russia-insider--2020-09-21--A Conservative Russian Lion With Real Mass Influence – The Painter Ilya Glazunov

This article from our archives was first published on RI in September 2016 Using images , Russia 's most popular artist has touched millions with his arch-conservative ideas about monarchism , patriotism , the need for a new Russian nobility , the fraudulence of democracy , the crimes of Bolshevism , and much else .
A subject of debate and fascination in Russia , a profile of him and his ideas is the subject of this article .
One of Russia ’ s most effective , consistent , articulate , and profoundly conservative voices happens to be a popular painter @ @ @ @ @ @ @ significant because his ideas can theoretically cross linguistic barriers , although they have yet to do so , but they connect to millions of Russian in a way that written and spoken words never can .
Western conservatives will no doubt find it interesting that these subjects are actively discussed in Russia , and have been for 30 years , since the crumbling of the USSR .
Serious discussion of monarchism , skepticism of non-European cultures and immigrants , table-turning historical revisionism , and much else has burst onto the scene in a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Such are the fruits of the age of Trump .
There is currently much talk of a renaissance of conservatism in Europe and America .
The phenomenon of a “ New Right ” , “ Alt Right ” and other “ Rights ” has been widely discussed in the New Yorker , Breitbart , Buzzfeed , the Daily Beast , and elsewhere .
Alternatively , the Glazunov museum has a very comprehensive website in English , where one can view paintings in high-def .
At the lower right-hand corner of each image @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Full Screen '' .
Click on this , and then again on the image , to see it in high-definition .
How to best view the paintings : Many of the pictures in this article are part of a high-definition slide show of 22 images which can be activated by clicking on most of the images in this article .
This will load the images in high quality , which may take a while with a slower internet connection , ( we do n't recommend doing this on your phone unless you are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the wait , because it allows one to examine the paintings in detail , which is especially interesting for the historical `` passion play '' series , as the one above this text .
To go to the slide show directly , click here .
( The slide show will not work on mobile devices ) Actually no , he has an audience of millions who agree with him , and reaches people not just with his famous paintings , but in books , movies , TV appearances , and public speeches .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ the arts , not to be taken seriously ?
In contrast to the values of the marketplace , he calls for placing spiritual and political ideals in first place .
He believes that patriotism , service to society and its head , a monarch , are far more important than filthy lucre .
He looks down his nose at the United States , whom he sees as a parvenu nation of cultural bumpkins , culturally capable of nothing more profound than Mickey Mouse and held in the thrall of a crass consumerist obsession @ @ @ @ @ @ @ out publicly again and again that Russia is fundamentally hamstrung because it lacks an elite which truly has the interests of the country at heart , as opposed to their own , and that only once that is in place , can the country truly thrive , as it did in the 19th century , for example .
He believes this elite has to be titled nobility .
The main point for Glazunov , is that this mobilized the citizenry , gave their lives noble meaning and purpose , and allowed for harmonious @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and personal enrichment , the driving forces in a pure meritocracy .
He stresses that this is very different from the Marxist concept of classes , which emphasizes conflict between social strata , and very different from the Indian caste systems , which are more rigid and exclusionary .
The soslovie system gave social status , and sometimes hereditary titles to individuals , uniting them in a sense of civic pride and unity in service to their sovereign .
Not limited to upper classes and nobles , it extended well into the middle @ @ @ @ @ @ @ even the peasantry .
Readers of 19th century Russian literature may well have wondered at the many titles carried by its diverse characters , like `` Collegiate Assessor '' , or `` Provincial Registrar '' .
For an explanation of this unique system , see the Wikipedia entries : Social Estates in the Russian Empire and Table of Ranks .
Furthermore , he believes Russia should return to a uniquely Russian system of social organization which reached its zenith in the mid-19th century called `` Soslovie '' .
There exists no exact European @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the medieval `` Estates of the Realm '' , the orderly division of society into various functions - knights , merchants , clergy , farmers , etc .
To begin with he is a monarchist , and believes that democracy is a scam which would best be done away with .
He argues that Russia ’ s greatest achievements in every area - geographic expansion , economic growth , military glory , architecture , literature , Christian life , painting , decorative arts , population growth , public morality , international power , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ multinational empire , and with its many neighbors - all were attained under the rule of the Tsars , and that most of what happened since then has been an unmitigated disaster .
Very well-known in Russia with an active presence in the media , and heatedly discussed by his fans and detractors , little has been written about him in English .
A Google search turns up a 30 year old short and completely inadequate article about him from the NYT in 1988 , and little else of quality .
Not that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Europe .
The reason most likely is that he speaks fluent French and Spanish , but not English , so his reach and relationships are far better known in these worlds , than in the Anglo-saxon .
For years he has been warning of the negative effects of immigration on Europe , which he believes is dying .
In 2003 this issue was the subject of a major painting entitled `` The Death of Europe '' .
Russia Insider is primarily a political publication , and what will be of most of interest @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that since the fall of the USSR , Glazunov has consistently been one of the most articulate and influential advocates of a profound political conservatism which harks back to another century , with the influence , resources , and ability to have his ideas seriously and widely discussed in Russian society .
The answer speaks volumes about the hyper-active 86 year old , who is , in fact , far more than a prominent artist .
He is a unique phenomenon , straddling the worlds of art , history , politics , art @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , wielding remarkable influence .
The head of the Russian church , Patriarch Kirill , in a televised visit to Glazunov ’ s museum , at one point turned to the cameras , and explained that Mr. Glazunov deserves special praise , because “ visual memory ” is more powerful , emotional , and immediate than verbal or theoretical , and therefore Glazunov is worth a thousand writers and chatterboxes , because he has reminded the nation in pictures of the glory of orthodoxy , of Russia ’ s military and spiritual triumphs @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has also made a televised visit , as have dozens of other celebrities and dignitaries .
Mr. Glazunov keeps a guest book for VIPs , and it contains a mind-boggling list complete with glowing compliments of famous names : prime ministers , movie stars , artists , museum directors , ecclesiastics , academics .
Although he is known foremost as a painter , in fact the „ Glazunov Phenomenon “ extends far beyond the walls of museums and exhibition halls .
Let ’ s start with a partial list of the man ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ paintings have been far and away the most popular not only in the history of Russian art , but perhaps of any contemporary artist ever .
Crowds have famously waited in lines for 8-10 hours , week after week , as visitors to his exhibit in enormous halls climbed into the millions .
These astonishing attendance rates occurred during the perestroika years , and the following decade , and were driven as much by his political message as the aesthetic appeal of his paintings .
Russians were eager for a new take on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ huge and enthusiastic response among broad masses of everyday Russians .
His fans reach into the highest levels of government , which in 1997 created a large museum just to house the prodigious quantity of this work .
It stands in a grand building a block from the Kremlin across the street from the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts , Moscow ’ s equivalent of the Metropolitan in New York , or the Tate in London .
As if this wasn ’ t enough , in 2014 , Glazunov has been given an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to house his mind-boggling personal collection of priceless paintings , icons , antiques , posters , books , and historical costumes .
The value of the collection is estimated in the hundreds of millions of $ .
He has no peer in Russia in his success as a private collector .
He has christened the new museum “ The Museum of ‘ Soslovie ’ ” , Soslovie being the system of nobility , social ranks and hierarchies described above , which he advocates a return too .
It is a grand political statement @ @ @ @ @ @ @ back.
” But we are just getting started .
In 1996 he created a major art academy to teach ultra-conservative realism in painting .
( See below for more about his view that modern art is at best a sick joke , and most likely a satanic plot ) Located in the center of Moscow in a prestigious old building , it has become an important force in the world of Russian art , churning out about 100 graduates per year whose artistic education is an exact replica of that of the Tsarist @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
( See here for the academy 's website ( only in Russian ) .
If you scroll down the page you will see a photo gallery , and yes , they accept foreign students . )
The academy has published an art book featuring the works of its graduates , which are truly astonishing in their level of expertise .
Here is a link to a Russian internet store which carries it .
Glazunov has also had a major impact in the field of political activism .
In the 1960s he started @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in Russia , which ended up having profound influence , saving hundreds of churches from destruction , and inspiring generations of writers , filmmakers , and many others , who embraced his ideas and developed them .
Dozens of leading conservative Russian thinkers , writers , and political leaders point to Glazunov as a guiding light who opened their eyes to a new understanding of Russia ’ s past and future .
At the time , he called for the reconstruction of the massive Cathedral of Christ the Savior , Russia ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Bolsheviks in the 30s , calling the demolition an affront to Russian history and patriotism .
The idea seemed outlandish at the time and was roundly denounced by the Communist authorities of the day , but 35 years later , in the year 1999 , this is exactly what came to pass , with Glazunov again leading the public campaign for what many admit is miraculous .
Today , Glazunov can gaze at the golden domes of the cathedral from the windows of his museum with ironic satisfaction .
He also practically single-handedly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Passion Plays “ .
These are enormous canvases occupying the whole wall of a large exhibit hall , filled with sometimes hundreds of figures representing ideas from his political and historical thinking .
These are the paintings he is most famous for in Russia , where they are wildly popular .
Of Glazunov 's 9 monumental canvases of this size , 5 of them are of this genre .
You can see them all in high-def here : ( see technical note at beginning of this article ) .
Of particular interest are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ( 1999 ) , a stinging indictment of the market reforms urged on Russia by the West , and `` The Great Experiment '' ( 1990 ) , and equally blistering critique of the Communist experience in Russia .
Glazunov is also an accomplished author who has collected his political , religious , historical , and social ideas in two massive volumes entitled „ Russia Crucified “ ( available only in Russian ) , which tells his life story and passionately argues his case for conservatism .
It is a fascinating and compelling @ @ @ @ @ @ @ range of subjects - primarily history , but also political philosophy , archeology , literature , mythology , and religion .
Type „ Илья Глазунов “ into Youtube search , and you will find several full-length documentary films ( all in Russian ) recounting his remarkable life story , often with him as a lively and skillful chief narrator .
Furthermore there are dozens of clips of him appearing on news and talk shows , where he expounds at length on his ideas to eager interviewers .
Watch him give speeches before crowds @ @ @ @ @ @ @ speaker , entertainer , witty , urbane , profound , passionate , truly remarkable .
