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Famous Russians Quiz

Can you name these famous Russians, past and present?
Includes people who emigrated to other countries
Quiz by Quizmaster
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Featured Quiz
Last updated: December 22, 2019
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First submittedSeptember 7, 2012
Times taken22,200
Average score59.1%
Rating4.15
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Clue
Russian
First Premier of the USSR
V. I. Lenin
"Terrible" ruler and first tsar
Ivan the Terrible
"Great" tsar who built
St. Petersburg
Peter the Great
"Great” female tsar
Catherine the Great
Last tsar
Nicholas II
"War and Peace"
Leo Tolstoy
Chelsea football owner
Roman Abramovich
First post-Soviet Russian leader
Boris Yeltsin
First man to orbit Earth
Yuri Gagarin
Photogenic winner of 5 tennis
Grand Slam titles
Maria Sharapova
Made dogs salivate with a bell
Ivan Pavlov
"Lolita"
Vladimir Nabokov
Clue
Russian
"The Brothers Karamazov"
Fyodor Dostoevsky
Current President
Vladimir Putin
"Swan Lake"
Pyotr Tchaikovsky
"Mad Monk" who was hard to kill
Rasputin
All-time highest rated chess
player (until 2014)
Garry Kasparov
Soviet leader with a
famous birthmark
Mikhail Gorbachev
Famous male ballet dancer
who defected to France in 1961
Rudolf Nureyev
"The Rite of Spring"
Igor Stravinsky
Soviet leader who killed millions
of his own people
Joseph Stalin
Google cofounder
Sergey Brin
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61 Comments
HighFidelity
+1
Level 58
Dec 5, 2012
No Regina Spektor? :(
TheCrusher
+2
Level 71
Jan 25, 2018
Russian-born American... Does that really count on quizzes like this one?
dwo
+12
Level 94
Dec 5, 2012
Stalin wasn't Russian. He was Georgian.
BlendedCow
+7
Level 44
Dec 5, 2012
In the same way that Hitler wasn't German, he was Austrian.

Or someone else was Kenyan. ;)

dwo
+3
Level 94
Dec 7, 2012
Still believing that?
What
+1
Level 27
Dec 23, 2012
And Catherine the Great was 100% German too... I would at least include such things in a hint.
buck1017
+5
Level 78
Apr 13, 2014
Really? "Great" female tsar wasn't good enough for you? You know she's German, but couldn't get the answer without that little nugget? Come on...
QueenOfSpades
+1
Level 29
Jul 13, 2022
Well, what really defines nationality - where you are born, where you live, or which culture you are closest to? By looking purely from a genealogical standpoint, it gets really hard to tell what her nationality actually is.

If we just say, oh well she's Germany cause her parents and grandparents were German, then technically, the older members of the British royal are German too, since Queen Elizabeth I and even more so, Prince Charles have more "German" blood than English...

Onemario64
+1
Level 73
Nov 11, 2024
Stalin was born and raised in georgia, spoke georgian as a first language, had an accent his whole life and had policies to give georgia preference over other nationalities in the ussr. He was georgian
Quizmaster
+1
Level ∞
May 17, 2015
Can't he be both? Georgia was part of Russia at the time.
snix
+4
Level 55
Jul 7, 2015
Georgia was part of the Soviet Union, not Russia. MAJOR difference.
DonTheLamplighter
+7
Level 85
Aug 14, 2017
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was made up of 15 republics: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan. Of these, Russia was, by far, the largest one.

Saying that Stalin was Russian would be like saying that Bill Clinton was Alaskan, since Alaska is, by far, the largest state in the U.S.

And saying that Georgia was part of Russia would be like saying that Arkansas was part of Alaska.

Quizmaster
+10
Level ∞
Aug 14, 2017
@Don I'm sure you're smart enough to realize the difference. Alaska didn't annex the other 49 states into a country called the "Empire of Alaska".
Kahikatea
+4
Level 75
Aug 11, 2018
The Soviet Union was founded after Stalin was already an adult and living in Moscow. When he was born and grew up in Georgia, Georgia was part of the state of Russia.
JoanSR
+3
Level 75
Jan 28, 2020
It seems that many people remember Stalin was Georgian but nobody pointed out that Kasparov was born in Azerbajan and had very little appreciation for Russia.

And, to summarize the relationship between USSR and Russia:

- Intelligence is to know that they were not the same country.

- Wisdom is to know that they were the same country indeed.

