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A.N. Kelin Visited the Museum-Reserve of M.A. Sholokhov

- I must have come to Russia for the twentieth time, - said the President of the Coordination Council of Russian compatriots in the Czech Republic Alexey Nikolayevich Kelin. – This time my younger son Peter and I are going to stay in Russia seven days, that is, till October, 16.

The father of A.N. Kelin, Nikolay Andreyevich, lived in emigration in Czechoslovakia, trained as a doctor, wrote poetry and memoirs (“A Cossack’s Confession”) about his native Don country, about the events of the Civil war. Together with his 15-year-old son Alexey he came to the USSR in the years of “Khrushchov’s Thaw”, visited Stanitsa Vyoshenskaya, had a long and detailed talk with M.A. Sholokhov.

And now, more than 50 years later, A.N. Kelin, with his son already, has been again in the house of Sholokhov seeing with great interest the exposition, remembering, showing the rarities of the Don Cossack culture to his son.

Besides, they visited Stanitsa Starocherkasskaya (the exhibition devoted to the Cossacks living abroad), Stanitsa Elanskaya, the town of Surovikino, the native land of their father and grandfather in Stanitsa Kletskaya.

He brought for the Museum a copy of N.A. Kelin’s letter to one of the London emigrant newspapers, where he supports the writer and highly appreciates his work.

He is brief to speak about himself: he had worked long as the staff director of one of the big Czech enterprises, has got three sons, eight grandchildren, now he is engaged in social work.

He sees the future of Russia in cooperation with Europe, especially in high technologies, otherwise it will be very difficult to compete with the economy of China, for instance. He thinks that the future of the Cossacks is connected with the activity of the Cossacks themselves on their historic lands. The Cossacks should only remember their ability for self-organization which was so typical for our forefathers.

A.N. Kelin looks forward to coming to the Don again to visit the Don remote places, old Cossack villages and stanitsas.

A. Kochetov