Stalin has just come No. 3 in a poll of most popular Russians, so he is fondly remembered by many Russians. Soviet dictator Josef Stalin was voted Russia's third most popular historical figure in a nationwide poll that ended on Sunday, despite the famine and purges that marked his rule. The "Name of Russia" contest run by Rossiya state television channel over more than six months closed on Sunday night with a final vote via the Internet and mobile phones. It drew more than 50 million votes in a nation of 143 million. Millions of Soviet citizens perished from famine during forced collectivization, were executed as "enemies of the people" or died in Gulag hard labor camps during Stalin's rule which lasted for almost 30 years until his death in 1953. "We now have to think very seriously, why the nation chooses to put Josef Vissarionovich Stalin in third place," prominent actor and film director Nikita Mikhalkov, one of the contest's judges, said after the results of the vote flashed on a screen. "We may find ourselves in a situation where absolute power and voluntarism that ignores people's opinions may prevail in our country, if a fairly large part of the nation wants it." At the top of the list was 13th century prince Alexander Nevsky, who defeated German invaders, followed by Pyotr Stolypin, a prime minister in the early 20th century known for agrarian reforms and a clampdown on leftist revolutionaries. The project was launched in mid-June with a list of 50 historical figures selected from some 500 original ones. So I suppose what this proves is that Russians like a strong ruler! What a pity that Czar Nicholas II wasn't a strong leader. Russian soul- it is that strange, mystical quality which enables Russians to claim that they are more spiritual than Westerners, even though foreigners generally come to Russia to find the spirit of Tolstoy and Dostoevsky while Russians often visit the West for some good shopping. But I maintain that just a quick survey of the Russian language is enough to convince one that Russia really does have a more penetrating, all-encompassing conception of "the soul" than most other nations. Those who have read Nikolai Gogol's satiric masterpiece "Myortvye Dushy," or "Dead Souls," already know that in many circumstances the Russian word dusha is a synonym for chelovek(person). Russians seem never to have bought into the Hellenistic division of mind, body and soul that post-Enlightenment Europe adopted. Like English-speakers, a Russian entering an empty room might remark, ne vidno ni dushy (there's not a soul to be seen). However, Russian also has expressions like zhit dusha v dushu (to live in peace and harmony) or dusha bolit (to be worried about something). Of a poor person, it is said, u neyo za dushoi ni grosha (she doesn't have a grosh to her soul, a grosh being an old Russian coin). Etot razgovor mnye ne po dushe (I don't feel like having this conversation) is a useful expression which can disguise mere petulance as spirituality. The next time your friends suggest another trip out to Izmailovo, you can turn up your nose and say chto-to mnye ne po dushe tuda sevodnya yekhat - literally, for some reason my soul is not up to going there today. Russian also has a fabulous expression for someone who becomes afraid when faced with sudden danger, u nevo dusha ushla v pyatki - literally, his soul ran into his heels. Sometimes this expression is rendered even more dramatically as u nego dusha upala v pyatki - his soul fell into his heels. Clearly, in the Russian language, the soul is the key to a person's identity and behavior. U neyo dusha naraspashku - her soul is wide open, an open book - Russians say about someone who is honest and sincere. When a person is worried, they say u nevo dusha ne na meste (literally, his soul isn't in the right place) or eto u nevo tyazhelo na dushe (that is heavy on his soul). When a person really wants something or is particularly excited by some idea, u nevo dusha gorit - his soul is on fire. Clearly the Russian soul is far busier than your average Western soul,which is generally only dragged out on Sundays and special occasions. There is one other moment that Western and Russian souls have in common though. When the time come, we all must otdat bogu dushu - give up our souls to God.

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