Anna Chapman, Garry Kasparov, t.A.T.u, and Gorky Park – whether you are into sports, politics or music, you are most likely familiar with these Russian names. Over time, careers and audiences of these Russian celebrities have gone through major transformations but all of them remain in the public eye to this day.

Ex-spy Anna Chapman has appeared in a myriad of magazines and is currently a host of a hit Russian TV show “Тайны мира с Анной Чапман” (Mysteries of the World with Anna Chapman). Creators of the show offer alternative points of view on many subjects and attempt to look deeper into mysterious events of the past and present. Most episodes of the show can be found on YouTube but, unfortunately, do not have subtitles.

Russian chess Grandmaster, Garry Kasparov is “…widely considered to be the greatest chess player of all time. He holds records for the all-time highest chess rating, the most consecutive chess tournament victories, the most Chess Oscars, and the longest time as the top rated chess player in world history. In 2004, Kasparov helped to found the Committee of 2008, a group of Russian freedom advocates and organizations seeking fair, democratic elections. Kasparov retired from chess in 2005 to devote himself full time to writing and human rights advocacy. An outspoken critic of Russian president Vladimir Putin, Kasparov created the United Civil Front, a social movement with a mission to prevent Russia from returning to totalitarianism. His activism has drawn the ire of the Russian government, and he has been beaten and arrested several times. Kasparov’s keynote lectures, seminars, and articles on strategic thinking, achieving peak performance, and tech innovation have been acclaimed in dozens of countries. In 2009, he began working with Silicon Valley pioneers Peter Thiel and Max Levchin on technological progress. He is a contributing editor of The Wall Street Journal and a frequent contributor to The New York Times, The Financial Times, The Daily Beast, and various other publications. He is the chairman of the HRF’s International Council” (source: www.humanrightsfoundation.org). You can watch one of most recent political interviews here.

Fleeting popularity of Gorky Park, a Russian rock band (no, I will not call them “glam metal”) eventually turned into pretty prominent pop careers for 2 of the band members, Nikolai Noskov and Aleksandr Marshal.

The dynamic duo t.A.T.u appeared on MTV a number of years ago. Worldwide popularity of the band was apparently too much to bear, and eventually the girls split up to pursue solo careers. An attempt to put the group back together has been made not so long ago but the duo still faces multiple challenges, according to this Russian show (with English subtitles).

Who else would you like to see on this list?

Всего хорошего!