And finally , to top it off , he was chosen to lead the restoration of the stupendous Grand Kremlin Palace in the late 1990s , the massive Tsarist palace which is the main structure inside the Moscow Kremlin .
( Wikipedia ) The palace was built in the mid-nineteenth century to celebrate the greatness of Russian autocracy , a fitting assignment for Glazunov , the convinced monarchist .
So art is only a part of the man @ @ @ @ @ @ @ art world he is highly controversial , with many detractors .
Critics say he is a mediocre artist , rather a skillful networker and politician who produces `` kitsch “ which appeals to the masses , who became wealthy by collecting and trading art , then used his wealth and influence to have museums given to him .
His complete and utter dismissal of any modern art hardly endears him to the chablis and cheese crackers crowd , let alone the „ installation art “ types , whose work he finds frankly preposterous @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not exactly artistic ingenues .
They include many of Russia ’ s most respected writers , such as Alexander Prokhanov , Valentin Rasputin , and Vladimir Soloukhin ( admittedly all arch-conservatives themselves ) , and many , many others .
But why rely on the opinions of others - we have tried to include a wide variety of his works in high resolution in this article .
Judge for yourself .
But back to his deeply conservative ideas : • None He thinks the masonic movement destroyed Russia , culminating in the Russian @ @ @ @ @ @ @ monarchy , and the massacres of Russians right up into WW2 .
To Glazunov , the masonic movement , and its course through Russian history , was evil 's most successful manifestation .
• None The Decembrists ( a 19th century revolt by nobles , many of them inspired by masonry , seeking a constitutional monarchy which was foiled ) deserved everything they got , and then some .
Detests what they represent .
Traitors and scoundrels .
• None Ivan the Terrible was a great sovereign , completely misrepresented by Russophobic western @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Terrible ” , which he wasn ’ t , not in the least .
• None He is fascinated with Russian icons ( paintings ) , of which he has a staggering collection .
• None Slavs were a great civilization predating any European analogs .
Says it is complete nonsense that the Slavs „ invited “ the Vikings to rule over them - more western lies .
• None Absolutely and completely thrilled that Crimea is again Russian .
He produces vast quantities of historical data and arguments proving that Crimea has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of time , that the Ottoman occupation was a brief interlude , and that Catherine the Great and Prince Potemkin rightly gave them the boot .
• None Obsessed with history , which is the subject of most of his paintings .
He emphasizes the importance of knowing and honoring your country ’ s history and accomplishments .
Tries to convey this knowledge in his paintings .
He likes to paraphrase Disraeli : `` History is not the battle of classes - it is the clash of races and religions .
`` , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ based on religious and ethnic foundations . ''
• None The Bolsheviks were a murderous thugs who committed genocide against the Russian people on a scale without historical parallel .
• None He is very concerned about the demographic crisis in Russia - insists that this be corrected soon before it goes too far .
He recommends supporting traditional family values and encouraging families to have as many children as possible , 3-4 at the least .
• None Fascinated with old things , the beauty of old things .
An incessant collector @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for old beautiful buildings , churches , etc .
Believes they carry the soul of the nation .
• None The experience of Russia in the 90s was a genocide similar to the tragedy of the 1917 revolution .
A complete disaster and atrocity .
• None In 2003 he warned that immigrants are descending on Europe and will destroy her unless they are stopped .
Believes Europe is dying , that all hopes lies with Russia .
Glazunov 's views on this last point are fascinating and have clear historical and political @ @ @ @ @ @ @ definition of art , which he explains must consist of three things : 1 . )
It must contain an understanding of the battle of good and evil in this world , 2 . )
It must be devoted to showing the beauty of this world and the love which underlies it , and 3 . )
It must be aware of the beauty and mystery of the spiritual world .
He quotes one of his favorite Russian artists , Vaznetsov who explained : `` My art is a candle before the face @ @ @ @ @ @ @ his favorites , Vrubel , who argued that the goal of art is to awaken the great possibilities of the human spirit .
Further he explains that the first practitioners of modern art were Communist revolutionaries of the late 19th and early 20th century , many of them from Russia - Malevich , Kandinsky , etc .
After the revolution , these artists thought of themselves as the `` Avangard of Communist Art '' , as `` Commissars '' , whose historical role was to smash the old art , just as their @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the upper classes , and blowing up the churches , attrocities of which these Commissars of the art world undoubtedly approved .
Glazunov argues that the art they produced can not be described as art at all , rather as anti-art , an effort to destroy real art .
He states flatly : `` The black square is not art '' .
He says that evidence that the new , communism-inspired art can not be art is that it does not have a national character , claiming , as communism claimed , to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that all art has to be national , which accurately reflects the reality of the world , and it also is by nature , aristocratic , but that it should at the same time be democratic , reflecting the thoughts and values of the people .
He points out that it is a great irony that although the Communist Comissars of the political world have been relegated to the ash-heap of history , they still reign supreme in the museums and university art departments of the West , something he finds an abomination @ @ @ @ @ @ @ blood-thirsty killers of Communist Russia .
When asked who he considers examples of the last true practitioners of art , he names Mikhail Nesterov ( Russia - d. 1942 ) , Arnold Boecklin ( Germany - d. 1901 ) , James Whistler ( USA - d. 1903 ) , and John Sargent ( US/UK - d. 1925 ) .
The impressionists - no , they do n't cut it because they do not reflect the reality of the world , which he stresses , does not mean that art has to be realistic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not as it is , which is already moving away from art .
Van Gogh ?
A madman , not an artist .
Glazunov argues that art existing separately from the real world is essentially a Satanic fantasy .
In person , Glazunov is animated , jovial , jowly , warm and generous , plying his guests with delicious Russian veggie pies , sweets , and gallons of tea , eyes twinkling , sometimes pounding his fist for emphasis , eyes flashing .
He starts the discussion with the announcement that we live @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Good and Evil , and that if you don '' t understand this , you understand nothing .
He give the impression of a man in a hurry , as if he urgently wants to warn the world of the error of its ways , a voice in the wilderness .

Using images, Russia's most popular artist has touched millions with his arch-conservative ideas about monarchism, patriotism, the need for a new Russian nobility, the fraudulence of democracy, the crimes of Bolshevism, and much else.
This article from our archives was first published on RI in September 2016
A subject of debate and fascination in Russia, a profile of him and his ideas is the subject of this article.
One of Russia’s most effective, consistent, articulate, and profoundly conservative voices happens to be a popular painter. That his medium is visual is significant because his ideas can theoretically cross linguistic barriers, although they have yet to do so, but they connect to millions of Russian in a way that written and spoken words never can.
Western conservatives will no doubt find it interesting that these subjects are actively discussed in Russia, and have been for 30 years, since the crumbling of the USSR.
Serious discussion of monarchism, skepticism of non-European cultures and immigrants, table-turning historical revisionism, and much else has burst onto the scene in a way unthinkable just a few years ago. Such are the fruits of the age of Trump.
There is currently much talk of a renaissance of conservatism in Europe and America. The phenomenon of a “New Right”, “Alt Right” and other “Rights” has been widely discussed in the New Yorker, Breitbart, Buzzfeed, the Daily Beast, and elsewhere.
Alternatively, the Glazunov museum has a very comprehensive website in English , where one can view paintings in high-def. At the lower right-hand corner of each image there is the option "View in Full Screen". Click on this, and then again on the image, to see it in high-definition.
How to best view the paintings: Many of the pictures in this article are part of a high-definition slide show of 22 images which can be activated by clicking on most of the images in this article. This will load the images in high quality, which may take a while with a slower internet connection, (we don't recommend doing this on your phone unless you are on wifi) but it is worth the wait, because it allows one to examine the paintings in detail, which is especially interesting for the historical "passion play" series, as the one above this text. To go to the slide show directly, click here . (The slide show will not work on mobile devices)
Actually no, he has an audience of millions who agree with him, and reaches people not just with his famous paintings, but in books, movies, TV appearances, and public speeches.
The eccentric musings of a man of the arts, not to be taken seriously?
In contrast to the values of the marketplace, he calls for placing spiritual and political ideals in first place. He believes that patriotism, service to society and its head, a monarch, are far more important than filthy lucre.
He looks down his nose at the United States, whom he sees as a parvenu nation of cultural bumpkins, culturally capable of nothing more profound than Mickey Mouse and held in the thrall of a crass consumerist obsession with money and commerce.
He speaks out publicly again and again that Russia is fundamentally hamstrung because it lacks an elite which truly has the interests of the country at heart, as opposed to their own, and that only once that is in place, can the country truly thrive, as it did in the 19th century, for example. He believes this elite has to be titled nobility.
The main point for Glazunov, is that this mobilized the citizenry, gave their lives noble meaning and purpose, and allowed for harmonious cooperation while lessening the emphasis on competition and personal enrichment, the driving forces in a pure meritocracy. He stresses that this is very different from the Marxist concept of classes, which emphasizes conflict between social strata, and very different from the Indian caste systems, which are more rigid and exclusionary.
The soslovie system gave social status, and sometimes hereditary titles to individuals, uniting them in a sense of civic pride and unity in service to their sovereign. Not limited to upper classes and nobles, it extended well into the middle classes, the Tsarist bureaucracy, and even the peasantry. Readers of 19th century Russian literature may well have wondered at the many titles carried by its diverse characters, like "Collegiate Assessor", or "Provincial Registrar". For an explanation of this unique system, see the Wikipedia entries: Social Estates in the Russian Empire and Table of Ranks .
Furthermore, he believes Russia should return to a uniquely Russian system of social organization which reached its zenith in the mid-19th century called "Soslovie". There exists no exact European equivalent, but the closest one is the medieval "Estates of the Realm", the orderly division of society into various functions - knights, merchants, clergy, farmers, etc.
To begin with he is a monarchist, and believes that democracy is a scam which would best be done away with. He argues that Russia’s greatest achievements in every area - geographic expansion, economic growth, military glory, architecture, literature, Christian life, painting, decorative arts, population growth, public morality, international power, and harmonious relations within a highly diverse multinational empire, and with its many neighbors - all were attained under the rule of the Tsars, and that most of what happened since then has been an unmitigated disaster.
Very well-known in Russia with an active presence in the media, and heatedly discussed by his fans and detractors, little has been written about him in English. A Google search turns up a 30 year old short and completely inadequate article about him from the NYT in 1988, and little else of quality. Not that Glazunov isn’t well known in Europe. The reason most likely is that he speaks fluent French and Spanish, but not English, so his reach and relationships are far better known in these worlds, than in the Anglo-saxon.
