The most famous women of Russia
Our native country is wide, its open spaces are great... How many brilliant poets, writers, warriors and female athletes history has given us!
Let's try to make a rating of famous and famous women in Russia, who through their activities changed the world for the better and influenced the course of history.
- Princess Olga became famous thanks to her reforms, which became a turning point in the history of Rus'. To this day, our contemporaries admire her decisive actions, and even in history textbooks a separate chapter is dedicated to the consideration of her life. After visiting Constantinople, the princess was the first in Rus' to convert to Christianity. It was she who contributed to the spread of Christian commandments among the common people. The princess has been canonized by the Orthodox Church, and the Order of the Holy Princess Olga has even been established in Ukraine.
- Ekaterina Vorontsova-Dashkova. Maid of honor and confidante of Empress Catherine II. She took an active part in the coup d'etat of 1762, actually changing the course of the history of the Russian state. She also made a significant contribution to the spread of literacy among the peasant people. It is to Vorontsova that we owe the appearance of the letter “e” in the alphabet.
- Under Catherine the Great, the state's borders were significantly expanded in several directions at once. The Empress skillfully controlled the guards thanks to her rare charm. She was smart and educated, well versed in politics and science. She actively promoted the spread of literacy, encouraged the nobility, and was generous to her favorites. During her reign, the state rose from its knees after a period of long palace coups.
The Greatest Monarchs
Women have played an important role in the history of states. They managed to govern the state no worse than men. They were feared and obeyed. The biography of each of them is inseparable from the fate of the country and is closely intertwined with it.
Princess Olga is the first female ruler of Rus'. After the massacre of her husband Igor by the Drevlyans, she took his throne and not only kept the state unified, but also significantly expanded its boundaries. She accepted Christianity and began to spread it in Rus'.
Despite her domineering and tough management style, the people considered her wise and fair. A reform of the financial system was carried out, and stone construction began in cities. After her death, the church canonized Olga. Throughout history, only 5 Christian women have been awarded this honor.
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Eleanor of Aquitaine - Queen of France. When she was 15 years old, after the death of all her male relatives, the girl inherited the Duchy of Aquitaine. Her guardian was the King of France, Louis the Fat.
After her wedding to his son and the death of Louis himself, Eleanor became the French queen. However, the marriage soon broke up, and the woman got married and became the wife of Henry of Anjou. As a result, the Duchy of Aquitaine, in the form of a bride's dowry, became part of England. According to some historians, it was these two marriages that later led to the beginning of the Hundred Years' War.
Catherine II is the Empress of the Russian Empire, who ruled at the end of the 18th century. She was the wife of Peter III. However, not wanting to spend the rest of her life in a monastery, she decided to take power into her own hands through a palace coup.
Her reign went down in history as the “age of enlightenment.” The Empress established contacts with French educators, and also collected paintings, was interested in literature, and was involved in philanthropy. During her reign, the territory of Russia expanded to include the Caucasus, Crimea, and some parts of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Margaret Thatcher went down in history as the “Iron Lady”. The woman worked in this position for 11 years. During this time, she managed to triple the economy, carry out reforms and make Great Britain the leading country in Europe.
Prominent relatives of Ivan the Terrible
There are many famous women in the history of the Middle Ages. For example, Elena Glinskaya, mother of the infamous Russian Tsar Ivan the Terrible. It is also considered the mother of Russian artillery. She encouraged the development of science and writing in every possible way. But her main act was the creation of the Streletsky and Pushkarsky orders in Russia, which laid the foundation for the formation of artillery regiments.
Sofia Paleolog is a famous Russian woman, Grand Duchess of Moscow, mother of Vasily the Third and grandmother of Ivan the Terrible. Thanks to her, Russia has a double-headed eagle on its coat of arms, Moscow acquired the Kremlin, and the people acquired the infamous library of Ivan the Fourth.
