History / Russian Greatness - and its Polish Contributors [77]

Just because I quit the "Polish Aid..." thread, does not mean I am done.

As mentioned, I enjoy being an advocate for my beloved homeland. However, I am not here to autofellate my patriotism. The goal is to talk to Poles.

Poles have made crucial and formative contributions to the development of Russia as a modern state. I wanted to start a thread dedicated to important Poles in Russian history. I already made separate threads in the past about Dzerzhinsky and Rokossovski, but wanted to continue within a new thread going forward.

My list of greatest Poles in Russian history is as follows:

1) Nikolai Przhevalsky - probably one of the greatest Russian geographers and naturalists. He put Central Asia on the map, discovered many species considered lost (including the ancestor of all horses - named after him), and created maps important to Russia's Great Power competition with Britain for control over Afghanistan.

2) Konstantin Tsiolkovsky - as Wikipedia says: "Along with Hermann Oberth and Robert H. Goddard, he is one of the pioneers of space flight and the founding father of modern rocketry and astronautics." This Pole helped Russia beat the West in the Space Race, and is legitimately considered the father of Russian space exploration.

3) Dmitry Shostakovich - one of the greatest and most accomplished composers and pianists of Russia's Soviet period, whose stature grows every year since his death. Perhaps one of the greatest composers of the 20th century.