For years he has been warning of the negative effects of immigration on Europe, which he believes is dying. In 2003 this issue was the subject of a major painting entitled "The Death of Europe".
Russia Insider is primarily a political publication, and what will be of most of interest to our readers is the improbable fact that since the fall of the USSR, Glazunov has consistently been one of the most articulate and influential advocates of a profound political conservatism which harks back to another century, with the influence, resources, and ability to have his ideas seriously and widely discussed in Russian society.
The answer speaks volumes about the hyper-active 86 year old, who is, in fact, far more than a prominent artist. He is a unique phenomenon, straddling the worlds of art, history, politics, art collecting, social activism, and academia, wielding remarkable influence.
The head of the Russian church, Patriarch Kirill, in a televised visit to Glazunov’s museum, at one point turned to the cameras, and explained that Mr. Glazunov deserves special praise, because “visual memory” is more powerful, emotional, and immediate than verbal or theoretical, and therefore Glazunov is worth a thousand writers and chatterboxes, because he has reminded the nation in pictures of the glory of orthodoxy, of Russia’s military and spiritual triumphs, of her greatness.
Mr. Putin has also made a televised visit, as have dozens of other celebrities and dignitaries. Mr. Glazunov keeps a guest book for VIPs, and it contains a mind-boggling list complete with glowing compliments of famous names: prime ministers, movie stars, artists, museum directors, ecclesiastics, academics.
Although he is known foremost as a painter, in fact the „Glazunov Phenomenon“ extends far beyond the walls of museums and exhibition halls.
Let’s start with a partial list of the man’s achievements.
Public shows of his paintings have been far and away the most popular not only in the history of Russian art, but perhaps of any contemporary artist ever. Crowds have famously waited in lines for 8-10 hours, week after week, as visitors to his exhibit in enormous halls climbed into the millions. These astonishing attendance rates occurred during the perestroika years, and the following decade, and were driven as much by his political message as the aesthetic appeal of his paintings.
Russians were eager for a new take on politics, and his ideas found a huge and enthusiastic response among broad masses of everyday Russians. His fans reach into the highest levels of government, which in 1997 created a large museum just to house the prodigious quantity of this work. It stands in a grand building a block from the Kremlin across the street from the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow’s equivalent of the Metropolitan in New York, or the Tate in London.
As if this wasn’t enough, in 2014, Glazunov has been given an equally grand building for a new museum to house his mind-boggling personal collection of priceless paintings, icons, antiques, posters, books, and historical costumes. The value of the collection is estimated in the hundreds of millions of $. He has no peer in Russia in his success as a private collector. He has christened the new museum “The Museum of ‘Soslovie’”, Soslovie being the system of nobility, social ranks and hierarchies described above, which he advocates a return too. It is a grand political statement: “We need to bring this back.”
But we are just getting started.
In 1996 he created a major art academy to teach ultra-conservative realism in painting. (See below for more about his view that modern art is at best a sick joke, and most likely a satanic plot) Located in the center of Moscow in a prestigious old building, it has become an important force in the world of Russian art, churning out about 100 graduates per year whose artistic education is an exact replica of that of the Tsarist academies which were disbanded after the revolution. (See here for the academy's website (only in Russian). If you scroll down the page you will see a photo gallery, and yes, they accept foreign students.)
The academy has published an art book featuring the works of its graduates, which are truly astonishing in their level of expertise. Here is a link to a Russian internet store which carries it.
Glazunov has also had a major impact in the field of political activism. In the 1960s he started a social movement to preserve architectural landmarks in Russia, which ended up having profound influence, saving hundreds of churches from destruction, and inspiring generations of writers, filmmakers, and many others, who embraced his ideas and developed them. Dozens of leading conservative Russian thinkers, writers, and political leaders point to Glazunov as a guiding light who opened their eyes to a new understanding of Russia’s past and future.
At the time, he called for the reconstruction of the massive Cathedral of Christ the Savior, Russia’s largest cathedral, famously dynamited by the Bolsheviks in the 30s, calling the demolition an affront to Russian history and patriotism. The idea seemed outlandish at the time and was roundly denounced by the Communist authorities of the day, but 35 years later, in the year 1999, this is exactly what came to pass, with Glazunov again leading the public campaign for what many admit is miraculous.
Today, Glazunov can gaze at the golden domes of the cathedral from the windows of his museum with ironic satisfaction. He also practically single-handedly created a painting genre he calls „Passion Plays“. These are enormous canvases occupying the whole wall of a large exhibit hall, filled with sometimes hundreds of figures representing ideas from his political and historical thinking. These are the paintings he is most famous for in Russia, where they are wildly popular. Of Glazunov's 9 monumental canvases of this size, 5 of them are of this genre. You can see them all in high-def here: (see technical note at beginning of this article). Of particular interest are "The Market of Our Democracy" (1999), a stinging indictment of the market reforms urged on Russia by the West, and "The Great Experiment" (1990), and equally blistering critique of the Communist experience in Russia.
Glazunov is also an accomplished author who has collected his political, religious, historical, and social ideas in two massive volumes entitled „Russia Crucified“ (available only in Russian), which tells his life story and passionately argues his case for conservatism. It is a fascinating and compelling collection of erudition on an improbably wide range of subjects - primarily history, but also political philosophy, archeology, literature, mythology, and religion.
Type „Илья Глазунов“ into Youtube search, and you will find several full-length documentary films (all in Russian) recounting his remarkable life story, often with him as a lively and skillful chief narrator. Furthermore there are dozens of clips of him appearing on news and talk shows, where he expounds at length on his ideas to eager interviewers. Watch him give speeches before crowds of admirers. He is an accomplished speaker, entertainer, witty, urbane, profound, passionate, truly remarkable.
And finally, to top it off, he was chosen to lead the restoration of the stupendous Grand Kremlin Palace in the late 1990s, the massive Tsarist palace which is the main structure inside the Moscow Kremlin. (Wikipedia) The palace was built in the mid-nineteenth century to celebrate the greatness of Russian autocracy, a fitting assignment for Glazunov, the convinced monarchist.
So art is only a part of the man’s life, and in the art world he is highly controversial, with many detractors. Critics say he is a mediocre artist, rather a skillful networker and politician who produces "kitsch“ which appeals to the masses, who became wealthy by collecting and trading art, then used his wealth and influence to have museums given to him. His complete and utter dismissal of any modern art hardly endears him to the chablis and cheese crackers crowd, let alone the „installation art“ types, whose work he finds frankly preposterous.
But his admirers are many and not exactly artistic ingenues. They include many of Russia’s most respected writers, such as Alexander Prokhanov, Valentin Rasputin, and Vladimir Soloukhin (admittedly all arch-conservatives themselves), and many, many others. But why rely on the opinions of others - we have tried to include a wide variety of his works in high resolution in this article. Judge for yourself.
But back to his deeply conservative ideas:
He thinks the masonic movement destroyed Russia, culminating in the Russian civil war, the destruction of the monarchy, and the massacres of Russians right up into WW2. To Glazunov, the masonic movement, and its course through Russian history, was evil's most successful manifestation.
The Decembrists (a 19th century revolt by nobles, many of them inspired by masonry, seeking a constitutional monarchy which was foiled) deserved everything they got, and then some. Detests what they represent. Traitors and scoundrels.
Ivan the Terrible was a great sovereign, completely misrepresented by Russophobic western historians, starting with the moniker “Terrible”, which he wasn’t, not in the least.
He is fascinated with Russian icons (paintings), of which he has a staggering collection.
Slavs were a great civilization predating any European analogs. Says it is complete nonsense that the Slavs „invited“ the Vikings to rule over them - more western lies.
Absolutely and completely thrilled that Crimea is again Russian. He produces vast quantities of historical data and arguments proving that Crimea has been inhabited by Russians since the dawn of time, that the Ottoman occupation was a brief interlude, and that Catherine the Great and Prince Potemkin rightly gave them the boot.
Obsessed with history, which is the subject of most of his paintings. He emphasizes the importance of knowing and honoring your country’s history and accomplishments. Tries to convey this knowledge in his paintings. He likes to paraphrase Disraeli: "History is not the battle of classes - it is the clash of races and religions.", and again "Ideological positions are always based on religious and ethnic foundations."
The Bolsheviks were a murderous thugs who committed genocide against the Russian people on a scale without historical parallel.
He is very concerned about the demographic crisis in Russia - insists that this be corrected soon before it goes too far. He recommends supporting traditional family values and encouraging families to have as many children as possible, 3-4 at the least.
Fascinated with old things, the beauty of old things. An incessant collector. Dismayed at the lack of respect for old beautiful buildings, churches, etc. Believes they carry the soul of the nation.
The experience of Russia in the 90s was a genocide similar to the tragedy of the 1917 revolution. A complete disaster and atrocity.
In 2003 he warned that immigrants are descending on Europe and will destroy her unless they are stopped. Believes Europe is dying, that all hopes lies with Russia.
Glazunov's views on this last point are fascinating and have clear historical and political origins. He begins by giving his definition of art, which he explains must consist of three things: 1.) It must contain an understanding of the battle of good and evil in this world, 2.) It must be devoted to showing the beauty of this world and the love which underlies it, and 3.) It must be aware of the beauty and mystery of the spiritual world. He quotes one of his favorite Russian artists, Vaznetsov who explained: "My art is a candle before the face of God", and another of his favorites, Vrubel, who argued that the goal of art is to awaken the great possibilities of the human spirit.
Further he explains that the first practitioners of modern art were Communist revolutionaries of the late 19th and early 20th century, many of them from Russia - Malevich, Kandinsky, etc. After the revolution, these artists thought of themselves as the "Avangard of Communist Art", as "Commissars", whose historical role was to smash the old art, just as their counterparts in the political world were massacring the upper classes, and blowing up the churches, attrocities of which these Commissars of the art world undoubtedly approved.
Glazunov argues that the art they produced can not be described as art at all, rather as anti-art, an effort to destroy real art. He states flatly: "The black square is not art". He says that evidence that the new, communism-inspired art cannot be art is that it does not have a national character, claiming, as communism claimed, to be international, universal. Glazunov insists that all art has to be national, which accurately reflects the reality of the world, and it also is by nature, aristocratic, but that it should at the same time be democratic, reflecting the thoughts and values of the people.