Mata Hari
Mata Hari is one of the most famous historical figures. She was a very beautiful woman of Dutch descent who led an immoral lifestyle as an exotic dancer and courtesan. During World War I, she was allegedly a double agent, spying for both France and Germany. Although she did not confess and denied all charges, she was still found guilty and executed in 1917. It was then that the public began to wonder whether she was really guilty or not, many rumors began to circulate, and this is how this woman became famous. It is still not clear whether she was a spy or not.
Women Nobel laureates
The Nobel Prize is the world's most prestigious award for scientists and artists. Awarded for truly outstanding discoveries that can once and for all change the course of history and put the entire planet on edge. Famous women of the world have repeatedly become laureates and winners of the award.
- Marie Skłodowska-Curie is a famous female chemist and physicist. Twice Nobel Prize winner in physics and chemistry. Her research shed light on the nature of radiation. She discovered and studied the properties of the elements radium and polonium. The death of this woman was a tragic consequence of her work: Maria never wore protection when working with radioactive elements and died at a relatively young age from leukemia.
- Selma Ottilie Lovisa Lagerlöf is a Swedish writer, organizer of the pacifist movement and author of science and educational books for children. She became the first woman to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature. Selma’s main and most popular work is “The Amazing Journey of Nils Holgersson through Sweden.”
- Irène Joliot-Curie is a French woman who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry together with F. Joliot “For the synthesis of new radioactive elements.” Eldest daughter of Marie Skłodowska-Curie. Irene, alas, like her mother, died of leukemia due to constant prolonged contact with radioactive elements, the influence of which provokes oncology.
- Grazia Delleda is a writer, author of the novel “Honest Souls” and a number of other world-famous literary works, winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature.
Marie Curie
Marie Curie is a woman out of her era. Born in 1867 in Poland, she was a genius in physics and chemistry. Curie was the first to receive a Nobel Prize, and she is also the only woman in history to receive two Nobel Prizes. The list of her achievements is very long; this amazing person made many discoveries that moved humanity one step forward in its development. She was the first to conduct research in the field of radioactivity, the term itself was coined by Curie.
Female gender and science
In addition to the well-known Marie Curie, there are less famous women in the world of science. However, this does not detract from the importance of their discoveries and research. The merits of many of them have never received due recognition and appreciation.
An ordinary Englishwoman, Rosalind Franklin, worked for many years in a biophysics laboratory. It is to her that the world owes the discovery of the structure of DNA. Rosalind's precise laboratory experiments and her x-ray imaging of DNA, which demonstrated the convoluted structure, made the work so significant. In 1962, he received the Nobel Prize for the discovery of DNA. Alas, Rosalind died three years earlier from cancer, and the prize is not awarded posthumously.
The first German woman professor, Lise Meitner, studied physics along with the largest scientific luminaries in Europe. She made a huge contribution to the study of the atomic nucleus, but was not even nominated for a Nobel Prize for her services. Element 109 of the periodic table, meitnerium, was named in honor of Liz.
Mary Anne Cotton, England's first serial killer
She became the first serial killer in English history. No one will ever know how many ruined souls were on her conscience. It is reliably known that she poisoned 10 of her own children, 5 stepchildren, 4 husbands, 1 lover and her own mother with arsenic. And all this for the purpose of enrichment. Each of her husbands left her a decent inheritance.
Mary Ann Cotton Source: Pinterest
In addition to everything, the woman openly led a dissolute life, met with several lovers, became pregnant, and as soon as she received money from insurance companies, she easily got rid of unnecessary people. The killer was detained after an autopsy of one of her victims revealed arsenic, which was the cause of death.
The executioner who supervised the hanging of the criminal deliberately prolonged the torment of the condemned woman by “forgetting” to knock out the stool from under her feet.
The most famous Olympic champions
Larisa Latynina: 9 gold medals, 5 silver, 4 bronze. Soviet gymnast, Honored Master of Sports. Has the absolute majority of Olympic medals.
