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On Cosmonautics Day about Yuri Gagarin

April 12 is the day of the first manned space flight. In 1961, this event of a historical scale was performed all over the world. And the person of this event is an ordinary Russian guy Yuri Gagarin. He remained in the memory of mankind forever.

For us this name is especially dear, since Gagarin was in our village visiting Mikhail Sholokhov and left a good memory of himself.

In the funds of the National Sholokhov Museum-Reserve there are kept about 100 photographs and negatives that depicted Gagarin's stay on Vyoshenskaya land. The author of most of them is our famous correspondent Vasili Chumakov. The episodes of the meeting of the first cosmonaut at the Bazkovsky aerodrome, the minutes of communication of Mikhail Sholokhov and Yuri Gagarin, moments of relaxation on the Don shore.

About these minutes, the former secretary of the Vyoshensky district party committee, Pyotr Mayatsky recalled in his book “Bells of Memory”: “A bright, sultry day. Hot. The scorching sun of June 1967 directly fried. However, nothing could be done to break a wonderful high rise in the mood of people.

 Lunchtime was approaching, and the long-awaited, sparkling silver plane appeared in the sky.

Yuri Gagarin was the first to appear. Audience greeted him with a storm of applause, and he skipped, with his right hand raised up and his unchanging smile, welcoming those who were walking down the plane, went to parental embrace of Mikhail Sholokhov and his family".

This atmosphere of warmth and enthusiasm accompanied Gagarin from his first to the last step on Vyoshenskaya land. Children and adults, ordinary Cossacks and leaders of the region did not take their astonished eyes from the astronaut, chanted everywhere: “Yura! Yura!” All this was reflected in the photographs of Vasili Chumakov and his colleagues. You look at these pictures and understand: this is history ...

Larisa Bukina