11 February
Dates in History
1943Soviet Government takes a decision to liquidate Checheno-Ingushskaya Republic and to deport Chechens and Ingushes. At the end of February 1944, 650 thousand Chechens, Ingushes, Kalmyks, and Karachais are deported to eastern regions of the USSR. 19 thousand NKVD (People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs, future KGB) officers and privates take part in the operation.
1918Alexander Solzhenitsyn, writer, is born. | In 1970 he wins the Nobel Prize in literature, and in 1974 the Soviet Government banishes him from the USSR, but in 1994 he returns to his motherland. Solzhenitsyn is considered Russia’s most important “serious” writer nowadays.
1902Lyubov Orlova, actress, is born. | Lyubov Orlova stars in the most popular Soviet musical comedies “Jolly Fellows” and “Volga-Volga”.
1829Alexander Griboyedov, diplomat, playwright, dies. | One of the most famous Russian playwrights dies tragically in Teheran, where he works as a diplomat. A mob of Moslem fanatics bursts into the building of Russian mission and slaughters everybody. Griboyedov’s body is recognized only by his left hand, which has a scar. |