Alexander Sergeyevich Griboyedov ( Russian : Александр Сергеевич Грибоедов , romanized : Aleksandr Sergeevich Griboedov ; 15 January 1795 – 11 February 1829) was a Russian diplomat , playwright , poet , and composer . His one notable work is the 1823 verse comedy Woe from Wit . He was Russia's ambassador to Qajar Persia , where he and all the embassy staff were massacred by an angry mob in the aftermath of the ratification of the Treaty of Turkmenchay (1828), which confirmed the cession to Russia of Persia's northern territories comprising Transcaucasia and parts of the North Caucasus . Griboyedov played a pivotal role in the ratification of the treaty. The immediate cause for the incident was Griboyedov giving refuge to Armenians who had escaped from the harems of the Persian shah and his son.
57-563: The Saint Petersburg Flood Prevention Facility Complex (Russian: Ко́мплекс защи́тных сооруже́ний Санкт-Петербу́рга от наводне́ний , romanized : kómpleks zashchítnykh sooruzhéniy Sankt-Peterbúrga ot navodnéniy ), unofficially the Saint Petersburg Dam , is a 25 km (16 mi) long complex of dams for flood control near Saint Petersburg , Russia. The dam extends from Lomonosov northward to Kotlin Island (and
114-505: A French play by Auguste Creuzé de Lesser , which Griboyedov staged in Saint Petersburg in 1816, was followed by other similar works, mostly either translated or co-authored with more experienced writers of the day. Neither these nor his essays and poetry would have been long remembered but for the success of his verse comedy Woe from Wit ( Russian : Горе от ума , Gore ot uma ), a satire on Russian aristocratic society. As
171-612: A Latin alphabet for the Russian language was discussed in 1929–30 during the campaign of latinisation of the languages of the USSR , when a special commission was created to propose a latinisation system for Russian. The letters of the Latin script are named in Russian as following (and are borrowed from French and/or German ): Alexander Griboyedov Griboyedov was born in Moscow,
228-639: A Working Group of the United Nations , in 1987 recommended a romanization system for geographical names, which was based on the 1983 version of GOST 16876-71 . It may be found in some international cartographic products. American Library Association and Library of Congress (ALA-LC) romanization tables for Slavic alphabets are used in North American libraries and in the British Library since 1975. The formal, unambiguous version of
285-419: A high official in the play puts it, this work is "a pasquinade on Moscow". The play depicts certain social and official stereotypes in the characters of Famusov, who hates reform; his secretary, Molchalin, who fawns over officials; and the aristocratic young liberal and Anglomaniac , Repetilov. By contrast the hero of the piece, Chatsky, an ironic satirist just returned from western Europe, exposes and ridicules
342-607: A lengthy feature on the commemoration of Griboyedov's 150th birthday when high-ranking officials, military leaders, diplomats, writers, and artists had attended a celebration in the Bolshoi Theatre . Novelist and Stalin deputy Leonid Leonov eulogized Griboyedov, mentioning especially his love of his fatherland. The reception to the Shah's grandson Khosrow Mirza in the Winter Palace , and Tsar Nicholas receiving from him
399-646: A real adventure novel set in the wild, wild East." One of the main settings for Mikhail Bulgakov 's satirical novel The Master and Margarita is named after Griboyedov, as is the Griboyedov Canal in Central Saint Petersburg . One of the central streets of Tbilisi , the capital of Georgia , is named after Griboyedov. This street is crossed by Alexander Chavchavadze street, named after Griboyedov's father-in-law, famous Georgian poet, Alexander Chavchavadze . On 17 April 1944 Pravda ran
456-461: A six-lane highway on the top. The project was begun in 1979, and construction continued through 1995, at which point the dam was around 70% complete, when due to difficulties obtaining financing after the fall of the Soviet Union the project was suspended until 2005, when President Vladimir Putin ordered its resumption. Construction was completed in 2011, and the formal opening of the complex
513-457: A small number of works during his lifetime, he was well experienced in an array of instruments including piano, organ, and flute. During his musical study, it is recorded that he studied with the Irish pianist, composer, and ostensible "creator" of the nocturne form John Field , along with Johann Heinrich Müller in the field of music theory. Grioboyedov was regarded as a "very good musician" by
570-453: A system of transliteration fitted for their keyboard layout , such as for English QWERTY keyboards, and then use an automated tool to convert the text into Cyrillic. There are a number of distinct and competing standards for the romanization of Russian Cyrillic , with none of them having received much popularity, and, in reality, transliteration is often carried out without any consistent standards. Scientific transliteration, also known as