Bridget Schmidt-Fischer has 8 gold and 4 silver medals. Considered the best canoeist of all time. In terms of the number of Olympic medals won by a woman, she is second only to Larisa Latynina.
Jenny Thompson is a ten-time Olympic champion. Has 8 gold, 3 silver and 1 bronze medals. US-born Thomson is the world's most famous female swimmer.
Vera Caslavska is a gymnast originally from Czechoslovakia. She won 7 gold and 4 silver medals during her sports career.
Lyubov Egorova is a world famous skier. During her sports career she won six Olympic gold medals. Honored Master of Sports of Russia, multiple world champion. Hero of the Russian Federation “For outstanding achievements in sports, courage and heroism shown at the XVII Winter Olympic Games in 1994.” Egorova is one of the most famous women in Russia. Married, has two adult sons.
The Magical Worlds of JK Rowling
This modest Englishwoman never thought of connecting her life with a writing career. As a child, she had a hard time with her mother’s illness. Her studies at school were not going well, and her first husband and father of her daughter kicked them out onto the street after a quarrel. Lonely and unemployed, Joan gained popularity overnight when the publisher released her first novel about the adventures of the boy wizard Harry Potter.
Today, Rowling is the owner of a multimillion-dollar fortune and is included in the list of the most famous and famous women in Great Britain.
Maria Tarnovskaya, insidious and bloodthirsty
She is considered the most dangerous, insidious, cynical and bloodthirsty of all Russian criminal ladies.
Aristocrat, daughter of Earl O'Rourke, who was related to the Stuart kings. She always went over her head and was pathologically cruel to her lovers: her 22-year-old admirer Vladimir Stahl committed suicide near the Kyiv anatomical theater after a night with the fatal beauty. Maria Nikolaevna set a condition for young Stahl - immediately after the night with her, he had to commit suicide, having previously insured his life for 50 thousand rubles in her favor. Vladimir swore this on the grave of Tarnovskaya’s mother and kept his promise. But this was far from the only nightmare episode. She did all sorts of things: she extinguished cigarettes on her lovers’ hands, and forced them to tattoo her name, and pitted them against their previous lovers.
Maria Tarnovskaya Source: Pinterest
At first, she squandered the money (80 thousand) of her lover Donat Prilukov, a once talented lawyer and exemplary family man, in South Palmyra, but as soon as the funds ran out, Maria Nikolaevna came up with a new criminal plan. A wealthy widower, Count Komarovsky, came into her field of vision, who, of course, could not resist Tarnovskaya’s charms. Count Komarovsky introduced Maria Nikolaevna to his friend, provincial secretary Nikolai Naumov, who became another link in the criminal chain. Tarnovskaya forced the 23-year-old boy to become the killer of his older comrade: 500 thousand rubles were at stake. Maria Nikolaevna hoped to get away with it, but that was not the case: the unfortunate killer told the police the true motives of the crime. Tarnovskaya, Prilukov and the Swiss Elisa Perrier, privy to the essence of the matter, ended up in the dock. Justice has prevailed. There was a jury trial, more like a theatrical performance, Marya Nikolaevna once again tried to portray herself as a victim: “Am I really the adventurer, criminal, murderer that they portray me as? If I am not a competitor for the prize for virtue, then everyone will at least be convinced that I am a sick, weak woman, and not a shrew and a demonic nature.” But the jury was deaf to Tarnovskaya’s complaints: she was sentenced to 8 years of correctional labor in the salt mines. Not much is known about the further fate of the insidious adventuress: they say that a millionaire fell in love with her and took her to America. However, whether this is true or not is unclear; after all, it concerns an adventurer.
The Hard Way of Margaret Mitchell
The author of the cult novel Gone with the Wind has come a long way before becoming a world-famous writer. She worked as a journalist, then as a leading reporter. The first marriage failed; while in her second marriage, Margaret suffered an ankle injury that was incompatible with her work as a journalist. She had to settle at home. Occupy yourself with previously despised household chores.