MadameDegrassi
+1
Level 29
Dec 5, 2012
No Carl Marx?
piotrr
+4
Level 15
Dec 5, 2012
try harder
malchior
+6
Level 45
Dec 5, 2012
Karl Marx was German.
elcampeador
+4
Level 79
Mar 18, 2023
Sure, but what about Carl?
kal413
+1
Level 32
Dec 5, 2012
Can you accept Katherine?
Quizmaster
+2
Level ∞
May 17, 2015
Okay
FirefromtheEast
+3
Level 46
Dec 5, 2012
These names are so hard to spell.
pawelkrknh
+4
Level 32
Jul 22, 2015
Yeah, especially the English transcription is horribly complicated. For exaple I wonder why "Tchaikovsky" is not written like "Chaikovski" while "Abramovich" is not "Abramovitch" ("tch" and "ch" are represented by the same letter Ч in Russian). I'm not English speaking and I don't understand, my native transcription of Russian (Polish) makes more sense.
Ozchris
+2
Level 33
Dec 22, 2012
Yuppers, the spelling made it tough huh? Can't believe the Karl Marx comment! :) Even spelt it wrong.
Morgain
+3
Level 42
Aug 31, 2013
English spelling of russian (and all slavic) names never stops to amaze me..It's a bit frustrating to know the anwsers and not being able to gues how to spell them..
Thorvald
+1
Level 72
Jul 6, 2015
Have the same problem - always struggling with "how do they write it in this weird English transcription?" :)
kitshef
+2
Level 85
Jun 24, 2014
Seconding the comment that Magnus Carlsen is the highest rated chess player
sillie
+1
Level 76
Jun 27, 2014
I read it "Includes people who emigrated to other quizzes." Time for a break?
Terradraconum
+1
Level 33
Jul 29, 2014
Please accept Tolstoi. I tried several different ways of spelling it, but to no avail.
arrow1972
+6
Level 85
Aug 31, 2014
should include Mendeleev
fitheach
+1
Level 58
Jun 8, 2017
Why?
theperiodictable
+3
Level 47
Sep 28, 2019
ALWAYS SHOULD INCLUDE THE GOD THAT IS MENDELEEV I LOVE HIM I AM HIM
kalbahamut
+1
Level 81
Jul 6, 2015
couldn't spell swan lake guy and was getting very frustrated trying to spell baryshnikov.. but apparently that wasn't the answer.
ander217
+2
Level 74
Jul 7, 2015
I kept trying different spellings for Baryshnikov, too, but Wikipedia says he defected to Canada in 1974. Still, I should have gotten Nureyev. I remember when his defection was big news.
PrinceEric
+1
Level 56
Jul 6, 2015
I know that the letter "C" does not fit into the Russian language, but I couldn't stop friendly-ghosting Kasparov's name. Maybe an acceptable spelling, por favor?
LarryLovage
+1
Level 55
Jul 6, 2015
Wouldn't that be CaspErov?
Maladroit
+1
Level 51
Mar 20, 2017
Well...JetPunk is weird about area names in other languages. For instance, they tend to lean toward Myanmar (called Burma in the U.S.) but often accept Edinburg (Edinburgh in Scotland).
vorak
+2
Level 70
Mar 12, 2021
that isn't true buddy
domvog
+1
Level 79
Jul 6, 2015
Maria Sharapova has won 5 Grand Slam titles to date
Quizmaster
+1
Level ∞
Jul 7, 2015
Updated
redsplat
+1
Level 73
Jul 7, 2015
If you want to expand you could add: Ayn Rand (philosopher; author of Atlas Shrugged), Emma Goldman (famous anarchist: "If I can't dance, I don't want to be in your revolution"), Pussy Riot (feminist punk rock protest band), Mikhail Kalashnikov (inventor of the AK-47), Anna Chapman (spy arrested in 2010), Isaac Asimov (sci-fi writer, 'I, Robot'), Fabergé (jewelled eggs).
ander217
+2
Level 74
Jul 7, 2015
I didn't realize Asimov owns the company that makes my Roomba. ;) Other than Asimov, Faberge', and Rand, I never heard of the others you mentioned, therefore they must not be important. ;) ;)
BlackLab
+3
Level 66
Jul 7, 2015
Playwright who produced such plays as; The Seagull, Uncle Vanya, Three Sisters and The Cherry Orchard...
Samprasion
+1
Level 69
Jul 9, 2015
Jesus Christ, can people stop with the nitpicking. We've all made mistakes so don't pretend that you never have. I didn't know that humans could be so ugh.
PatoPotato
+1
Level 55
Aug 19, 2016
People point out the mistakes because it makes them feel better when they point out other people's mistakes.
cmr0
+1
Level 72
Dec 18, 2024
Nope, it's literally mistakes in the quiz needed to be fixed to not be false
PatoPotato
+2
Level 55
Aug 19, 2016
Stalin was Georgian not Russian.
Papaya
+1
Level 47
Feb 23, 2018
Trotsky anyone?
divantilya
+1
Level 36
Mar 4, 2018
Yeah, I missed Trotsky too. Having Lenin on a quiz w/o Trotsky is like having Fidel w/o Che.
Froststar101
+1
Level 73
Apr 30, 2021
Perfectly acceptable?
PoetsCorner
+2
Level 87
Jul 12, 2022
He's right in between Runsky and Walksky.
EcceHomo
+2
Level 82
Apr 7, 2021
I tried so many different spellings of Kournikova before realising there was another (equally) photogenic Russian tennis player who was more successful at the tennis thing.
tervuren
+1
Level 57
Aug 6, 2021
It would be nice to add less famous, but more influential composers like Glinka and Mussorgsky, as well as poets like Pushkin or Mayakovsky.
Ilia
+1
Level 77
Aug 8, 2021
How about accepting Nikolai for the last russian tsar?
Saftra
+1
Level 51
Dec 20, 2021
Kasparov is azer
31415
+2
Level 55
Sep 15, 2023
Stalin is actually not a Russian
31415
+1
Level 55
Sep 15, 2023
Could you add Nikolai II as the answer
YTBRSosyalEmre
+3
Level 65
Jan 22, 2024
Abramovich is not the owner of the Chelsea anymore.
cmr0
+1
Level 72
Dec 18, 2024
Firstly, Stalin is not Russian — he is Georgian. If anything, he had Soviet nationality, but we are probably talking about people who were born in Russia or/and have Russian ethnicity.