627-479: Is an adoption of an ICAO standard for travel documents. It was used in Russian passports for a short period during 2010–2013 ( see below ). The standard was substituted in 2013 by GOST R ISO/ IEC 7501-1-2013, which does not contain romanization, but directly refers to the ICAO romanization ( see below ). Names on street and road signs in the Soviet Union were romanized according to GOST 10807-78 (tables 17, 18), which
SECTION 10
#1732776650111684-753: Is an equivalent of GOST 16876-71 and was adopted as an official standard of the COMECON . GOST 7.79-2000 System of Standards on Information, Librarianship, and Publishing–Rules for Transliteration of the Cyrillic Characters Using the Latin Alphabet is an adoption of ISO 9:1995 . It is the official standard of both Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). GOST 52535.1-2006 Identification cards. Machine readable travel documents. Part 1. Machine readable passports
741-423: Is based on its predecessor ISO/R 9:1968, which it deprecates; for Russian, the two are the same except in the treatment of five modern letters. ISO 9:1995 is the first language-independent, univocal system of one character for one character equivalents (by the use of diacritics) that faithfully represents the original and allows for reverse transliteration for Cyrillic text in any contemporary language. The UNGEGN ,
798-416: Is known to have composed the musical score to the opera-vaudeville (or operetta) called "Who is a Brother, Who is a Sister, or Deception for Deception" (1824), written by the composer himself in collaboration with Pyotr Vyazemsky . Several months after his wedding to Nino , the 16-year-old daughter of his friend Prince Chavchavadze , Griboyedov was suddenly sent to Persia as Minister Plenipotentiary . In
855-536: The Cyrillic script into the Latin script ), aside from its primary use for including Russian names and words in text written in a Latin alphabet, is also essential for computer users to input Russian text who either do not have a keyboard or word processor set up for inputting Cyrillic, or else are not capable of typing rapidly using a native Russian keyboard layout ( JCUKEN ). In the latter case, they would type using
912-815: The International Scholarly System , is a system that has been used in linguistics since the 19th century. It is based on the Czech alphabet and formed the basis of the GOST and ISO systems. OST 8483 was the first Soviet standard on romanization of Russian, introduced on 16 October 1935. Developed by the National Administration for Geodesy and Cartography at the USSR Council of Ministers , GOST 16876-71 has been in service since 1973. Replaced by GOST 7.79-2000. This standard
969-613: The Neva River, where flooding is common. Flow from Lake Ladoga is significant and the Neva's current is rapid, but flooding is generally caused by water backing up the Neva from its outlet, the Gulf of Finland . Most rivers flood in periods of exceptionally high flow, but the Neva typically floods in late autumn. In the early literature, high winds from the Gulf of Finland were often cited as
1026-503: The Summer Garden were ripped from the ground and lying in rows, roots upward." When the waters receded 569 people were dead, with thousands more injured or made ill – more than 300 buildings had been washed away. The 1824 inundation is the setting for Alexander Pushkin 's famous poem, The Bronze Horseman (1834). Other disastrous floods took place in 1777 and 1924. One of the most recent floods occurred on 18–19 October 1998, when
1083-469: The Treaty of Turkmenchay negotiations. There, thinking to devote himself to literature, he started work on a romantic drama, A Georgian Night ( Russian : Грузинская ночь , Gruzinskaya noch ), based on Georgian legends. Alexander Griboyedov's education was not only extensive, continuing into doctoral work before shifting to military training, but had included musical study as well. Although producing only
1140-487: The 1990s; it resumed many years later and finally ended in 2011. The main benefit that most people cite is not flood control but rather improved traffic flow, as the dam completes the Saint Petersburg Ring Road . Saint Petersburg suffers from frequent floods (more than 340 in recorded history), some being natural disasters . It is situated on drained marshlands, isles and lowlands in the estuary of
1197-472: The Baltic. When the waves reach the narrow and shallow Neva Bay, they become much higher, ultimately breaching the Neva embankments. The worst such flood occurred on 19 November 1824, when the water level rose 4.21 m (13.8 ft) above normal. The playwright Alexander Griboyedov wrote, "The embankments of the various canals had disappeared and all the canals had united into one. Hundred-year-old trees in
SECTION 20
#17327766501111254-619: The Oxford University Press, and a variation was used by the British Library to catalogue publications acquired up to 1975. The Library of Congress system (ALA-LC) is used for newer acquisitions. The BGN/PCGN system is relatively intuitive for Anglophones to read and pronounce. In many publications, a simplified form of the system is used to render English versions of Russian names, typically converting ë to yo , simplifying -iy and -yy endings to -y , and omitting apostrophes for ъ and ь . It can be rendered using only