Sitting at home, she wrote one novel for ten years. This is how the now iconic book “Gone with the Wind” was released. In 1937, the novel received the Pulitzer Prize. Despite tearful requests from fans to write another novel or a sequel about the life of Scarlett's children, Margaret never began working on new works.
Astrid Lindgren: fairy tales for children and more
Lindgren Astrid Anna Emilia is a Swedish writer, author of more than 10 story books for children. Her works are imbued with fantasy, warmth and kindness. Pippi Longstocking, Carlson - these characters were born on the pages of her works. Her stories have been translated into 70 languages and published in more than 100 countries. In the Soviet Union, many children grew up reading fairy tales about Carlson and Pippi; these books were filmed more than once, and popular cartoons were produced based on them.
In her home country (Sweden), Astrid is a living legend. She inspired with her example and consoled more than one generation of readers, and took part in the political life of the country. On the day of her death, national mourning was declared.
Indira Gandhi
“Country of the Moon” is how Indira’s name is translated. Contrary to legends, she is not a daughter or even a relative of Mahatma (Master) Gandhi, but her father, Jawaharlal Nehru, was one of his closest associates. The entire family of young Indira took part in the liberation struggle of India, in the destruction of patriarchal orders and the removal of caste restrictions. Contrary to class prejudices (in India they are still stronger than any laws), Indira married Feroz Gandhi, who professes Zoroastrianism. The marriage led them to prison, but love turned out to be stronger. Even the birth of two sons did not prevent Indira from actively participating in the political life of the country. In 1964, she became the Prime Minister of India and, with minor interruptions, remained in power for twenty years. She developed the country, eliminated dependence on food imports, built schools, factories, factories. She was killed by political opponents.
«You cannot shake hands with clenched fists
».
The most famous actresses in the world
Speaking about famous women of the world, it would be strange not to touch upon cinema. Beautiful actresses have captured their film images for centuries. Fans will be looking at their photographs for decades to come and discussing their star roles and the names of famous female actresses.
Vivien Leigh, Grace Kelly, Sophia Loren, Marilyn Monroe, Marlene Dietrich, Audrey Hepburn, Ava Gardner... Films with the participation of all these actresses will be watched for decades to come. Meanwhile, many of them had a sad fate and a thorny path to glory.
Marilyn Monroe and Mr President
Norma Jeane (real name Marilyn) had a successful career before meeting future US President John F. Kennedy. Their romance was long and stormy, but politics demanded complete dedication from John. The image of Marilyn - a frivolous, stupid and sexy blonde - was inappropriate and harmed Kennedy’s reputation. Evil tongues claim that he never loved Marilyn, an affair with her was just another way of self-affirmation.
At the age of 36, the most famous blonde woman committed suicide by swallowing pills due to an unsuccessful love for Kennedy. There are still rumors that it was not suicide, but a planned murder. We will never know the truth.
Ada Lovelace (1815-1852)
When looking at this beautiful Englishwoman in a fluffy dress with a crinoline, it is impossible to guess that she was a brilliant mathematician and the first programmer in Great Britain. Augusta Ada King, Countess of Lovelace, was born on December 10, 1815 in London. Her father was the famous poet and founder of romanticism in literature, George Byron, and her mother was Anna Isabella Milbank. Perhaps Ada could have become a great writer, but the girl’s parents divorced when she was only a month old. Then Lord Byron did not show his characteristic gallantry. Having signed the divorce papers, he left England forever, and his mother returned to social life, leaving her daughter without attention.
As a child, Ada was often sick. She was tormented by constant attacks of headaches, accompanied by deteriorating vision, and after suffering from measles, she remained paralyzed for a long time. However, all this did not stop the girl’s mind from developing at incredible speed. She loved mathematics and even got excited about the idea of learning to fly. But unlike other children, little Lovelace stubbornly decided to bring her fantasy to life with the help of science. In her free time, Ada studied the anatomy of birds, looked for materials for pseudo-wings, and even thought about using steam traction.
