ARCHANGEL

ARCHANGEL (Rus. Arkhangelsk ), White Sea port and capital of Archangel district, Russia; excluded from the *Pale of Settlement. The nucleus of the Jewish community was formed between 1828 and 1856 by young Jewish conscripts who had been sent to the *Cantonists' institution in Archangel and were allowed to settle there after being discharged from the army. In 1897 there were 248 Jews in Archangel. After the Pale was abolished in 1917 the number of Jews increased, reaching 850 by 1923. In 1926 there were 1,449 Jews in the entire oblast (0.3% of the total population). In 1939 they numbered 1,346 in the city and 1,858 in the entire district. Between 1939 and 1941 many Jews from the western areas then annexed by the Soviet Union were deported to Archangel and its environs.

[Yehuda Slutsky]

arch·an·gel / ˈärkˌānjəl/ • n. an angel of high rank. ∎  in traditional Christian angelology, a being of the eighth order of the ninefold celestial hierarchy.DERIVATIVES: arch·an·gel·ic / ˌärkanˈjelik/ adj.

Archangel (Archangel'sk) City and major port on the North Dvina delta, nw Russia. Archangel was opened to European trade in c.1600 and prospered as Russia's only port until 1703. The monastery of Archangel Michael was built here (1685–99). The port received supplies from Allied convoys during World War II. In the winter, icebreakers keep the large harbour clear, but the port remains ice-free for about six months – a crucial factor for commerce in n European Russia. Timber and wood products are the main exports. Industries: building, paper. Pop. (1994) 407,000.

Archangel ★★½ 2005 (R)

Based on the novel by Robert Harris, this thriller follows British historian Kelso (Craig), an expert on the Stalinera USSR, to a Moscow conference. He's approached by an elderly man (Chernvak) claiming to know the whereabouts of Stalin's lost diary and he's plausible enough to have Kelso haring off to the port city of Archangel, accompanied by the man's daughter Zinaida (Rednikova) and reporter O'Brian (Macht). Only their search leads them to a dangerous underground movement to restore Stalinism to modern Russia. Originally broadcast as a BBC miniseries. 120m/C DVD . Daniel Craig, Yekaterina Rednikova, Gabriel Macht, Valery Chernvak; D: Jon Jones; W: Dick Clement, Ian La Frenais; C: Chris Seager; M: Robert (Rob) Lane. TV

archangel an angel of greater than ordinary rank; (in traditional Christian angelology) a being of the eighth-highest order of the ninefold celestial hierarchy. The name is recorded from Middle English, and comes via Anglo-Norman French and ecclesiastical Latin, from ecclesiastical Greek arkhangelos, from arkhi- ‘chief’ + angelos ‘messenger, angel’.