Video: Adventures on the scale of the Russian Empire: legendary swindlers of the early 20th century
2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55
The beginning of the 20th century in the Russian Empire was marked by the emergence of all kinds of swindlers and schemers. And women among them played an important role. Sonya Zolotaya Ruchka, Olga von Stein and Maria Tarnovskaya glorified themselves with high-profile deeds and major adventures. Despite the fact that their activities are not at all worthy of imitation, the names of these women have remained in history.
She had extraordinary artistic abilities, a passion for adventure and money, Sonka the Goldhand became famous for her adventures for several decades. The life of this legendary thief formed the basis of novels, films. There is no exact information about the origin of Sofia Ivanovna Bluestein, since she to some extent falsified the facts of her biography. It is only known that this lady, being at the very bottom of the underworld, knew German and French, played the piano and could easily transform into the images she needed. When Sonya went to jewelry stores, no one had any doubts that they were a socialite. While the thief was examining the jewelry, the sellers were distracted by the "necessary" people, and voila, the diamonds immediately turned out to be stuck under Sonya's long nails. There are several versions about the death of the Golden Hand: some believe that the famous thief died of illness in exile on Sakhalin. others claim to have seen her after her release in Odessa, and still others believe that Sonya ended her days living with her daughters in Moscow.
Probably, the scandalous fame of the Golden Hand haunted many adventurers who tried to repeat her "exploits". One of them Olga von Stein it succeeded. While Sonya was in exile, this lady arranged grandiose adventures, fell in love with many men, ran criminal gangs in St. Petersburg and not only. Several times Olga von Stein was tried, sent to hard labor, but each time she managed to fall in love with one of the chiefs and not sit for the entire term assigned to her, or even not reach the places of punishment at all. Whatever titles, thanks to numerous marriages, Olga von Stein did not acquire, in whatever countries she lived, she always had to arrange machinations that seemed to feed her passionate nature.
Another iconic figure in the Russian criminal world of the early 20th century Maria Tarnovskaya was considered the most insidious and bloodthirsty of all the ladies of this craft. This lady, née Maria O'Rourke, was of noble birth. She was possessed by a passion for publicity and profit. It is said that Mary was cruel to her many lovers. There is a known case when the Countess set a condition to her young admirer Vladimir Shtahl: she would spend the night with him if he commits suicide the next day, having insured her life in advance for 50 thousand rubles in her favor. Stahl accomplished all of this. In addition, Maria Tarnovskaya loved to extinguish cigarettes about her lovers, forced them to make tattoos with her name on their bodies, and pit them against each other. Almost every of her novels was associated with some kind of large monetary fraud. Lovers could not resist the charms of the insidious seductress and carried out all her adventures. Nevertheless, over time, Maria Tarnovskaya was sentenced to 8 years in exile for the salt industry. Women rulers were also not all merciful and fair. Stories are known personalities whose names have become synonymous with cruelty and ruthlessness.
Recommended:
Legendary archaeological adventurers of the early twentieth century, whose adventures would have been the envy of Indiana Jones himself
When the first film about Indiana Jones was released in 1981, interest in archeology increased many times over. What was previously associated with endless excavation of ceramic shards, through the prism of adventure, suddenly turned into something fun and exciting. Despite the fact that modern archaeologists are skeptical about the actions that take place in the film, history knows several names of men and women of the same profession, whose thirst for adventure can be compared to Indiana John
Early 20th Century African Fashion: Archival Photos of Women in Pantsuits
Fashion is cyclical, which is why it is so interesting to look for things in the past that still look modern today. Among the archival photographs from the new exhibition at the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art, there are several images that will surely surprise even viewers with knowledge of fashion and style. They depict Swahili women in unusual outfits - pantsuits with lush ruffles and flounces
What the Russian Empire did to tame the Ottoman Empire: the Russian-Turkish wars
Since the 16th century, Russia has regularly fought the Ottoman Empire. The reasons for the military conflicts were different: the attempts of the Turks on the possessions of the Russians, the struggle for the Black Sea region and the Caucasus, the desire to control the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles. Rarely did it take more than 20 years from the end of one war to the start of the next. And in the overwhelming number of clashes, of which there were officially 12, citizens of the Russian Empire emerged victorious. Here are some episodes
The collector has collected a unique archive of photographs about life in the Ottoman Empire in the late 19th - early 20th centuries
In 1964, the Frenchman Pierre de Jigorde first came to Istanbul, and was fascinated by this city. He was engaged in trade, and also bought old photographs from local residents and collectors. As a result, he became the owner of a unique archive, the photographs of which date from 1853 to 1930. In total, there are 6,000 photographs in his collection, the names of the authors of which are forever lost. Recently, a significant part of this archive was made publicly available on the Internet
A look into the past: color photographs of the Russian Empire at the beginning of the 20th century
A Russian photographer, a chemist by education, Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorsky remained in history as the author of the most magnificent photographs of the Russian Empire in 1909-1912. Sergei Mikhailovich used a complex method of shooting with the help of several plates, as a result of which he obtained color photographs - almost magic for that time