The experiments stopped when, in 1833, Ada met the famous mathematician Charles Babbage. The professor was amazed by the girl's intelligence and invited her to look at the prototype of his difference machine. As a result, Ada became such good friends with her mentor that for nine months she translated his lectures and tried to explain the algorithm by which the analytical engine could calculate the Bernoulli number. In fact, Ada Lovelace, or as her colleagues nicknamed her “The Sorceress of Numbers,” described the work of a computer - artificial intelligence that can itself create formulas, music and paintings. Modern scientists still argue whether Ada Lovelace was the first computer scientist and programmer. However, the facts say that it was this lady who introduced the terms “work cell” and “cycle” into programming.
Vivien Leigh as an example of a dizzying career
The role of mother and wife was never enough for this woman. She wanted to be an actress, she wanted worldwide recognition. When her daughter was two years old, Vivienne starred in a cameo role in the film Things Are Looking Up. After that, there were dozens of roles in the theater, star roles with the best Hollywood directors, and two unsuccessful marriages.
Her biography is an example of determination, loyalty to a dream and perseverance. During her career, Vivien starred in 52 films, received an Oscar, and actively participated in theatrical productions. She died in 1967 from pulmonary tuberculosis.
Famous female models
In the middle of the last century, the fashionable profession of a model appeared. It consisted of demonstrating new styles of clothing on the catwalk. With the development of the media, and then the Internet, another prestigious and in-demand profession appeared - photo model.
Who doesn’t know the “five supermodels”: Naomi Campbell, Claudia Schiffer, Linda Evangelista, Cindy Crawford and Eva Herzigova? Their names will forever remain associated with the podium, fame and admiration of the most enviable men in the world. Every magazine was full of photos of famous female supermodels; the world's most famous photographers dreamed of taking them.
The biographies of these women after leaving the podium were quite successful. Cindy Crawford is now happily married and has two children, who are already taking their first steps in the modeling business.
Naomi Campbell - the “black panther”, as journalists nicknamed her - lives her life in the best places on the globe with the best men and does not deny herself anything. She is still actively invited as a guest star at fashion shows and for filming music videos. She leads an active social life.
Eva Herzigova is fluent in four languages. This allows her to move freely around the globe and not experience difficulties with communication. Eva also sought to make a career as an actress, but things did not work out. Now she is married and leads a quiet lifestyle.
Claudia Schiffer is the record holder for the number of magazine covers decorated with her face. More than 900 issues of fashion magazines invited her to shoot as a “cover star.” Today she is happily married, raising children and occasionally appears in German secular society.
Emmeline Pankhurst (1858-1929)
The name of this Englishwoman still evokes trembling, since no woman has fought for the rights of her sex with such obsession. Emily was born in Manchester into a family of political activists, so at the age of eight she became acquainted with the suffragette movement. Mother and father wanted a peaceful and quiet family life for their daughter, but the girl had her own plans for the future. After graduating from teacher training school in Paris, she married Richard Pankhurst, who for many years supported campaigns for women's suffrage. Emmeline gave birth to her wife five children, and only then took up her career, trying to break into the ranks of the left-wing Independent Labor Party. She was denied membership, so she whiled away her time on the board of trustees for the poor and harbored a grudge.
In 1903, after the death of her husband, Emmeline Pankhurst founded the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU). This activist organization also fought for women's voting rights and boasted the motto “Not in word, but in deed!” In fact, they greatly undermined the psyche of English society. Women under the auspices of Pankhurst insulted all political parties and were repeatedly sentenced to prison. Peaceful attempts to give British women the right to vote continued until loud threats at rallies escalated into looting. The leader of the movement and all members of the WSPU began with noisy protests under the windows of parliament, then disrupted the elections of the liberal party, spat in the faces of police officers and, to put it mildly, behaved wildly. During all the years of violent actions, Emmeline Pankhurst did not achieve what she wanted and ended her life in a nursing home. Despite this, her tenacity delighted many women even outside the UK and became a manifesto for modern feminism.
