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The Town of Millerovo is 230

On February 14, it is the 230th anniversary of foundation of the town of Millerovo, which is closely connected with the biography and work of M.A.Sholokhov.

The writer often mentioned the town of Millerovo in his works: in the short story “The Herdsman”, in the novels “And Quiet Flows the Don”, “Virgin Soil Upturned” and “They Fought for Their Country”.

The estate and the settlement of Millerovo were founded in 1786 on the uncultivated land near the River Glubokaya by Ivan Abramovich Miller, an army captain, according to the decree of Empress Catherine II. Late in the XIX century, after the construction of the Rostov-Voronezh-Kozlov railway, the settlement became an important railway junction, and early in the XX century it became a major centre of the Donetsk District of the Don Army Region with a developed industry and trade. In 1918–1919, Millerovo was the site of the Civil War battles, and in 1920, here the Soviet Power was established. In 1926, Millerovo received a status of a town.

Sholokhov often visited the District Executive Committee, District Communist Party Committee and the local newspaper. There he met with the readers, journalists and read out the chapters from his books. The Millerovo newspaper published the chapters of the novel “And Quiet Flows the Don”. A.V.Kalinin remembered how he living with his parents and teachers in Millerovo hurried together with his schoolmates to the drama theatre to look into the windows at Sholokhov alive, who was reading out there his chapters of the novel “And Quiet Flows the Don”.

In Millerovo M.A.Sholokhov got acquainted with the Don writer P.V.Lebedenko, who lived there after the war and at that time was making his first steps in writing. Lebedenko served at the Millerovo aerodrome and often transported M.A.Sholokhov from the stanitsa to Moscow or to Rostov, or from Rostov to the stanitsa. Sholokhov became the first and the main literary instructor for the young writer.

In 1950, M.A.Sholokhov was elected Deputy of the USSR Supreme Soviet from the Millerovo constituency. He did a lot for development of the town. The residents of Millerovo addressed to him with personal requests. On May 29, 1974, the writer became the first freeman of Millerovo.

The Sholokhovs had warm and friendly relations with A.N.Yefimov, twice Hero of the Soviet Union, Air Marshal, and V.T.Logachov, First Secretary of the Millerovo CPSU District Committee.

The people of Millerovo cherish the memory about Sholokhov. One of the town streets bears his name. In 2007, in Millerovo, there was put up a monument to M.A.Sholokhov by sculptor N.V.Mozhayev. In 2015, a museum dedicated to the 110th anniversary of the writer was opened in the building of the railway station with the exhibition “The Worlds of Sculptor Mozhayev”. Besides, 10 km from the

town there is a place which the people of Millerovo call “Sholokhov’s Oaks”. Here the writer often stayed for rest on his way to Vyoshenskaya.

Yekaterina Karbysheva