Menu

Ivan IV’s birth anniversary

23 August 2013

The anniversary of Ivan IV’s birth occurs this Sunday (August 25). Ivan IV (Иван IV) is probably the most famous Tsar of the first royal dynasty in Russia, the Ruriks. He is infamously known for its nickname, “The Terrible” (Грозный).

However, this nickname was not used by the people in a negative way: the Russian adjective “grosny” has much more layers of meaning than “terrible”. It also means “threatening”. In fact, he was a “threat” for the boyars, who oppressed the people and were often responsible for the disintegration of Russia. In fact, he reduced the power and the abuses of the nobility, and was seen as a champion of the poor and the homeless.

Ivan’s father died when he was just three, and he spent most of his childhood in prison. He was constantly risking his life because of conjures and intrigues in the royal house. Because of that, he developed a cruel behaviour towards the ones who opposed him and left no space to other opinions. When he was a kid, he tortured pets and threw them out of his window. When he grew up, he did some horrible tortures also to men.

Ivan IV was the first who used the title of “Tsar of all the Russias” (Император и Самодержец Всероссийский), since he managed to make it a proper Empire. A major figure of Russian history, he stands out among all the Tsars for his leadership skills and his unlimited energy.

Comments are closed.

Related posts
Since 2011, Mosfilm (Мосфильм) has been uploading many of its classic films on YouTube for free. If you are interested in Soviet cinema, this ...
Read more
4 Places To Workout and Sightsee In Moscow What about your workout routine? Most students come to study Russian for an average of 2 to 6 weeks. ...
Read more
 Robert Griesbeck is a German, working as a tax counselor for an insurance company in Germany. Here is his story: How did you come up with the ...
Read more
When I started to learn Russian a little over a year ago, I thought the best way to get to know the language was by spending time in Russia. ...
Read more
  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

x
 
I love Russian course books
Did you know that Russian has six cases? Choose your level and get a free course book chapter to master them!