Václav Havel: …his best-known play, Vyrozumění (1965; The Memorandum), an incomprehensible artificial language is imposed on a large bureaucratic enterprise, causing the breakdown of human relationships and their replacement by unscrupulous struggles for power. In these and subsequent works Havel explored the self-deluding rationalizations and moral compromises that characterize life under a…

Võrtsjärv, lake (järv) in south-central Estonia, with an area of about 110 square miles (280 square km). Võrtsjärv forms part of the 124-mile (200-km) course of the Ema River (German: Embach), which enters the lake from the south and drains it toward the north and east into Lake Peipus on the

Andrey Vyshinsky was a Soviet statesman, diplomat, and lawyer who was the chief prosecutor during the Great Purge trials in Moscow in the 1930s. Vyshinsky, a member of the Menshevik branch of the Russian Social-Democratic Workers’ Party since 1903, became a lawyer in 1913 and joined the Communist

St. Petersburg: Foundation and early growth: …1703 work began on the Vyshnevolotsky Canal in the Valdai Hills, the first link in a chain that by 1709 gave the capital a direct water route to central Russia and all of the Volga River basin. Industry soon began to develop. The original and flourishing Admiralty shipyard was joined…

St. Petersburg: Foundation and early growth: …1703 work began on the Vyshnevolotsky Canal in the Valdai Hills, the first link in a chain that by 1709 gave the capital a direct water route to central Russia and all of the Volga River basin. Industry soon began to develop. The original and flourishing Admiralty shipyard was joined…

Moldova: Relief: …twice this elevation, culminating in Vysokaya Hill (1,053 feet [321 metres]). The northern uplands include the strikingly eroded Medobory-Toltry limestone ridges, which border the Prut River.

Tatra Mountains, highest range of the Central Carpathians. The mountains rise steeply from a high plateau and extend for approximately 40 miles (64 km) along the Slovakian-Polish frontier, varying in width from 9 to 15 miles (14 to 24 km). About 300 peaks are identified by name and elevation, the

Yegoryevsk, city, Moscow oblast (region), western Russia. It lies along the Glushitsy River southeast of the capital. The city of Yegoryevsk was formed in 1778 from the village of Vysokoye and became an important trading centre, especially for grain and cattle from Ryazan oblast. In the 19th

Vladimir Vysotsky was a Russian actor, poet, songwriter, and performer who was considered “the voice of the heart of a nation.” His wide-ranging and forthright poems were considered subversive by the Soviet authorities and were barred from publication, but they were the cultural lifeblood for many

Vladimir Vysotsky was a Russian actor, poet, songwriter, and performer who was considered “the voice of the heart of a nation.” His wide-ranging and forthright poems were considered subversive by the Soviet authorities and were barred from publication, but they were the cultural lifeblood for many

Western painting: International Gothic: …his panel paintings, especially the altar of Vyšší Brod (c. 1350), shows a curiously Sienese character, though he did not achieve the delicacy associated with paintings from Siena. The emphasis instead is on heavily modeled faces and thick, heavy drapery. Theodoric’s style seems to have initiated the “soft style” that…

Vytautas the Great was a Lithuanian national leader who consolidated his country’s possessions, helped to build up a national consciousness, and broke the power of the Teutonic Knights. He exercised great power over Poland. Vytautas was the son of Kęstutis, who for years had waged a struggle with

Vytautas the Great was a Lithuanian national leader who consolidated his country’s possessions, helped to build up a national consciousness, and broke the power of the Teutonic Knights. He exercised great power over Poland. Vytautas was the son of Kęstutis, who for years had waged a struggle with

Aleksey Feofilaktovich Pisemsky: …satirizing the radical younger generation, Vzbalamuchennoye more (1863; “The Stormy Sea”). The critical attacks directed against him by the radicals obscured his reputation.

chickenpox: Chickenpox is caused by the varicella-zoster virus (VZV), the same virus that causes herpes zoster (also called zoster, shingles, or zona), a localized eruption of large blisters. Chickenpox is the clinical reaction to a first exposure to the virus. Infection is preventable with vaccination (see List of Vaccine-Preventable Diseases).