Tag: Looting art

The Cursed Soldiers of Poland

On February 1 1945, Poland’s General Anders reproached Winston Churchill for not adhering to the English guarantees (to defend Poland’s independence). He asked the unelected British Prime Minister. ‘What shall we say to our soldiers? Soviet Russia is now confiscating half of our territory and wants the remaining part of Poland to be managed according to her own fashion. We know from experience where that leads.’

Why do European monarchs wear Russian ‘kokoshniks’? (PHOTOS)

At official functions, European royalty can often be seen wearing tiaras that resemble an old Russian headdress called the kokoshnik. In Russia, empresses and grand duchesses wore this kind of tiara beginning from Catherine the Great’s rule during the second half of the 18th century. Outside of Russia, the fashion for the tiare russe developed thanks to Queen Alexandra, the wife of King Edward VII and sister of the Russian Empress Maria Feodorovna, wife of Alexander III. Some of those tiaras still include the word “kokoshnik” in their official names, although they never actually belonged to any members of the Russian royal family

Dumb Phones have Killed Culture

Once, while at the Royal Spanish Academy in Rome, I tried to give lectures, but one woman constantly blinded me with a camera flash, which prevented me from concentrating on my notes. I said that while I was working, they should stop working, because of the division of labour. The woman turned off her camera but clearly felt pained.