Prominent people of Russia: Mikhail Lomonosov (1711-1765)

Mikhail Lomonosov is the father of the Russian science and one of the most famous universities in the world. Lomonosov was born in 1711 in Arkhangelsk province. He began to read when he was a little boy. He always wanted to study and when he was nineteen he went to Moscow. He entered the Slavic-Greek-Latin Academy and six years later, in 1736, he was sent abroad to complete his studies in Chemistry and mining. Lomonosov worked hard and became a great scientist. He was the first Russian academician; Lomonosov opened the first Russian chemistry lab. He was a physicist, a painter, an astronomer, a geographer, a historian and a statesman. In 1755 Mikhail Lomonosov founded Moscow University which is now Moscow State University named after him. Mikhail made research in electricity, gravity and the character of colour. Lomonosov was also the author of many odes and poems. He also published a lot of scientific works, including the first book on Russian grammar. Lomonosov died in 1765 but people still remember him.

Alexander Pushkin (1799-1837)

Alexander Pushkin is one of the most outstanding Russians. He was the greatest Russian poet and writer. Pushkin devoted his life to writing poems. The young Alexander's first poems appeared when he was fifteen, and by the time he left school he was regarded as a rival by the literary leaders of that time. Pushkin was the first poet who touched problems that were important for Russia and its people. Because of that he was sent to exile a few times. Pushkin wrote a lot of poems and novels. Among his famous ones are: Eugenij Onegin, Ruslan and Lyudmila and others. Children like to read his fairy tales and watch wonderful cartoons based on them. When I was a child I read all the fairy tales by this talented poet. First my grandmother read them for me, but then when 1 learnt to read, I read his tales myself. Most of Pushkin's best works are studied at school. There is a statue to Pushkin in Moscow at Pushkin Square. Young and old people gather by the statue, read poems and just meet friends. Pushkin is respected not only in Russia, but all over the world. His novels and poems have been translated into many languages and are enjoyed by foreigners.

Yuri Gagarin (1934-1968)

Yuri Gagarin was the first spaceman in the world. Born in 1934, young Gagarin was a very curious and clever boy. Since childhood Yuri was interested in planes and made toy planes himself. After the War the Gagarins moved to another city and Yuri entered a vocational school in a small town near Moscow. He attended an aero club and started flying. After finishing a school for pilots Gagarin joined the first group of spacemen. On the 12-th of April, 1961, Yuri Gagarin flew into space and spend more than one hour there. He was the first man in the world who flew into space on board a spaceship. After the successful landing Yuri Gagarin became a national hero. He died in 1968, but people all over the world still remember the first Russian spaceman.