1311-526: The Russian legation in Persia , and transferred to Georgia . He possessed musical talent, played the piano and composed several waltzes. Only two of his waltzes survive to the present day, although it is recorded that he composed several, including vaudevilles in association with stage plays. He is best known for his literary compositions and poetic verses. His verse comedy The Young Spouses (Russian: Молодые супруги , Molodye Suprugi ), loosely based on
1368-832: The aftermath of the Russo–Persian War of 1826–1828 and the humiliating Treaty of Turkmenchay , there was strong anti-Russian sentiment in Persia. Upon arrival in Tehran, the Order of the Lion and the Sun was conferred on him. Soon after Griboyedov's arrival, a mob stormed the Russian embassy . The incident began when an Armenian eunuch escaped from the harem of the Persian shah , and at
1425-427: The ambassador's remains to Tiflis (now Tbilisi ). Griboyedov was buried there, in the monastery of St. David ( Mtatsminda Pantheon ). When Nino, Griboyedov's widow, received news of his death she gave premature birth to a child who died a few hours later. Nino lived another thirty years, rejecting all suitors and winning universal admiration for her fidelity to her husband's memory. In a move to compensate Russia for
1482-569: The attack and the death of its ambassador, the Shah sent his grandson Khosrow Mirza to Saint Petersburg to avoid another war with Tsar Nicholas I . The Shah also gifted to the Tsar the Shah Diamond . Russian sources claim that British agents, who feared Russian influence in Tehran, and Persian reactionaries, who were not satisfied with the Treaty of Turkmenchay, were responsible for inciting
1539-622: The basic letters and punctuation found on English-language keyboards: no diacritics or unusual letters are required, although the interpunct character (·) may be used to avoid ambiguity. This particular standard is part of the BGN/PCGN romanization system which was developed by the United States Board on Geographic Names and by the Permanent Committee on Geographical Names for British Official Use . The portion of
1596-558: The cause of Neva flooding, but scientists now understand the more complex hydrometeorological chain of events behind it. A low-pressure region in the North Atlantic moves onshore, giving rise to cyclonic lows on the Baltic Sea . The low pressure of the cyclone draws greater-than-normal quantities of water into the virtually landlocked Baltic. As the cyclone continues inland, long low-frequency seiche waves are established in
1653-477: The city and several thousand Persians encircled the Russian compound demanding their release. Soon after, urged on by the mullahs, the mob stormed the building. A high-ranking Muslim scholar, Mirza Masih Astarabadi, issued a fatwa saying that freeing Muslim women from the claws of unbelievers is allowed. Griboyedov and other members of his mission had prepared for a siege and sealed all the windows and doors. Armed and in full uniform, they were resolved to defend to
1710-459: The city of Kronstadt ), then turns east toward Cape Lisiy Nos near Sestroretsk . The complex is intended to protect Saint Petersburg from storm surges by separating the Neva Bay from the rest of the Gulf of Finland . The dam's tunnel also serves as the final leg of the Saint Petersburg Ring Road . The northern and southern parts of the dam act like two giant bridges, providing access from
1767-427: The city's streets and bazaars, to cries of celebration. It was eventually abandoned on a garbage heap after three days of ill-treatment by the mob, such that in the end it could be identified only by a duelling injury to a finger. The following June, Griboyedov's friend Alexander Pushkin , travelling through the southern Caucasus, encountered some men from Tehran leading an oxcart. The men told Pushkin they were conveying
Saint Petersburg Dam - Misplaced Pages Continue
1824-468: The complex, a part of a larger effort to clean the water in Neva Bay. The dam passes through the historic Northern Forts of Kronstadt , which is a World Heritage Site . 59°59′32″N 29°41′46″E / 59.99222°N 29.69611°E / 59.99222; 29.69611 Romanization of Russian The romanization of the Russian language (the transliteration of Russian text from
1881-437: The dam, part of a larger program to clean the water in the Neva Bay. The dam spans the Gulf of Finland , with the island of Kotlin (Kronstadt) at its centre. It extends for 25.4 km (15.8 mi) and stands 8 m (26 ft) above sea level. It incorporates two large openings for shipping, which can be closed when floods threaten. Construction began in 1979 but stalled in the Russian political and economic upheavals of
1938-402: The dam. Damming an estuary and altering its flow pattern generates a number of physical and biological impacts; the disruption of the normal flow obstructs natural current and affects the water's habitat. The 60 canals and rivers that flow through Saint Petersburg will all discharge into the dammed area. Currently the Neva's water is good enough to serve as a source for drinking water. To address
