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Cosmonautics Day in Vyoshenskaya

Today, on Cosmonautics Day, the inhabitants of the Earth planet remember the significant event – the first space flight of man. For the residents of Vyoshenskaya this day is especially important, because the first cosmonaut Yury Gagarin, who was the first in the world to make an orbital flight around our planet, is dear and close to the people of Vyoshenskaya.

This year, it is the 50th anniversary of Yury Gagarin’s visiting Vyoshenskaya on invitation of M.A.Sholokhov. Many of the people remember how the first cosmonaut was welcomed at the Bazki aerodrome in mid-June of 1967, how he and a group of young writers from socialist countries and the USSR spent two days in the stanitsa, how at the crowded rally Gagarin warmly greeted the residents of the stanitsa giving his smile to each of them.

Now, the place of the meeting is marked with a commemorative stele. Today, the residents and guests of the stanitsa bring flowers to it.

The collection of the Museum-Reserve of M.A.Sholokhov keeps photos and negatives showing the moments of meeting the first cosmonaut at the aerodrome, his meeting with the writer M.A.Sholokhov, the meeting and rest together with young writers on the bank of the River Don. The author of most of the pictures is Vasily Ilyich Chumakov, a well-known photo journalist of Vyoshenskaya.

Gagarin when remembering about the meetings with Mikhail Alexandrovich said: “Sholokhov is full of cordiality and friendliness. He attracts from the first phrase. It makes such an atmosphere as if you have known him personally for a long time and he has known your life a lot. To listen to him is a great pleasure. I visited different countries, met with different people including writers and men of art. I should say that the speech of Mikhail Alexandrovich is quite unique, extremely original and laconic. He has his own, Sholokhov’s words, I should say, they are always fresh, as if you haven’t heard them before…”

Olga Bakhtiyarova