He points out that it is a great irony that although the Communist Comissars of the political world have been relegated to the ash-heap of history, they still reign supreme in the museums and university art departments of the West, something he finds an abomination, because he equates them with the blood-thirsty killers of Communist Russia.
When asked who he considers examples of the last true practitioners of art, he names Mikhail Nesterov (Russia - d. 1942), Arnold Boecklin (Germany - d. 1901), James Whistler (USA - d. 1903), and John Sargent (US/UK - d. 1925). The impressionists - no, they don't cut it because they do not reflect the reality of the world, which he stresses, does not mean that art has to be realistic. But the impressionists reflect the world not as it is, which is already moving away from art. Van Gogh? A madman, not an artist.
Glazunov argues that art existing separately from the real world is essentially a Satanic fantasy.
In person, Glazunov is animated, jovial, jowly, warm and generous, plying his guests with delicious Russian veggie pies, sweets, and gallons of tea, eyes twinkling, sometimes pounding his fist for emphasis, eyes flashing.
He starts the discussion with the announcement that we live in an age of stark battle between Good and Evil, and that if you don"t understand this, you understand nothing.
He give the impression of a man in a hurry, as if he urgently wants to warn the world of the error of its ways, a voice in the wilderness.


russia-insider--2020-09-20--These Russians Have Lived in Central Europe Since the Dawn of Time (Carpatho-Russians)

The Eastern-most residents of the original 9th century Russian state ( Kievan Rus ) , the Carpatho-Russians have clung fiercely to their faith and ethnicity while surrounded by enemies and persecution .
This article from our archives was first published on RI in September 2017 This article originally appeared on : Russian Faith , a new website with news about the Christian renaissance in Russia .
See their introductory video at end of article Lemko ( Rusyn ) women in national dress .
Lemko 's are a Carpatho-Russian tribe from Western Ukraine .
Once when the American pop-artist Andy Warhol @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , he answered : ‘ I come from nowhere ’ .
In one sense he was right , for his real name was Ondrej Varchola , the son of Carpatho-Russian immigrants to Pittsburgh in the US in 1918 .
It is no good looking on a map – you will not find Carpatho-Russia .
It exists , and yet it has never existed , it is ‘ nowhere ’ .
No wonder that some have called the Carpatho-Russians ‘ the Kurds of Europe ’ .
Who are they and where is Carpatho-Russia ?
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ is Ruthenia .
However , we should use this name ‘ Ruthenia ’ with care , for , just as Greeks do not call themselves ‘ Greek ’ , so ‘ Ruthenians ’ do not call themselves ‘ Ruthenian ’ .
This Eastern Slav people , who live in and around the Carpathian mountains , speak a language which resembles Ukrainian , and yet which is distinct from it .
For well over fifteen hundred years , they have lived in these Carpathians , the original home of all the Slav peoples .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ of beauty .
Check out this article about a martyred Rusyn Priest for more stunning pictures like that .
Before the Russian Revolution , most Carpatho-Russians lived scattered across a thousand villages in the Austro-Hungarian Empire , many in a region known as Galicia , where they were sorely persecuted and Uniatized .
After the break-up of that oppressive Empire , the true ‘ prison of the peoples ’ , most Carpatho-Russians found themselves living in Poland and Slovakia .
Since 1945 , when Stalin took an eastern slice of Slovakia , most @ @ @ @ @ @ @ what is now the Ukraine .
Others still live in north-east Slovakia north of Presov , and in the south-east corner of Poland .
However , there are also smaller groups of Carpatho-Russians in Hungary , Serbia and Romania and elsewhere , and also a very large emigration , mainly from 1880-1914 , in the USA , especially in Pennsylvania and Connecticut , and in other countries of the New World .
( One of these Carpatho-Russians , Sgt Michael Strank , was the soldier who raised the stars and stripes at Iwo @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the most famous photographs of the twentieth century ) .
Sometimes called ‘ rusnaks ’ , in the Ukraine the Carpatho-Russians are often known as ‘ Transcarpathians ’ , in Poland as ‘ Lemki ’ and in Slovakia they are called ‘ Subcarpathians ’ .
Academics usually term them as ‘ Carpatho-Russians ’ or ‘ Carpatho-Rusyns ’ .
However , they call themselves ‘ Rusyn ’ .
With their emigration , the Carpatho-Russians number well over one million souls , perhaps as many as one and a half million .
By folklore and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Slovaks , Ukrainians and Poles , with influences from the Austrians and the Hungarians .
However , by religion , and this is what defines the Carpatho-Russians , they are all Orthodox-rite .
Less than one third are actually Orthodox , and over two thirds , since the forced ‘ Unia ’ of the end of the sixteenth century , are nominal Greek-Catholics or Uniats .
No Carpatho-Russian worthy of the name , is a Latin Catholic or Protestant .
Moreover , if you talk to such ordinary Greek-Catholics , most of them @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it , that they are in fact ‘ Pravoslavny ’ – Orthodox – such is the deception and trickery played on the simple by the clerics of the Vatican .
Converted to Orthodoxy by Sts Cyril and Methodius , traditionally in the year 863 , for centuries the Carpatho-Russian people survived as Orthodox , outside the protection of any Orthodox State , and many still do so today .
Under their beloved Patron , St Nicholas the Wonderworker , they have survived innumerable persecutions and massacres , particularly from Catholic Poles , Hungarians @ @ @ @ @ @ @ concentration camp ) , then Czechs , Fascist Germans and Slovaks , then Communist Poles and Ukrainians and now Slovak Uniats .
Catholic Uniates stole many Orthodox Churches and converted them into Catholic churches similar to this one in Lvov .
Over one hundred years ago , starvation and persecution led many of them , nearly half a million , to emigrate to the USA .
Here many of the Greek Catholics among them , persecuted by Latin Catholic bishops , reverted to Orthodoxy .
They came to form the backbone of what @ @ @ @ @ @ @ America ( OCA ) .
Other Orthodox , formed the fifty parishes , now under Metropolitan Nicholas of the Carpatho-Russian Diocese ( at present in the Patriarchate of Constantinople ) .
Some others belong to the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia ( ROCOR ) , like the [ then ] present head of ROCOR , Metropolitan Laurus [ now diseased ] .
Indeed , before the Second World War , the Carpatho-Russians were much helped by the ROCOR monastery in Ladomirova in Carpatho-Russia , which published a journal , ‘ Orthodox Carpatho-Russia ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and monastery moved to Jordanville in the USA and the title of the journal changed to the present ‘ Orthodox Russia ’ .
In their homelands , Greek Catholic Carpatho-Russians , persecuted by the Communists , are now reviving .
Unfortunately , fanatical Ukrainian nationalist sentiment , originally an anti-Russian tool invented by Austrians and Hungarians , has lately been much exacerbated among them by the Vatican .
In the last fifteen years , these Uniats have been taking revenge for Communist persecution on the Orthodox , causing considerable problems through their aggression @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Orthodox churches in Slovakia from the Orthodox .
As regards the Orthodox who remain in the homeland , they belong to the Orthodox Churches of the Ukraine , Slovakia and Poland .
In the Ukraine there are some tensions between Ukrainians and the Carpatho-Russians .
They mainly live around Uzhgorod , near the border with Slovakia , to which State this region belonged until 1945 .
Indeed , Uzhgorod is the real capital of Carpatho-Russia .
As regards the Orthodox Church of the Czech Lands and Slovakia , it is in fact divided @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Czechs , one for Slovaks , and a reinvigorated one , the real Metropolitan centre of this Local Church , in Presov , for the Carpatho-Russians , the Rusyny of ‘ Presov Rus ’ ( Priashevskaya Rus ’ ) .
The Polish Orthodox Church is in fact largely composed of Ukrainians and to a lesser extent Belorussians , with very few Poles , but it also includes Carpatho-Russians , Lemki , faithful like most Orthodox Rusyns in the homeland , to the Orthodox calendar .
In the Diocese of the Polish Church bordering @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is a particular revival , which has come about partly since the canonization in 1994 of the Priest-Martyr Maxim , slain by the Latins in 1914 .
In 2003 , another confessor , St Alexis ( Kabaliuk ) ( 1875-1947 ) , ‘ The Apostle of Carpatho-Russia ’ , whose relics were found intact in 1999 , was canonized in the western Ukraine – Carpatho-Russia .
He not only resisted the Austro-Hungarian persecutors , but later also the corruptions of the modernist innovations of the Patriarchate of Constantinople and found protection for his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
We now give the Life of the Holy Martyr Maxim , which explains something of the background to the sufferings of the Carpatho-Russian people .
Check out this great article about Father Maxim to learn more about his amazing life and brutal martyrdom by the hands of Austrian Catholics .
Orthodoxy in Carpatho-Russia has deep roots and the infamous ‘ Unia ’ , or union with Rome , did not begin with the common people .
In fact it was imposed by the machinations of the urban merchant class and a small @ @ @ @ @ @ @ same feudal rights as their Catholic counterparts .
Thus , these two classes of people betrayed their Orthodox princes and the faithful .
The two religions struggled and even after the ‘ victory ’ of the Unia , Orthodoxy was not forgotten .
To counterbalance Catholic influence and to further deceive the people , the Uniats carefully preserved the purity of the Eastern Orthodox ritual , considering that a policy of slow and gradual Latinization would be far more successful in the long run than one of outright imposition of the Roman ritual @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Carpatho-Russian people towards the Russian mainstream , which expressed itself in undisguised sympathy for Orthodoxy , could not be silenced .
In the eyes of most prominent Carpatho-Russians , the Unia was but the instrument and means employed to sunder the one Russian family and they directed their gaze towards Orthodoxy as the ancient and original faith of their people when Holy Rus had been one .
This inclination , which was distinctively Russian , was a crucial element in the Carpatho-Russian reaction against ‘ Ukrainianism ’ , artfully contrived by the Germans @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pan-Slav movement that threatened their domination of the area .
Even among the Carpatho-Russian Uniat clergy , who perpetuated the idea of the union , there were sympathies towards Orthodoxy .
These sympathies were so intense that the very concept of ‘ Catholic ’ was considered a sort of heresy .
