Famous Russians

Russia is the largest country in the world. It is almost twice the size of Canada and also has more than 4 times the population of Canada. So there is a large list of important people who are associated with Russia. For a long time Russia has been a multicultural country, and many people of different ethnicity contributed to its culture. Influential Russians that I will talk about include politicians, famous sports stars, and scientists.

There have been 40 rulers in Russia since 1533. Vladimir Lenin was a Russian revolutionary, a communist politician, and the leader of the Soviet Union from 1917 to 1924. He was named by Time Magazine as one of the 100 most influential people of the 20^th century. Lenin’s speeches and writings were highly regarded by his successors and followers.  Joseph Stalin became the dictator of the Soviet Union in 1924. At the end of the 1930s Stalin launched the Great Purges, which executed millions of people who were suspected of being a threat to the communist party.

Russia has had a lot of good athletes, most of them being hockey players. Maria Sharapova and Anna Kournikova are famous tennis players who are Russians. Maria Sharapova turned pro in 2001 and since then she has won 3 Grand Slam titles. In 2005 Maria won the Master of Sports of Russia award along with the Women’s Tennis Association’s player of the year award. Andrei Kirilenko also is a Russian who now plays in the NBA for the Utah Jazz. When Kirilenko was 16 he became the youngest player ever to compete in the Russian Superleague. After spending two seasons with his hometown team, the Spartak Saint Petersburg, he joined the CSKA Moscow team in 1998. In his first season there he helped his new team win the Russian Superleague championship. At age 18, Kirilenko became the youngest European player at that time to be drafted in the NBA, when the Utah Jazz selected him as the 24th pick in the draft.

Dmitri Mendeleev was a Russian chemist and inventor. He was credited for being the creator of the first version of the periodic table of elements. Dmitri arranged the 63 known elements into the table based on their atomic mass and he also predicted 3 yet-to-be discovered elements. Alexander Oparin was a Russian biochemist notable for his contributions to the theory of the origin of life. Alexander is sometimes called the Darwin of the 20^th century because he has written 6 books all on the origin of life.

Influential Russians include politicians, famous sports stars, and scientists. Russia has had a long history and it has survived that long history thanks to the help of the people there that have used their influential power, sports skills and smarts to get them through it.