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ArchivesRe: Toptigin
in reply to a message by Sean Foglai
I don't think we need to know the meaning of Toptygin to understand why it was chosen for their Olympic bear. It was already used for a bear in the poem 'General Toptigin', written by Nikolay Nekrasov in the mid-19th century (a comic tale about a bear who takes a chaotic ride in a troika). The bear is actually called Mikhailo Ivanovich, but he is mistaken for general Toptigin by the villagers. So it's meaning may not have anything to do with bears...
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Potapych, like Toptygin, is probably also primarily a literary reference. It's the name of a rather pompous servant in 'A Protégée of the Mistress' by Ostróvsky. Ostróvsky frequently gives to the persons in his plays names that suggest their characteristics. Thus, from the same play, the name MADAM ULANBÉKOV 'hints at a Circassian origin and a tyrannical disposition'. So the meaning of Potapych may be irrelevant: it just 'sounds' pompous. You can read the play here:
http://www.gutenberg.net/1/0/7/2/10722/10722-8.txt
http://www.gutenberg.net/1/0/7/2/10722/10722-8.txt
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