Indeed , their concept of the union was reduced to a purely jurisdictional recognition of the primacy of the Pope of Rome .
Orthodox sympathies were characteristic of the people of Carpatho-Russia .
Alarmed by the growth of these sympathies and concluding @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rapprochement with Russia , from about 1900 on , the Austro-Hungarian authorities began to persecute .
Unprecedented repression was imposed on Russophile clergy , both Uniat and Orthodox .
The area teamed with informers .
Not only the gendarmes , village clerks and sheriffs , but also teachers and some clergy denounced their neighbors .
It reached the point where , in some areas of Carpatho-Russia , the entire educated class - priests , lawyers , judges , teachers , high school and university students , as well as peasants - were subjected @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with those accused of treason .
One in five Carpatho-Russians was imprisoned .
Lvov , Ukraine , one of the places where Father Maxim was imprisoned .
In accordance with a directive issued from Vienna , the Uniat Metropolitan of Lvov , threatened by the growth of Orthodoxy , quickly shifted his policy to one of isolation from all that was Orthodox .
A Ukrainian Uniat ritual was concocted , which differed significantly from Orthodox ritual .
The names of saints especially revered in Russia were deleted from the calendar .
The veneration @ @ @ @ @ @ @ God which had appeared in Russia ( e.g .
the Iveron , Kazan and Pochaev icons ) were proscribed .
The word ‘ Orthodox ’ was replaced in the divine services with ‘ Catholic ’ .
Candidates suspected of harbouring Russophile sympathies were refused admittance to Uniat seminaries , acceptance being limited exclusively to those admittedly Ukrainian in outlook , who were prepared to submit a written oath of hatred for Russia .
Throughout the Carpathian region a tremendous upheaval shook the parishes .
Uniat priests of Russian persuasion were driven from their @ @ @ @ @ @ @ into the streets , and few were the courageous souls who dared to defy the authorities by sheltering the homeless .
The parishes were then turned over to newly-ordained priests who had received their education at the hands of the Jesuits of the Basilian College .
The imposition of the new Ukrainian Uniat ritual was entrusted to the Jesuit-educated monks of the ‘ Order of St .
Basil the Great ’ .
But if life had become difficult for the Uniat Russophile clergy , it was far worse for the few Orthodox priests @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Let us examine the case of one such priest , Fr .
Maxim Sandovich , of blessed memory .
Fr .
Maxim was born in Galicia , the son of Timothy and Christina Sandovich of the village of Zdyna .
His father was a prosperous farmer , who also served as choir director in the local parish church .
Having completed four years of study at the high school in Novy Sanch , Maxim stole across the border into Russia and became a novice at the great Pochaev Lavra in Volynia .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Zhitomir , and after marrying a young Orthodox woman named Pelagia , was ordained in 1911 to the holy priesthood and returned to his homeland .
His pastoral and missionary service was not to last for long , for the militia were ever vigilant ; he was denounced by a Ukrainian teacher , a certain Leos , and the Austrian gendarmes carried him off in chains to a prison in Lvov in 1912 .
He was to languish in prison without trial or inquest for two years , enduring indescribably horrible conditions and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ eve of World War I he was released for lack of evidence .
Fr .
Maxim returned again to his home in the village of Hrab , but was not fated to remain there long .
The first shots fired in the new war were the heralds of a new repression of Carpatho-Russians .
On 4 August 1914 , the militia arrested the young priest , his father , mother , brother and wife and after much abuse dragged them off in shackles to the district prison in Horlitsk .
The road was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ travel on foot , prodded on by the bayonets of the gendarmes .
Words can not convey the suffering of the innocent Sandovich family .
Gorlice ( Horlitsk ) then and now .
Two days passed in prison and Sunday 6 August dawned .
Having risen from his bunk before the light of day Fr .
Maxim read his morning prayers and three akathists .
Then he stood motionless , lost in thought , gazing out the little window of his cell , trying to catch a glimpse of his wife or one @ @ @ @ @ @ @ been imprisoned in different cells and were denied permission to see each other .
The silence of the grave lay on the gloomy building , but beyond the walls the noise of a crowd could be heard .
What could this mean ?
Could they have brought in some new ‘ spies ’ ?
Perhaps they had caught some new deserters the terrors of war for many are hard to bear .
Suddenly a loud thud on the prison ’ s black gates broke the priest ’ s reverie .
It was not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ moustachioed German captain from Linz , Dietrich , a man with a reputation for cruelty and sadism , entered the prison compound with two soldiers and four gendarmes .
They were followed close behind by the prison wardens , various civil servants , officers and a small group of curious ladies .
This entourage was headed by Pan Mitshka , the head man of the Horlitsky District .
The order was given for the warden to bring Fr .
Maxim forth from his cell .
Silence fell .
Two soldiers led the twenty-eight @ @ @ @ @ @ @ suddenly he realized where they were taking him .
‘ Be so good as not to hold me .
I will go peacefully wherever you wish ’ , he said humbly , and with the dignity that becomes a true shepherd of souls he walked to the sight of his final torments .
The murmuring of the crowd and the venomous glances they threw the ‘ traitor ’ affected his courageous bearing not in the least .
He walked as befits a follower of Christ , calmly , with measured gait , to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
An execution was to be carried out in the name of the ‘ apostolic ’ Emperor - the execution of a Russian priest on Russian land !
Captain Dietrich , the hero of the day , ripped the cross from Fr .
Maxim ’ s chest , cast it to the ground at the priest ’ s feet and trampled it under foot ; he then tied the prisoner ’ s hands behind his back and bound his eyes with a black kerchief .
‘ You do these things needlessly .
I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The captain laughed diabolically and with a piece of white chalk drew a line across the priest ’ s chest on his black cassock as a target for the riflemen .
Then he arranged the executioners - two gendarmes on each side .
The two soldiers , heavily armed , stood only three paces from the defenceless man .
An even more profound stillness descended upon the scene .
Mitshka took a blue paper from his briefcase and read the death sentence .
A short command was uttered by the captain ; @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was lowered the rifles sounded .
The shots echoed through the back corridors of the prison , and again the silence of the cemetery filled the prison courtyard .
Through this silence the voice of Fr .
Maxim was heard distinctly : ‘ Long live the Russian people !
’ he cried , leaning his head against the prison wall .
‘ Long live the Holy Orthodox Faith !
’ he continued , his voice becoming weaker .
‘ Long live Slavdom !
’ he finished , barely audible .
These were his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of death , his powerful frame slid down the wall to the flagstones of the courtyard .
One of the gendarmes approached and ended the priest ’ s sufferings with three shots from his revolver ; the priests brains splattered against the prison wall .
His aged father and mother both watched the heroic death of their son in silence , but Pelagia , his wife , wept inconsolably in her cell ; and when the shots that brought an end to her young husband ’ s life rang out , she fell @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Fr .
Maxim Sandovich , a martyr for Orthodoxy .
The persecution of the Carpatho-Russians did not stop after the First World War .
1945 brought great suffering , firstly to those deported to the Ukraine .
For other Carpatho-Russians in south-east Poland , the Lemki , in 1947 there also came deportation , mainly far to the north-west , to Silesia , to the former homes of deported Germans .
This ‘ Vistula action ’ of deportation by the Poles was meant to denationalize the Carpatho-Russians .
Here follows the prayer of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ away from Poland to the Ukraine : O God , give me the strength to live through this day and help me to survive in this foreign land where they have brought me and my children .
O Lord , I pray and beseech Thee , let me not perish , nor my family , nor my people , who were late to sow the holy grain ; for the corn will ripen in the summer and they know not when or how it will be gathered .
O All-Highest Lord , let @ @ @ @ @ @ @ nor tomorrow , nor ever - and help us to keep alive in our memory all the beauty of our land , of the mountains , and of the rich , healing and pure waters in our rivers : the Bystry , the Poprad , and the Syan ; and let us also remember the fair and lovely country of the high pastures , and the woodland paths through the hills ; let us not forget the places of plenty in the forest where the mushrooms grow , and the fragrant strawberries , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the woodland clearings where the cattle graze .
O God , let us not forget our customs , the lilt of our mother tongue , our stories and our songs , our dances and our evenings together on holy days and workdays .
O Lord , give my children the wisdom to find their way back to the native land of their grandfathers and great-grandfathers to honour their graves , their churches and their faith .
O God , grant unto my children , grandchildren , and great-grandchildren all the gifts of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reason , courage , knowledge , piety , and also give them the most important of all human virtues – Faith , Hope and Love .
O Lord , bestow upon me and my children the knowledge to tell the difference between good and evil , happiness and unhappiness , and give me the wisdom to value goodness and be grateful for good !
Grant me to know how to influence an enemy , give me the generosity to help the poor , and also give me the understanding to convince the wrongdoer @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and to teach those who do not know .
Amen .
We have heard the voices of Orthodox Carpatho-Russia , calling to us from their highland homes .
This little corner of Holy Rus ’ has survived through a thousand years of oppression and persecution , outside the protection of the Russian State .
It can be said that all who confess Russian Orthodoxy , whatever our nationality and whatever language we use , belong to Carpatho-Russia .
For , whatever our nationality , we all live ‘ beyond the Carpathians ’ , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Russian State , in our Faith we all belong to Rus ’ , to Holy Russia , a land much greater than any mere State .
Scattered across the face of the earth , we live surrounded by Non-Orthodox , and suffer , like the Hebrews who of old wept in exile by the waters of Babylon .
In suffering for Holy Orthodoxy , we too , like the faithful Orthodox Rusyns , belong to Holy Rus ’ .
And in picking up such fragments of Holy Orthodoxy all over today ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ putting them together like the pieces of a giant jigsaw , we rediscover not only ourselves , but also the whole picture of a once Orthodox Europe , and there discover the Image of Christ , Who has been here all the time .
Holy Hieromartyr Maxim and Holy Father Alexis pray to God for Orthodox Carpatho-Russia , and for all us Orthodox beyond the Carpathians !

The Eastern-most residents of the original 9th century Russian state (Kievan Rus), the Carpatho-Russians have clung fiercely to their faith and ethnicity while surrounded by enemies and persecution.
This article from our archives was first published on RI in September 2017
This article originally appeared on: Russian Faith, a new website with news about the Christian renaissance in Russia. See their introductory video at end of article
Lemko (Rusyn) women in national dress. Lemko's are a Carpatho-Russian tribe from Western Ukraine.