1995-440: The dam. The project was designed and implemented by over 100 scientific and design institutions, construction companies and suppliers of materials and equipment. Opponents have raised concerns and staged demonstrations during construction of the dam. The main concerns relate to water quality and impact on historically significant sites. Dam's opponents fear that the dam will constrain water flow, accumulating polluted water inside
2052-425: The exact year unknown, with biographers debating whether it was in 1790 or 1795. He received a master's degree in philology from Moscow University , and subsequently enrolled in the doctorate program. In 1812, he quit the program and enrolled in the military. He obtained a commission in a hussar regiment, which he resigned in 1816. The next year, he entered the civil service . In 1818 he was appointed secretary of
2109-424: The first to be shot to death; the fate of the two Armenian women remains unknown. Second secretary of the mission Karl Adelung and, in particular, a young doctor whose name is not known, fought hard, but soon the scene was one of butchered, decapitated corpses. Griboyedov's body, thrown from a window, was decapitated by a kebab vendor who displayed the head on his stall. The mob dragged the uniformed corpse through
2166-466: The flood level of 1.6 masl according to the Baltic system of coordinates. This prevented what would have been the 309th flood in the recorded history of the city, saving some 1.3 billion roubles of projected damage. The construction of the flood prevention complex started in 1978 and became one of the longest construction projects in Russia. After a protracted halt in the 1990s and early 2000s, construction
2223-496: The introduction of a dedicated Latin alphabet for writing the Russian language. Such an alphabet would not necessarily bind closely to the traditional Cyrillic orthography. The transition from Cyrillic to Latin has been proposed several times throughout history (especially during the Soviet era), but was never conducted on a large scale, except for informal romanizations in the computer era. The most serious possibility of adoption of
2280-527: The last drop of blood. Although small in number, the Cossack detachment assigned to protect the legation held off the mob for over an hour until finally being driven back to Griboyedov's office. There, Griboyedov and the Cossacks resisted until the mob broke through the roof of the building, and then through the ceiling, to slaughter them. The escaped eunuch and Griboyedov, who fought with his sword, were among
2337-414: The life of a literary hero—ultimately writing a number of narratives featuring him as an essential character—but indeed Griboyedov saw himself as a hero and his life as a narrative. Although there is not a literary artifact to prove this, by examining Griboyedov's letters and dispatches, one is able to build a historical narrative that fits the literary and behavioural paradigms of his time and that reads like
Saint Petersburg Dam - Misplaced Pages Continue
2394-472: The likes of Mikhail Glinka , and had routine salons at his residence which were attended by many musical luminaries of his time, although relatively minor in the contemporary decade, including Vladimir Odoevsky , Alexander Alyabyev , Mikhail Vielgorsky , and Alexey Verstovsky . Out of work as a composer, only two compositions survive to the present, those being his two waltzes in A-flat major and E minor. He
2451-437: The mainland to Kotlin Island and Kronstadt. Historically, storm surges from the gulf have caused over 300 floods of varying severity within the city, some with devastating effects. The dam has the capability to protect the city from water rising up to 5 m (16 ft). Its first use to hold back the incoming Baltic water into Neva Bay on 28 November 2011 resulted in a water rise of 1.3 meters above sea level (masl) , below
2508-661: The mob. According to George Bournoutian, the Tsar and General Paskevich likely did not greatly regret the loss of Griboyedov, who held liberal beliefs and favored autonomy for Christians in Transcaucasia. The Russo–Turkish War of 1828–29 might have been another reason for the Russian inaction. His wife had written on his tombstone in Tiflis: “Your mind and works are immortal in Russian memory, but why has my love outlived you?" Author Angela Brintlinger has said that "not only did Griboyedov's contemporaries conceive of his life as
2565-484: The new system and the old one, citizens who wanted to retain the old version of a name's transliteration, especially one that had been in the old pre-2010 passport, could apply to the local migration office before they acquired a new passport. The standard was abandoned in 2013. In 2013, Order No. 320 of the Federal Migration Service of Russia came into force. It states that all personal names in
2622-459: The passports must be transliterated by using the ICAO system , which is published in Doc 9303 " Machine Readable Travel Documents, Part 3 ". The system differs from the GOST R 52535.1-2006 system in two things: ц is transliterated into ts (as in pre-2010 systems), ъ is transliterated into ie (a novelty). In a second sense, the romanization or Latinization of Russian may also indicate