Stalin did not kill millions, only 1,8 million people — 1,1 million in Gulag and 700 thousand death penalty(most of whom were criminal elements, not innocent men).

Furthermore, he saved millions by helping Russia industrialize (by his actions as a ruler and a new constitution) and winning the war, albeit not without mistakes. Don't forget about devastating WW1 and Russian Civil war, it was a miracle that the country could develop so much in less than 20 years and deal a fatal blow to German war machine.

His methods remain quite controversial, but let's not brainwash people. It's not his main characteristic that he somehow "killed millions". I'd fix this to "Soviet leader after Lenin".

cmr0
+1
Level 72
Dec 18, 2024
In addition, it's worth noting that few people in this quiz are not that famous in Russia.

I suggest you to include

Leaders and misc.:Rurik, Alexander Pushkin, Mikhail Lomonosov, Alexander Suvorov, Nikita Khrushchev, Georgy Zhukov, Sergey Esenin, Vladimir Mayakovsky.

Sports: Vladimir Klitschko, Evgeny Plushenko, Yelena Isinbaeva, etc.

Music: Sergey Rachmaninoff, Dmitri Shostakovich, Vladimir Vysotsky, Viktor Tsoi, Alla Pugacheva, Philipp Kirkorov, Sergey Lazarev, Noize MC, Morgenstern, Oxxxymiron.

And you should remove Abramovich (especially now, he's not Chelsea owner), Yeltsin or Gorbachev (too many rulers from modern USSR/Russia). Maria Sharapova (she's more famous outside of Russia), Vladimir Nabokov (there are far more known writers than him in Russia), Rasputin (he's almost a meme bruh, and he's not well known in Russia compared to the ones that I listed), Garry Kasparov (chess is on decline in Russia and he's not well liked and known in Russia;

cmr0
+1
Level 72
Dec 18, 2024
Rudolf Nureyev? Lmao, who's that bro? no one in Russia knows him except some liberals and educated people. Almost the same for Igor Stravinsky. People in Russia associate Sergey Brin more with the US, and he's not famous here in Russia.

Don't know about Ivan Pavlov tho, Mikhail Lomonosov (another scientist) is more recognizable by people. Moscow University named is named after him and he's one of the most famous scientists in Russia, certainly not Pavlov.

I know that this quiz is not supposed to be in any way like that, at least it's not mentioned, but I still think that this quiz should include more famous people from Russia, at least some of obscure ones should be removed.

All I can say that this quiz is very American-centric. This quiz is far from perfect and sadly, I didn't quite enjoy it as the one who has grown in Russia, but I hope that it will be better

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