Lord, Thou hast been our refuge from generation to generation.
The Great Doxology (part of a Russian Orthodox Morning Service).
O God, give me the strength to live through this day and help me to survive in this foreign land where they have brought me and my children...O Lord, give my children the wisdom to find their way back to the native land of their grandfathers and great-grandfathers to honour their graves, their churches and their faith.
Kateryna Rusyn
"Not all those who wander are lost"
J.R.R. Tolkien
Once when the American pop-artist Andy Warhol, was asked where he came from, he answered: ‘I come from nowhere’. In one sense he was right, for his real name was Ondrej Varchola, the son of Carpatho-Russian immigrants to Pittsburgh in the US in 1918. It is no good looking on a map – you will not find Carpatho-Russia. It exists, and yet it has never existed, it is ‘nowhere’. No wonder that some have called the Carpatho-Russians ‘the Kurds of Europe’. Who are they and where is Carpatho-Russia?
Perhaps a more common name for Carpatho-Russia is Ruthenia. However, we should use this name ‘Ruthenia’ with care, for, just as Greeks do not call themselves ‘Greek’, so ‘Ruthenians’ do not call themselves ‘Ruthenian’. This Eastern Slav people, who live in and around the Carpathian mountains, speak a language which resembles Ukrainian, and yet which is distinct from it. For well over fifteen hundred years, they have lived in these Carpathians, the original home of all the Slav peoples.
The Carpathian Mountains are truly a place of beauty. Check out this article about a martyred Rusyn Priest for more stunning pictures like that.
Before the Russian Revolution, most Carpatho-Russians lived scattered across a thousand villages in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, many in a region known as Galicia, where they were sorely persecuted and Uniatized. After the break-up of that oppressive Empire, the true ‘prison of the peoples’, most Carpatho-Russians found themselves living in Poland and Slovakia.
Since 1945, when Stalin took an eastern slice of Slovakia, most, over 600,000, have lived in what is now the Ukraine. Others still live in north-east Slovakia north of Presov, and in the south-east corner of Poland. However, there are also smaller groups of Carpatho-Russians in Hungary, Serbia and Romania and elsewhere, and also a very large emigration, mainly from 1880-1914, in the USA, especially in Pennsylvania and Connecticut, and in other countries of the New World. (One of these Carpatho-Russians, Sgt Michael Strank, was the soldier who raised the stars and stripes at Iwo Jima, thus figuring in one of the most famous photographs of the twentieth century).
Sometimes called ‘rusnaks’, in the Ukraine the Carpatho-Russians are often known as ‘Transcarpathians’, in Poland as ‘Lemki’ and in Slovakia they are called ‘Subcarpathians’. Academics usually term them as ‘Carpatho-Russians’ or ‘Carpatho-Rusyns’. However, they call themselves ‘Rusyn’.
With their emigration, the Carpatho-Russians number well over one million souls, perhaps as many as one and a half million. By folklore and custom the Carpatho-Russians resemble very much the Slovaks, Ukrainians and Poles, with influences from the Austrians and the Hungarians. However, by religion, and this is what defines the Carpatho-Russians, they are all Orthodox-rite.
Palanok Castle, Ukrainian Transcarpathia
Less than one third are actually Orthodox, and over two thirds, since the forced ‘Unia’ of the end of the sixteenth century, are nominal Greek-Catholics or Uniats. No Carpatho-Russian worthy of the name, is a Latin Catholic or Protestant. Moreover, if you talk to such ordinary Greek-Catholics, most of them will tell you, and they believe it, that they are in fact ‘Pravoslavny’ – Orthodox – such is the deception and trickery played on the simple by the clerics of the Vatican.
Converted to Orthodoxy by Sts Cyril and Methodius, traditionally in the year 863, for centuries the Carpatho-Russian people survived as Orthodox, outside the protection of any Orthodox State, and many still do so today.
Under their beloved Patron, St Nicholas the Wonderworker, they have survived innumerable persecutions and massacres, particularly from Catholic Poles, Hungarians and Austrians (at their notorious Thalerhof concentration camp), then Czechs, Fascist Germans and Slovaks, then Communist Poles and Ukrainians and now Slovak Uniats.
Catholic Uniates stole many Orthodox Churches and converted them into Catholic churches similar to this one in Lvov.
Over one hundred years ago, starvation and persecution led many of them, nearly half a million, to emigrate to the USA. Here many of the Greek Catholics among them, persecuted by Latin Catholic bishops, reverted to Orthodoxy. They came to form the backbone of what has now become the Orthodox Church in America (OCA). Other Orthodox, formed the fifty parishes, now under Metropolitan Nicholas of the Carpatho-Russian Diocese (at present in the Patriarchate of Constantinople).
Some others belong to the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (ROCOR), like the [then] present head of ROCOR, Metropolitan Laurus [now diseased]. Indeed, before the Second World War, the Carpatho-Russians were much helped by the ROCOR monastery in Ladomirova in Carpatho-Russia, which published a journal, ‘Orthodox Carpatho-Russia’. After that war the printing press and monastery moved to Jordanville in the USA and the title of the journal changed to the present ‘Orthodox Russia’.
Ladomirova Monastery of Saint Job of Pochaev
In their homelands, Greek Catholic Carpatho-Russians, persecuted by the Communists, are now reviving. Unfortunately, fanatical Ukrainian nationalist sentiment, originally an anti-Russian tool invented by Austrians and Hungarians, has lately been much exacerbated among them by the Vatican. In the last fifteen years, these Uniats have been taking revenge for Communist persecution on the Orthodox, causing considerable problems through their aggression and stealing most of the old wooden Orthodox churches in Slovakia from the Orthodox.
As regards the Orthodox who remain in the homeland, they belong to the Orthodox Churches of the Ukraine, Slovakia and Poland. In the Ukraine there are some tensions between Ukrainians and the Carpatho-Russians. They mainly live around Uzhgorod, near the border with Slovakia, to which State this region belonged until 1945. Indeed, Uzhgorod is the real capital of Carpatho-Russia.
As regards the Orthodox Church of the Czech Lands and Slovakia, it is in fact divided into three ethnic dioceses, one for Czechs, one for Slovaks, and a reinvigorated one, the real Metropolitan centre of this Local Church, in Presov, for the Carpatho-Russians, the Rusyny of ‘Presov Rus’ (Priashevskaya Rus’).
The Polish Orthodox Church is in fact largely composed of Ukrainians and to a lesser extent Belorussians, with very few Poles, but it also includes Carpatho-Russians, Lemki, faithful like most Orthodox Rusyns in the homeland, to the Orthodox calendar.
In the Diocese of the Polish Church bordering Slovakia, under Bishop Adam, there is a particular revival, which has come about partly since the canonization in 1994 of the Priest-Martyr Maxim, slain by the Latins in 1914. In 2003, another confessor, St Alexis (Kabaliuk) (1875-1947), ‘The Apostle of Carpatho-Russia’, whose relics were found intact in 1999, was canonized in the western Ukraine – Carpatho-Russia. He not only resisted the Austro-Hungarian persecutors, but later also the corruptions of the modernist innovations of the Patriarchate of Constantinople and found protection for his people in the Russian and Serbian Churches.
We now give the Life of the Holy Martyr Maxim, which explains something of the background to the sufferings of the Carpatho-Russian people.
Check out this great article about Father Maxim to learn more about his amazing life and brutal martyrdom by the hands of Austrian Catholics.
Orthodoxy in Carpatho-Russia has deep roots and the infamous ‘Unia’, or union with Rome, did not begin with the common people. In fact it was imposed by the machinations of the urban merchant class and a small minority of the clergy who desired the same feudal rights as their Catholic counterparts. Thus, these two classes of people betrayed their Orthodox princes and the faithful. The two religions struggled and even after the ‘victory’ of the Unia, Orthodoxy was not forgotten.
To counterbalance Catholic influence and to further deceive the people, the Uniats carefully preserved the purity of the Eastern Orthodox ritual, considering that a policy of slow and gradual Latinization would be far more successful in the long run than one of outright imposition of the Roman ritual. Yet the cultural inclination of the Carpatho-Russian people towards the Russian mainstream, which expressed itself in undisguised sympathy for Orthodoxy, could not be silenced. In the eyes of most prominent Carpatho-Russians, the Unia was but the instrument and means employed to sunder the one Russian family and they directed their gaze towards Orthodoxy as the ancient and original faith of their people when Holy Rus had been one.
This inclination, which was distinctively Russian, was a crucial element in the Carpatho-Russian reaction against ‘Ukrainianism’, artfully contrived by the Germans and Austrians as a weapon against the pan-Slav movement that threatened their domination of the area. Even among the Carpatho-Russian Uniat clergy, who perpetuated the idea of the union, there were sympathies towards Orthodoxy. These sympathies were so intense that the very concept of ‘Catholic’ was considered a sort of heresy. Indeed, their concept of the union was reduced to a purely jurisdictional recognition of the primacy of the Pope of Rome.
Orthodox sympathies were characteristic of the people of Carpatho-Russia. Alarmed by the growth of these sympathies and concluding that this growth was being directed toward rapprochement with Russia, from about 1900 on, the Austro-Hungarian authorities began to persecute. Unprecedented repression was imposed on Russophile clergy, both Uniat and Orthodox. The area teamed with informers. Not only the gendarmes, village clerks and sheriffs, but also teachers and some clergy denounced their neighbors. It reached the point where, in some areas of Carpatho-Russia, the entire educated class - priests, lawyers, judges, teachers, high school and university students, as well as peasants - were subjected to mass arrests. The prisons overflowed with those accused of treason. One in five Carpatho-Russians was imprisoned.
Lvov, Ukraine, one of the places where Father Maxim was imprisoned.
In accordance with a directive issued from Vienna, the Uniat Metropolitan of Lvov, threatened by the growth of Orthodoxy, quickly shifted his policy to one of isolation from all that was Orthodox. A Ukrainian Uniat ritual was concocted, which differed significantly from Orthodox ritual. The names of saints especially revered in Russia were deleted from the calendar. The veneration of wonderworking icons of the Mother of God which had appeared in Russia (e.g. the Iveron, Kazan and Pochaev icons) were proscribed. The word ‘Orthodox’ was replaced in the divine services with ‘Catholic’. Candidates suspected of harbouring Russophile sympathies were refused admittance to Uniat seminaries, acceptance being limited exclusively to those admittedly Ukrainian in outlook, who were prepared to submit a written oath of hatred for Russia.
