#4
Date: Wed, 5 Dec 2001
From: Luba Schwartzman <luba7@bu.edu>
Subject: online database
Online Databases of Russian Personalities
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A number of official sites can be found within the gov.ru domain
www.gov.ru/main/page2.html - Presidential Apparat
www.gov.ru/main/ministry/isp-vlast47.html - Ministries -- this site lists the ministries on one page and provides links for some of them
www.gov.ru/main/page10.html - Judicial Branch
www.ach.gov.ru - Accounts Chamber
www.scrf.gov.ru -- Security Council
www.council.gov.ru - Federation Council
www.duma.gov.ru - State Duma
The above sites have biographies for a number of government officials, lists by party, ministry, committee and etc., but they are not always up to date, nor is vital information provided in English.
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www.nns.ru (Russian)
I was really impressed with this site. It gets updated very promptly and provides additional information: interviews, links to documents, "evaluations" of and "comments" on. It houses entries for about 1,400 political figures. Unfortunately, it is in Russian only.
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http://www.nupi.no/russland/database/start.htm (English, Norwegian)
This site has fewer entries than nns.ru (perhaps between 1,000 and 1,100) and does not provide as much information about each person, but it is in English, and it also provides cross-reference options among the categories: "chronology of events," "persons," "political [organizations]," "institutions," "administrative units," and "ethnic groups." All categories allow searches by partial name/term (as little as one letter - either at the beginning, middle, or end). All categories except "persons" have a "list all" option.
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http://www.whoswho-sutter.com/index.htm
Another English language database, Sutter's Who's Who seemed to have some listings that nns.ru and nupi.no do not (and lack some that they do), as well as some cross-reference capabilities, but the website is not as user-friendly.
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www.panorama.org (Russian)
This site boasts 28,000 entries - at a cost: The CD-ROM starts from $1500 per for one user (at a time) and the cost of updating is between $120 a month and $600 a year depending on frequency. Although the description of the service is available in English, I believe that the listings are only in Russian.
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www.ceo.spb.ru (English, Russian)
A soothing color scheme of taupe, beiges and reddish browns of the website is oddly reminiscent of old sepia-toned photographs of the Wild West. The list of personalities (about 340) is heavy on the arts, but does have biographies for entrepreneurs and a select few (about 40) politicians, as well for "Petersburgers in Moscow" (including Vladimir Putin - still listed as "acting president"). The biographies themselves are on the "humanizing" side; pictures are provided, as is info about the family-lives and hobbies (including the ubiquitous mushroom-picking) of the "personalities."
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http://www.terra.es/personal2/monolith/russia.htm (English)
This page provides the list of the highest government officials - there are several sections: RF 1991-present, Republics (which I could not access), USSR 1917-1991, detailed CPSU 1917-1991, by-republic 1917-1991. It's useful for the historical data (and provides dates of some appointment as well), but of the current officials it only lists: Presidents, Prime Ministers, Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Ministers of Defense, Ministers of Internal Affairs (MVD), Ministers of Security and FSK/FSB directors. At the same host site there are also lists of leaders from other countries and a set of (about 800) pictures of world leaders.
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This site hosts a large and interesting collection of photographs (some humorous, including photographs of Kukly dolls), and sometimes signatures or links to websites.
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http://www.d-net.com/min/min30058.htm
(CD-ROM)
Russian Government Directory
Carroll Publishing
Type of Directory: Commercially Produced Directory
ISSN Number: 1069-1081
Publication Frequency: Annual
Number of Pages: 450
Price (US Dollars): $195.00 (2 semi-annual editions)
It was not possible for me to check the directory on line, but the following is a quotation from the website: "This uniquely comprehensive resource gives you instant access to over 10,000 Russian leaders at the federal, regional and local levels, and also lists associations and foundations, commodity exchanges, Chambers of Commerce and embassies. Also provides information on US government offices in Russia, and information on the Russian telephone system. Indexed by name and keywords."
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