letters.

…88

The Real Brutus

Extracts from the works of the historian Plutarch devoted to Marcus Junius Brutus.

…98

The “Sun-eating” Feast

During Shrovetide people of all classes seemed to lose their heads completely, thinking only of how best to fill the week with pleasures and amusements.

…102

How much is that doggy in the window?

What rules should you follow when buying a dog for the first time in your life?

…114

Russian Chic

The task of the couturier is “to make the fabric sing”, and the perception of dress as a song was always part of the Russian soul.

…124