Throughout the Carpathian region a tremendous upheaval shook the parishes. Uniat priests of Russian persuasion were driven from their posts, their families were cast out into the streets, and few were the courageous souls who dared to defy the authorities by sheltering the homeless. The parishes were then turned over to newly-ordained priests who had received their education at the hands of the Jesuits of the Basilian College. The imposition of the new Ukrainian Uniat ritual was entrusted to the Jesuit-educated monks of the ‘Order of St. Basil the Great’. But if life had become difficult for the Uniat Russophile clergy, it was far worse for the few Orthodox priests and their families in Carpatho-Russia and Galicia. Let us examine the case of one such priest, Fr. Maxim Sandovich, of blessed memory.
Fr. Maxim was born in Galicia, the son of Timothy and Christina Sandovich of the village of Zdyna.
His father was a prosperous farmer, who also served as choir director in the local parish church. Having completed four years of study at the high school in Novy Sanch, Maxim stole across the border into Russia and became a novice at the great Pochaev Lavra in Volynia.
A view of Pochaev Lavra towards Dormition Cathedral.
Subsequently he attended the Orthodox seminary at Zhitomir, and after marrying a young Orthodox woman named Pelagia, was ordained in 1911 to the holy priesthood and returned to his homeland. His pastoral and missionary service was not to last for long, for the militia were ever vigilant; he was denounced by a Ukrainian teacher, a certain Leos, and the Austrian gendarmes carried him off in chains to a prison in Lvov in 1912. He was to languish in prison without trial or inquest for two years, enduring indescribably horrible conditions and abuse. Finally, on the very eve of World War I he was released for lack of evidence.
Fr. Maxim returned again to his home in the village of Hrab, but was not fated to remain there long. The first shots fired in the new war were the heralds of a new repression of Carpatho-Russians. On 4 August 1914, the militia arrested the young priest, his father, mother, brother and wife and after much abuse dragged them off in shackles to the district prison in Horlitsk. The road was rough and the prisoners were forced to travel on foot, prodded on by the bayonets of the gendarmes. Words cannot convey the suffering of the innocent Sandovich family.
Gorlice (Horlitsk) then and now.
Two days passed in prison and Sunday 6 August dawned. Having risen from his bunk before the light of day Fr. Maxim read his morning prayers and three akathists. Then he stood motionless, lost in thought, gazing out the little window of his cell, trying to catch a glimpse of his wife or one of his relatives. They had all been imprisoned in different cells and were denied permission to see each other. The silence of the grave lay on the gloomy building, but beyond the walls the noise of a crowd could be heard.
What could this mean? Could they have brought in some new ‘spies’? Perhaps they had caught some new deserters the terrors of war for many are hard to bear. Suddenly a loud thud on the prison’s black gates broke the priest’s reverie. It was not yet six o’clock. A moustachioed German captain from Linz, Dietrich, a man with a reputation for cruelty and sadism, entered the prison compound with two soldiers and four gendarmes. They were followed close behind by the prison wardens, various civil servants, officers and a small group of curious ladies. This entourage was headed by Pan Mitshka, the head man of the Horlitsky District. The order was given for the warden to bring Fr. Maxim forth from his cell.
Horlitsky District
Silence fell. Two soldiers led the twenty-eight year-old Orthodox priest from the prison and suddenly he realized where they were taking him. ‘Be so good as not to hold me. I will go peacefully wherever you wish’, he said humbly, and with the dignity that becomes a true shepherd of souls he walked to the sight of his final torments. The murmuring of the crowd and the venomous glances they threw the ‘traitor’ affected his courageous bearing not in the least. He walked as befits a follower of Christ, calmly, with measured gait, to the fateful wall.
Again silence reigned. An execution was to be carried out in the name of the ‘apostolic’ Emperor - the execution of a Russian priest on Russian land! Captain Dietrich, the hero of the day, ripped the cross from Fr. Maxim’s chest, cast it to the ground at the priest’s feet and trampled it under foot; he then tied the prisoner’s hands behind his back and bound his eyes with a black kerchief. ‘You do these things needlessly. I have no intention of running away’. The captain laughed diabolically and with a piece of white chalk drew a line across the priest’s chest on his black cassock as a target for the riflemen. Then he arranged the executioners - two gendarmes on each side. The two soldiers, heavily armed, stood only three paces from the defenceless man.
An even more profound stillness descended upon the scene. Mitshka took a blue paper from his briefcase and read the death sentence. A short command was uttered by the captain; the sabre was raised; when it was lowered the rifles sounded. The shots echoed through the back corridors of the prison, and again the silence of the cemetery filled the prison courtyard.
Through this silence the voice of Fr. Maxim was heard distinctly: ‘Long live the Russian people!’ he cried, leaning his head against the prison wall. ‘Long live the Holy Orthodox Faith!’ he continued, his voice becoming weaker. ‘Long live Slavdom!’ he finished, barely audible. These were his final words. Wracked with the throws of death, his powerful frame slid down the wall to the flagstones of the courtyard.
One of the gendarmes approached and ended the priest’s sufferings with three shots from his revolver; the priests brains splattered against the prison wall. His aged father and mother both watched the heroic death of their son in silence, but Pelagia, his wife, wept inconsolably in her cell; and when the shots that brought an end to her young husband’s life rang out, she fell senseless to the ground. Thus died Fr. Maxim Sandovich, a martyr for Orthodoxy.
The Tomb of Father Maxim
The Prayer of Kateryna
The persecution of the Carpatho-Russians did not stop after the First World War. 1945 brought great suffering, firstly to those deported to the Ukraine. For other Carpatho-Russians in south-east Poland, the Lemki, in 1947 there also came deportation, mainly far to the north-west, to Silesia, to the former homes of deported Germans. This ‘Vistula action’ of deportation by the Poles was meant to denationalize the Carpatho-Russians. Here follows the prayer of one deportee, Kateryna Rusyn, taken away from Poland to the Ukraine:
O God, give me the strength to live through this day and help me to survive in this foreign land where they have brought me and my children.
O Lord, I pray and beseech Thee, let me not perish, nor my family, nor my people, who were late to sow the holy grain; for the corn will ripen in the summer and they know not when or how it will be gathered.
O Merciful God, may the sun rise and set each day, so that it brings light to all people and me, in the same way as it set each evening, there, far away, in the Beskyd Mountains, in my native hills and valleys; and may rye and every kind of seed grow for us, so that by winter we all have bread and hay and every grain to feed the people, the birds and the cattle.
Beskyd Mountains
O All-Highest Lord, let us not forget - neither today, nor tomorrow, nor ever - and help us to keep alive in our memory all the beauty of our land, of the mountains, and of the rich, healing and pure waters in our rivers: the Bystry, the Poprad, and the Syan; and let us also remember the fair and lovely country of the high pastures, and the woodland paths through the hills; let us not forget the places of plenty in the forest where the mushrooms grow, and the fragrant strawberries, blackberries, blueberries and raspberries, and the woodland clearings where the cattle graze.
O God, let us not forget our customs, the lilt of our mother tongue, our stories and our songs, our dances and our evenings together on holy days and workdays.
O Lord, give my children the wisdom to find their way back to the native land of their grandfathers and great-grandfathers to honour their graves, their churches and their faith.
O God, grant unto my children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren all the gifts of the Holy Spirit: wisdom, understanding, reason, courage, knowledge, piety, and also give them the most important of all human virtues – Faith, Hope and Love.
O Lord, bestow upon me and my children the knowledge to tell the difference between good and evil, happiness and unhappiness, and give me the wisdom to value goodness and be grateful for good!
Grant me to know how to influence an enemy, give me the generosity to help the poor, and also give me the understanding to convince the wrongdoer of the evil of his ways, and to teach those who do not know. Amen.
Transcarpathian Ukraine
We have heard the voices of Orthodox Carpatho-Russia, calling to us from their highland homes. This little corner of Holy Rus’ has survived through a thousand years of oppression and persecution, outside the protection of the Russian State. It can be said that all who confess Russian Orthodoxy, whatever our nationality and whatever language we use, belong to Carpatho-Russia. For, whatever our nationality, we all live ‘beyond the Carpathians’, and though we do not belong to the Russian State, in our Faith we all belong to Rus’, to Holy Russia, a land much greater than any mere State.
Scattered across the face of the earth, we live surrounded by Non-Orthodox, and suffer, like the Hebrews who of old wept in exile by the waters of Babylon. In suffering for Holy Orthodoxy, we too, like the faithful Orthodox Rusyns, belong to Holy Rus’.
And in picking up such fragments of Holy Orthodoxy all over today’s Non-Orthodox and anti-Orthodox Europe, in putting them together like the pieces of a giant jigsaw, we rediscover not only ourselves, but also the whole picture of a once Orthodox Europe, and there discover the Image of Christ, Who has been here all the time.
Holy Hieromartyr Maxim and Holy Father Alexis pray to God for Orthodox Carpatho-Russia,
and for all us Orthodox beyond the Carpathians!
A video introducing the Russian Faith website:


russia-insider--2020-09-20--Russia's Literary Titans Loved Hanging Out in Crimea

Sought inspiration among the sun , the sea and the mountains This article from our archives was first published on RI in July 2015 Summer in the early 20th century brought an outsized concentration of Russian intelligentsia , bohemians , artists and writers .
Simply meandering around local beaches would have been a good way of spotting members of the country ’ s intellectul elite .
The first time that Anton Chekhov felt ill was in district court where he worked as a reporter for the “ Peterburgskaya Gazeta ” newspaper .
Chekhov had all of the symptoms of pulmonary @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sputum , a fever and felt weak .
However , for some reason he did not attempt to receive any treatment , even though he was not only a writer , but above all , a doctor .
Chekhov had to move to Crimea after his health worsened dramatically .
He sold the rights for all of his prose works and with these proceeds built a small villa not far from Yalta ( 1276 kilometers from Moscow ) .
He planted saplings and flowers around his house and decorated everything according to his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ A. Chekhov in his house in Yalta , 1901 .
