The Grand Duchess Elizabeth / ВеликаяКнягиняЕлизаветаФедоровна

1864-1918

Vocabulary

ü togivefirstaid – оказывать первую помощь

ü mercy, merciful – милосердие, милосердный

ü charity - благотворительность

ü teach-taught-taught – обучать, учить

ü learn-learnt-learnt – учиться, узнавать

ü assassinate – убивать (о высокопоставленных людях)

ü convent – обитель, монастырь (женский)

ü orphanage - приют

ü canteen - столовая

ü for free, free of charge – бесплатно, безвозмездно

ü have office hours – вестиприем

ü nun - монахиня

ü nurse – (здесь) ухаживать, выхаживать (о больных)

ü amaze - изумлять

ü severeinjury, illness – тяжелая травма, заболевание

 

The Grand Duchess Elizabeth was a German princess, a granddaughter of the English Queen Victoria and a sister of the last Russian Empress Alexandra.

 Her parents always taught Elizabeth and the other children to do many things themselves and help the poor. The mother often went to hospitals together with her daughters. There Elizabeth learnt to give first aid and be merciful to people.

At the age of twenty she married the Grand Duke (ВеликийКнязь) Sergey Alexandrovich Romanov, an uncle of Nicholas the Second. Soon Sergey Alexandrovich became Governor General (генерал-губернатор) of Moscow. They did much for charity as they both were real Christians.

In 1905 Sergey Alexandrovich was assassinated by a revolutionary. After her husband’s death the life of the Grand Duchess Elizabeth changed completely. She decided to build a convent on her own money.

The Convent of Mary and Martha (Марфо-Мариинскаяобитель) was opened in Moscow in 1907. It had an orphanage for girls, a school, a canteen for the needy, a library, a hospital, an outpatient clinic and a pharmacy in which the medicine was free for the poor. There was also a dentist office in the clinic. The head doctor in the hospital was Doctor of Medicine A.I.Nikitin.The surgeons F.I.Berezkin and A.F.Ivanov performed the operations free of charge. Every week 34 physicians had office hours for free. The nuns managed to nurse patients having the most severe injuries and illnesses. The Grand Duchess Elizabeth who became the abbess (настоятельница) of the convent used to spend sleepless nights beside the sick people. Her methods of treatment amazed the Moscow doctors.

During the soviet time the convent was closed. After the perestroika it was re-opened and restored. Nowadays its nuns keep on doing the mercy mission.

The Grand Duchess Elizabeth was assassinated near Alapayevsk in 1918.

In 1992 she was canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church.

In pairs, discuss the following questions:

1 Was the Grand Duchess Elizabeth Russian?

2 What did her parents teach their children?

3 What can you say about her husband?

4 What happened to him in 1905?

5 How did the life of the Grand Duchess Elizabeth change after the husband’s death?

6 What did she decide to do?

7 What was there in the convent?

8 Did the nuns care for the patients very well?

9 Did Elizaveta Fyodorovna work as a nurse too?

10 Why was she canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church?

11 Can Elizaveta Fyodorovna be a good example for you?

Project work

To learn more about the Grand Duchess Elizabeth, go to the Internet. Then make a presentation and report in class.

Text 3

Doctor Liza

 

Elizaveta Glinka was a Russian doctor who specialized mostly in palliative medicine.

Here are some facts about her.

Elizaveta Glinka was born on the 20-th of February in 1962 in Moscow in the family of a serviceman and a doctor.

In 1986 Glinka graduated from the Second Medical Institute. During her studies she worked in the intensive care unit in one of the Moscow clinics.

After the institute Glinka emigrated to the U.S. with her husband Gleb Glinka who was a successful American lawyer with the Russian roots. There in the U.S. Elizaveta specialized in palliative medicine at Dartmouth Medical School.

In America on the initiative of her husband Elizaveta started working in a hospice. In her own words she was shocked by the human attitude towards the patients with terminal diseases. After coming back to Russia, she participated in the creation of the first hospice in Moscow. She drew public attention to the training of future specialists of palliative medicine.

In 2007 Elizaveta established the Fair Aid Foundation in Russia and became its President. She treated the homeless people, dressed their wounds and fed them at Paveletsky railway station in Moscow. The homeless called her Mother Liza. “Sharing someone’s woe, pain and sufferings was her internal necessity”, says her husband.

After the Donbas and Lugansk separating from the Ukraine, hundreds of refugees flooded to Moscow and other regions. Together with her supporters Doctor Liza met them at the railway station and brought them to different hospitals as many of them had severe wounds. In 2015 Doctor Liza established the House of Mercy for these people. Elizaveta helped many families who had to leave the Ukraine. Some people didn’t believe in her kindness thinking she had some mercenary intentions. In July 201Elizaveta Glinka and her Foundation organized the collection of items for the victims of the devastating floods in Krymsk.

In December of 2016 Elizaveta Glinka was awarded a state prize. At the ceremony in the Kremlin she said, “People must have the right of life. Nowadays this right has been violated (попирается)”.

On the 25-th of December in 2016 Elizaveta Glinka died in Tu-154 crash near Sochi.She was a member of the Russian delegation bringing medicines to Syria and to its people.

Elizaveta Glinka will always stay alive in our thankful memory!

Project work

To learn more about Elizaveta Glinka, go to the Internet. Then make a presentation and report in class.