From “All the Flowers of Africa” by Semyon Pavlyuk Why do African sorcerers need the hair of a white man, how did the Malian Dogon attract unhealthy attention from the yellow press, and who did the Xhosa tribe call Russians? Read about this in an excerpt from the book “All the Colors of Africa” by geographer and traveler Semyon Pavlyuk. All of us, since February 24, 2022, have found ourselves in the face of advancing barbarism, violence and lies.

American Odyssey by Vladimir Mayakovsky “My dear Ellie” - this is what Vladimir Mayakovsky called in a letter the Russian emigrant Ellie (Elizabeth) Jones, whom he met in New York, and the two-year-old girl Helen Patricia, who was born to them. For many years, the birth of their daughter was kept secret. The secret was revealed only in the late 1980s, and in 1991 Ellie Jr. visited Moscow for the first time.

For the birthday of the 13th Apostle Did Mayakovsky love cars? Probably yes: even though he didn’t know how to drive himself, in 1928 he bought a Renault sedan for personal use, paying a considerable amount for it by Soviet standards. But we know for sure that the poet loved the number 13 and even called himself the thirteenth apostle.