Orenburg state university

The famous Russian poet and writer Alexander Pushkin visited Orenburg in 1833 to study archival documents and memoirs about the Pugachev’s rebellion of 1774—1775, which was the largest peasants’ rebellion in Russia’s history. Pushkin spent several days in Orenburg visiting the historical places and meeting eyewitnesses of the events. The outcomes of the visit were "The history of Pugachev revolt" and the famous novel "The Captain's Daughter". The latter is a romanticized account of Pugachev's rebellion. While staying in Orenburg, Pushkin met his friend Vladimir Dahl, one of the greatest Russian lexicographers.

Vladimir Dahl (1801—1872)

Dahl was interested in language and folklore from his early years. He started travelling by foot through the Russian countryside, collecting sayings and fairy tales of the Russian people. He published his first collection of fairy-tales in 1832. Some others, yet unpublished, were put in verse by his friend Alexander Pushkin. Having an administrative position with the Ministry of the Interior he spent several years in Orenburg. His magnum opus, Explanatory Dictionary of the Live Great Russian language, was published in 4 huge volumes in 1863—1866.

Sergei Aksakov was a 19th century Russian literary figure remembered for his semi-autobiographical tales of a landlord's family life, hunting, fishing, and butterfly collecting. Most of his stories have nostalgic descriptions of the Orenburg region where he had a family estate and spent his childhood and youth.

Taras Shevchenko was a Ukrainian poet, artist and humanist. His literary heritage is regarded to be the foundation of modern Ukrainian literature and, to a large extent, the modern Ukrainian language. Shevchenko also wrote in Russian and left many masterpieces as a painter and an illustrator. In August 1847 Taras Shevchenko was arrested because some of his poems criticized imperial rule, personally attacked Emperor Nicholas I and his wife Alexandra Feodorovna. So the poet was exiled to the Orenburg garrison. But it was not until 1857 that Shevchenko finally returned from exile.

Mstislav Rostropovich is widely considered to have been one of the greatest cellists of the 20th century. His parents were from Orenburg and the family moved back to the city during the World War II.

Yuri Gagarin was the first astronaut in the world. After graduating from technical and vocational schools, he enrolled into the Orenburg flying school and graduated as a pilot in 1957. In Orenburg Yuri Gagarin started dating with Valentina Goryacheva who he married in 1957. Yuri Gagarin flew into orbit aboard the Soviet spacecraft Vostok I on 12 April 1961, becoming the first man in space. He orbited the Earth once (his capsule was controlled from the ground) before returning for a safe landing in the Soviet Union roughly 90 minutes later. The 1961 flight made him an international hero.

Valery Chkalov was the USSR's most famous aviator of the 1930s. He developed several new figures of aerobatics. In 1936 and 1937, he participated in several ultralong flights, including a 63-hour flight from Moscow, Soviet Union to Vancouver, Washington, United States via the North Pole on a Tupolev ANT-25 plane (June 18—20, 1937), a non-stop distance of 8,811 kilometers. The city of Orenburg bore the name Chkalov from 1938 to 1957.