Source : Ullstein Bild/Vostock-Photo They say that the writer ’ s wife Olga Knipper-Chekhova , a famous 20th century stage actress , had a passion for wild parties .
However , Chekhov was able to tune out the noise during parties and write his brilliant works in the corner of a crowded living room .
However , Chekhov ’ s wife did not visit him very often .
He knew how important the job at the Moscow Art Theater run by Konstantin Stanislavsky @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he insisted that she stay in Moscow and keep her job .
Owing to the efforts of the writer ’ s sister Maria , the interiors of Chekhov ’ s dacha have kept their original form .
In the library where Chekhov wrote “ Three Sisters ” and “ The Cherry Orchard , ” plays that are still staged worldwide , it is possible to see the ornate conditions in which he worked .
The library contains an antique telephone set , his writing desk and photographs of Leo Tolstoy and other contemporaries @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 's writing desk in his house in Yalta , 1968 .
Source : RIA Novosti/A.Givental I took a walk through the garden , embraced the big old trees that were planted by this extraordinary man and tears began to flow from my eyes – so emotional was the moment .
Up to 600 top creative intellectuals came to symbolist poet Maximilian Voloshin ’ s dacha in Koktebel ( 1433 kilometers from Moscow ) every summer season .
Although he was not a rich man , Voloshin hosted all of them for free .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ entirely by herself so that writers and painters could concentrate on their art and not be distracted by anything else .
Here the young poet Marina Tsvetaeva , whose father founded the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts in Moscow , met her future husband Sergei Efron .
Mikhail Bulgakov , whose “ A Young Doctor 's Notebook ” was recently adapted as a miniseries starring Daniel Radcliffe and Jon Hamm , first read his unpublished works at this dacha .
In Voloshin ’ s studio hang portraits of him painted by Diego @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
In bohemian circles Maximilian Voloshin was famous for his singularity : he loved to dress up in ethnic costumes and invent funny rituals for various occasions .
One charismatic tour guide from the Voloshin Museum told me that she , too , likes to wear ethnic costumes , as do many of the local residents in Koktebel .
Sevastopol : panorama of a war in which Leo Tolstoy fought Tolstoy and his wife Sophia in Crimea , 1900s .
Source : Ullstein Bild/Vostock-Photo The world famous Russian writer Leo Tolstoy participated in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 1853-1856 .
This was the largest of all 19th century European military campaigns with France , Great Britain , the Ottoman Empire and Sardinia all fighting in opposition against the Russian Empire .
Tolstoy described the Siege of Sevastopol in 1854-55 in his “ Sevastopol Sketches ” after witnessing the events himself .
The Siege of Sevastopol panorama , a large-scale work of art that depicts those dramatic events can be found in the Defense of Sevastopol Museum .
Sevastopol Defense Museum With time this painting has become one of the city ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ huge canvas is 115 x 14 meters and shows the heavy fighting of these events that made the idyllic seascapes of Sevastopol unrecognizable .
The panorama is enhanced by a 1000 square meter recreation of the 19th-century military fortifications used in this battle .
Currently , this is one of the 60 largest panoramas in the world .
Everything that Leo Tolstoy wrote about 150 years ago is somehow magically still in the air of Sevastopol .
This is a city with a heroic atmosphere .
The only tour company for foreign visitors @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Southern Comfort .
The company employs tour guides that speak English , French , German , Italian , Spanish , Chinese , Japanese as well as other languages , and managers that can organize gastronomic , environmental and wine tours .
They can also develop tailor-made routes based on a client ’ s wishes .
The easiest way to reach the peninsula is by plane .
Russian airlines Aeroflot , Transaero , S7 , Donavia and Utair , and the charter airline Vimavia fly there from all three Moscow airports .
The planes @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s best to book your flight in advance , especially if you want a window seat or to sit together with your companion .
The flight takes 2.5 hours .
Roundtrip fares from Moscow start at 5,500 rubles ( about $ 110 ) .
The cheapest plane tickets to Crimea can be found on jetradar.com .
RIR Editors ’ note : A little more than a year has passed since a referendum was held on Crimea , which led to a treaty being signed between the peninsula and Russia .
This has been @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Ukraine and the West and many foreign embassies warn citizens against travel to the peninsula .
As a result of economic sanctions that were passed in response to this event , traveling is not easy in Crimea : practically no international airlines land here and visitors must bring fistfuls of cash with them .
Bankcards and credit cards are not accepted anywhere , although it is possible to change foreign currency in banks .

Sought inspiration among the sun, the sea and the mountains
This article from our archives was first published on RI in July 2015
This article originally appeared at Russia & India Report
Summer in the early 20th century brought an outsized concentration of Russian intelligentsia, bohemians, artists and writers. Simply meandering around local beaches would have been a good way of spotting members of the country’s intellectul elite.
Yalta: Anton Chekhov's dacha
Chekhov's dacha in Yalta, 2015. Source: Alamy/Legion-Media
The first time that Anton Chekhov felt ill was in district court where he worked as a reporter for the “Peterburgskaya Gazeta” newspaper.
Chekhov had all of the symptoms of pulmonary tuberculosis: he had blood in his sputum, a fever and felt weak.
However, for some reason he did not attempt to receive any treatment, even though he was not only a writer, but above all, a doctor.
Chekhov had to move to Crimea after his health worsened dramatically. He sold the rights for all of his prose works and with these proceeds built a small villa not far from Yalta (1276 kilometers from Moscow).
He planted saplings and flowers around his house and decorated everything according to his taste – modest, yet classy.
A. Chekhov in his house in Yalta, 1901. Source: Ullstein Bild/Vostock-Photo
They say that the writer’s wife Olga Knipper-Chekhova, a famous 20th century stage actress, had a passion for wild parties. However, Chekhov was able to tune out the noise during parties and write his brilliant works in the corner of a crowded living room.
However, Chekhov’s wife did not visit him very often. He knew how important the job at the Moscow Art Theater run by Konstantin Stanislavsky and Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko was for her and he insisted that she stay in Moscow and keep her job.
Owing to the efforts of the writer’s sister Maria, the interiors of Chekhov’s dacha have kept their original form.
In the library where Chekhov wrote “Three Sisters” and “The Cherry Orchard,” plays that are still staged worldwide, it is possible to see the ornate conditions in which he worked. The library contains an antique telephone set, his writing desk and photographs of Leo Tolstoy and other contemporaries of the famous writer.
Anton Chekhov's writing desk in his house in Yalta, 1968. Source: RIA Novosti/A.Givental
I took a walk through the garden, embraced the big old trees that were planted by this extraordinary man and tears began to flow from my eyes – so emotional was the moment.
Koktebel: Maximilian Voloshin's dacha
M. Voloshin's house in Koktebel, 1983. Source: RIA Novosti/S. Prijmak
Up to 600 top creative intellectuals came to symbolist poet Maximilian Voloshin’s dacha in Koktebel (1433 kilometers from Moscow) every summer season.
Although he was not a rich man, Voloshin hosted all of them for free. Voloshin’s mother Elena managed housekeeping entirely by herself so that writers and painters could concentrate on their art and not be distracted by anything else.
Here the young poet Marina Tsvetaeva, whose father founded the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts in Moscow, met her future husband Sergei Efron.
Mikhail Bulgakov, whose “A Young Doctor's Notebook” was recently adapted as a miniseries starring Daniel Radcliffe and Jon Hamm, first read his unpublished works at this dacha. In Voloshin’s studio hang portraits of him painted by Diego Rivera, whom he met in Paris.
M. Voloshin in Koktebel, 1926. Source: RIA Novosti
In bohemian circles Maximilian Voloshin was famous for his singularity: he loved to dress up in ethnic costumes and invent funny rituals for various occasions.
One charismatic tour guide from the Voloshin Museum told me that she, too, likes to wear ethnic costumes, as do many of the local residents in Koktebel.
Sevastopol: panorama of a war in which Leo Tolstoy fought
Tolstoy and his wife Sophia in Crimea, 1900s. Source: Ullstein Bild/Vostock-Photo
The world famous Russian writer Leo Tolstoy participated in the battles of the Crimean War between 1853-1856. This was the largest of all 19th century European military campaigns with France, Great Britain, the Ottoman Empire and Sardinia all fighting in opposition against the Russian Empire.
Tolstoy described the Siege of Sevastopol in 1854-55 in his “Sevastopol Sketches” after witnessing the events himself. The Siege of Sevastopol panorama, a large-scale work of art that depicts those dramatic events can be found in the Defense of Sevastopol Museum.
Sevastopol Defense Museum
With time this painting has become one of the city’s most-visited and spectacular attractions. This huge canvas is 115 x 14 meters and shows the heavy fighting of these events that made the idyllic seascapes of Sevastopol unrecognizable. The panorama is enhanced by a 1000 square meter recreation of the 19th-century military fortifications used in this battle. Currently, this is one of the 60 largest panoramas in the world.
Everything that Leo Tolstoy wrote about 150 years ago is somehow magically still in the air of Sevastopol. This is a city with a heroic atmosphere.
Chekhov and Tolstoy hanging out in Crimea, 1901 Chekhov and Tolstoy hanging out in Crimea, 1901
The only tour company for foreign visitors operating in Crimea at the moment is Southern Comfort. The company employs tour guides that speak English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese as well as other languages, and managers that can organize gastronomic, environmental and wine tours. They can also develop tailor-made routes based on a client’s wishes.
The easiest way to reach the peninsula is by plane. Russian airlines Aeroflot, Transaero, S7, Donavia and Utair, and the charter airline Vimavia fly there from all three Moscow airports.
The planes are often full, therefore it’s best to book your flight in advance, especially if you want a window seat or to sit together with your companion. The flight takes 2.5 hours. Roundtrip fares from Moscow start at 5,500 rubles (about $110). The cheapest plane tickets to Crimea can be found on jetradar.com.
RIR Editors’ note: A little more than a year has passed since a referendum was held on Crimea, which led to a treaty being signed between the peninsula and Russia.
This has been the source of enormous controversy between Russia, Ukraine and the West and many foreign embassies warn citizens against travel to the peninsula.
As a result of economic sanctions that were passed in response to this event, traveling is not easy in Crimea: practically no international airlines land here and visitors must bring fistfuls of cash with them.
Bankcards and credit cards are not accepted anywhere, although it is possible to change foreign currency in banks.