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25 Years Ago the House at the Estate of M.A.Sholokhov was Opened for Visitors

25 years ago, on February 19, 1994, a ceremony of opening the memorial house at the Estate of M.A.Sholokhov in Stanitsa Vyoshenskaya, the main site of the Museum-Reserve, took place.

After the death of the writer his house and estate were included into the Museum-Reserve of M.A.Sholokhov, but they belonged to the family and Mariya Petrovna Sholokhova still lived in the house.

S.M.Sholokhova remembered: “My father did not think the house to be a museum. He always thought there must be a library in this house. <…> He said: “It is a good house. Let people come, read books here. Let there be a library here”. But the Central Committee decided otherwise. And my mother was still alive, when the house was announced a museum. And people started coming here…”

On the third anniversary of the writer’s death, February 21, 1987, Mariya Petrovna and her children Svetlana, Alexander, Mikhail and Mariya donated the house to the State with the right for Mariya Petrovna to live in it for life. When signing the contract Mariya Petrovna said: “My children and I decided to donate the house and estate to the State with the only aim, so that the spirit of hospitality should always reign here, as it did during the life of the owner.”

Mariya Petrovna had gone on January 20, 1992. After her death the house was restored, and the work on its museumfication and opening preparation for visitors was carried out. In it, the writer’s family helped a lot. The exposition of the house includes authentic furnishings, personal belongings of the writer and his family, a book collection, weapons. Valentina Ismailovna Sholokhova, the wife of M.M.Sholokhov, the younger son of the writer, heading the House-Museum from the first days of its existence remembered: “When creating the exposition we tried to recreate everything as it was before, during the life of the writer”.

On February 19, 1994, 10 years after the death of M.A.Sholokhov, the memorial house of the writer hospitably opened its doors for the visitors.

During the 25 years of the work of the house-museum there were lots of bright and interesting events. There were opened new sections of the exposition: “Weapons of the Writer” (2003), “Garage” (2003), “The Nobel Triumph” (2001), “For Travelling” (2004), “A Collection of Matches of M.A.Sholokhov” (2017), “Outbuilding. Summer Kitchen of the Sholokhovs” (2018). Temporary exhibitions were shown to tell about certain periods in the life of the Sholokhovs family. The

memorial collection was added with new objects donated by the writer’s family. In the house there were held meetings with the people, who knew M.A.Sholokhov personally.

Numerous interesting guests from different parts of Russia and foreign countries visited the house. Many of them came to Vyoshenskaya specially to lay flowers at the tomb of the favourite writer, to visit his house, to see the furnishings surrounded him every day and to get into the atmosphere favouring for creative work.

The House-Museum of M.A.Sholokhov is of great scientific and cultural importance. It is not just a house filled with things keeping memory of his owner. It is here that people learn about the features of his character, habits, circle of friends, literary preferences – about everything that makes a personality of the great writer.

Coming to the house of Mikhail Alexandrovich with different knowledge about his life and work the visitors discover for themselves the world of Sholokhov and leave the Estate wishing to read or reread his works and learn his biography deeper.

Following the promise given to the writer’s family by N.A.Bulavin, the first director of the Museum-Reserve, at the ceremony of donating the house to the State, the museum workers of the department “Estate of M.A.Sholokhov” try to convey to the visitors the spirit of kindness and humanity, which M.A.Sholokhov had established in the house for over 35 years.”

Yelena Popova