Penza

Penza ( _ru. Пе́нза) is a city in Russia, the administrative center of Penza Oblast in the Volga Federal District. It stands on the Sura River, 625 km south-east of Moscow. The city is served by Penza Airport. Population: 518,025 (2002 Census).

History

Penza was founded in 1663 as a frontier outpost on the then southeastern border of Russia. The town bears the name of the river that it was originally built upon. As it was originally a frontier city, most houses were built of wood and the town developed without any master plan. During the 18th century Penza became an important trade center.

In 1774, Penza was taken by the insurgent army led by Yemelyan Pugachev, because citizens of the town welcomed the rebellious Cossacks into the city. First stone houses started to appear after 1801 and by 1809 Penza's population grew to more than 13,000 people.

During the Russian Civil War, the Czechoslovak Legions raised an anti-Bolshevik uprising in Penza. During the Soviet period the city developed as a regional industrial center. The Ural mainframe was made here between 1959 and 1964.

Natives of Penza include Vsevolod Meyerhold, Andreï Makine, Nikolai Ishutin, Aristarkh Lentulov, and Ivan Mozzhukhin. The poet Mikhail Lermontov grew up near Penza in the manor of Tarkhany, which belonged to his grandmother.

Modern city

Currently, the city of Penza is seen as a regional center for higher education. It has six universities (The Penza State University, The Pedagogic University, The Academy of Agriculture, The Technology Institute, the Institute of Civil Building and The Artillery and Engineering Institute), 13 colleges and 77 public schools. Besides this, Penza is home to three theatres, four museums, and three art galleries.

In a topographical sense, Penza greatly differs from the cities around it because of its rolling hills and dense surrounding forests.

Honors

A minor planet 3189 Penza discovered by Soviet astronomer Nikolai Stepanovich Chernykh in 1978 is named after the city. [ [http://books.google.com/books?hl=ru&q=3186+manuilova Dictionary of Minor Planet Names - p.264] ]

Notable residents

*Former Soviet national team hockey players Alexander Golikov, Vladimir Golikov, Vasily Pervukhin, Sergei Yashin, Alexander Kozhevnikov and Sergei Svetlov were born here.
*Vladimir (Vova) and Olga Galchenko (famous jugglers) lived here before emigrating to the USA.

References

External links

* [http://www.penza-gorod.ru/ Official website of Penza] ru icon
* [http://www.investinpenza.ru/ Penza Foreign Direct Investment Guide] ru iconen icon
* [http://yurytkachenko.net/ Sculptor Yury Tkachenko] ru iconen icon
* [http://crydee.sai.msu.ru/album/trips/2005.07.Penza/index.html 2005.07 Penza, Russia photos folder]