2679-479: The problem of water pollution, the city's government adopted a plan to upgrade the city's sewage system to limit the amount of untreated wastewater release to less than 0.1%. The measures being taken seem to be quite efficient – after the launch of the modern long-awaited South-West Wastewater Treatment Plant in 2006 the amount of biological and phosphate waste is expected to be lowered by 60% and 25%, respectively. Over 30 water purification installations are placed around
2736-443: The same time two enslaved Armenian women escaped from the harem of the Shah's son-in-law. All three sought refuge at the Russian legation. As agreed in the Treaty of Turkmenchay , Georgians and Armenians living in Persia at that time were permitted to move to Russian-controlled Georgia and Eastern Armenia . However, the Shah demanded that Griboyedov return the three escapees. Griboyedov refused. His decision caused an uproar throughout
2793-410: The system for bibliographic cataloguing requires some diacritics, two-letter tie characters , and prime marks. The standard is also often adapted as a "simplified" or "modified Library of Congress system" for use in text for a non-specialized audience, omitting the special characters and diacritics, simplifying endings, and modifying iotated initials. British Standard 2979:1958 is the main system of
2850-502: The system pertaining to the Russian language was adopted by BGN in 1944 and by PCGN in 1947. In Soviet international passports , transliteration was based on French rules but without diacritics and so all names were transliterated in a French-style system . In 1997, with the introduction of new Russian passports , a diacritic-free English-oriented system was established by the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs , but
2907-447: The system was also abandoned in 2010. In 2006, GOST R 52535.1-2006 was adopted, which defines technical requirements and standards for Russian international passports and introduces its own system of transliteration. In 2010, the Federal Migration Service of Russia approved Order No. 26, stating that all personal names in the passports issued after 2010 must be transliterated using GOST R 52535.1-2006. Because of some differences between
SECTION 50
#17327766501112964-475: The water level rose to 2.2 m (7.2 ft). For years, prominent scientists and statesmen of imperial Russia developed various plans for flood protection, and the Soviet Union implemented the idea. The flood of 1955 finally made it clear that the city needed a protective dam. Many options were considered before the Soviet government decided on a 25.4 km (15.8 mi) complex of 11 dams, including
3021-575: The weaknesses of the rest. His words echo the outcry of the young generation in the lead-up to the Decembrist revolt of 1825. In Russia for the summer of 1823, Griboyedov completed the play and took it to Saint Petersburg. It was rejected by the censors. Many copies were made and privately circulated, but Griboyedov never saw it published. After his death the manuscript was jointly owned by his wife Nina Alexandrovna Griboyedova and his sister Maria Sergeyevna Durnovo (Griboyedova) . The first edition
3078-497: Was amended by newer Russian GOST R 52290-2004 (tables Г.4, Г.5), the romanizations in both the standards are practically identical. ISO/R 9, established in 1954 and updated in 1968, was the adoption of the scientific transliteration by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). It covers Russian and seven other Slavic languages. ISO 9:1995 is the current transliteration standard from ISO. It
3135-476: Was not published until 1833, four years after his death. Only once did he see it on the stage, when it was performed by the officers of the garrison at Yerevan . Soured by disappointment, he returned to Georgia. During the Russo-Persian War of 1826–1828 , he put his linguistic expertise at the service of general Ivan Paskevich , a relative. After this, he was sent to Saint Petersburg where he worked on
3192-631: Was on 12 August 2011. The entire project cost roughly 109 billion rubles ($ 3.85 billion), and resulted in a series of eleven separate dams measuring 25 kilometres (16 mi) across the Gulf of Finland . Built into the structure are two openings to allow ships to pass through, six gates that can be closed to hold back water, and about 30 facilities for purifying water flowing into the gulf. It took 42 hm (55,000,000 cu yd ) of stone and soil, 2 hm (2,600,000 cu yd) of reinforced concrete and about 100,000 tonnes (110,000 short tons ) of steel structures and other materials to build
3249-444: Was resumed in 2005 due to the intervention of Russia's President Vladimir Putin , a native of Saint Petersburg. Putin finally inaugurated the finished complex in 2011, when all the facilities at the southern part of the dam were completed, along with the 1.2 km (0.75 mi) long underwater roadway tunnel below the main southern lock, the longest undersea tunnel in Russia. Over 30 water purification installations are placed around
#110889