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Traveling of the Scholochovs and Delegations of Inhabitants of Stanitsa Vyoshenskaya to Hungary

Kadar, visited Hungary with his family and delegation of inhabitants of Vyoshenskaya. The delegation included Pyotr Mayatsky, First Secretary of the Vyoshensky Government, Andrey Zimovnov, Secretary Mikhail Sholokhov, Alexander Maksaev, chairman of the farm "Quiet Don", Khritinia Bokova, pig-tender of farm "Kruzhilinsky", V. Karghin, tractor driver, and Ivan Puzanov, head teacher of Vyoshenskaya secondary school, veteran of Second World War. 

In an interview with a Hungarian correspondent, Mikhail Sholokhov formulated the purpose of his trip: “I came to Hungary for the first time and with joy, because I have long wanted to get acquainted with the life of the Hungarian people. I arrived as a private person, so the official program will not interfere with me, and I can go wherever I want. My goal is twofold: personally get acquainted with Hungarian colleagues and study Hungarian agriculture”. 

On May 7, 1965, Sholokhov personally met fellow countrymen in Moscow at the Kazan railway station, escorted him to the hotel “Tsentralnaya” from the railway station, took care of the design and convenient accommodation. On May 7-8, he issued documents for a trip abroad, passes to Red Square, where on May 9 the parade was held in honor of the 20th anniversary of the Victory celebration. 

On May 10, the group of delegates from Vyoshenskaya arrived in the capital of the Hungarian People's Republic - Budapest. 

From the memoirs of Ivan Puzanov on the trip: “After a short rest, Mikhail Sholokhov invited all of us to take a walk around the city. Placed in the "Seagulls", we first went to the Liberation monument, which was erected by the Hungarian people in honor of the Soviet soldiers-liberators on the right bank of the Danube in the highest part of the city. Mikhail Sholokhov laid flowers at the foot of the monument. At the end of the day, Mikhail Sholokhov and Maria Sholokhova were received by the General Secretary of the Hungarian Socialist Workers Party, Janos Kadar. 

On the second day of their stay, the delegation was invited by the Soviet ambassador, who introduced the guests in detail to the history and modern life of the country. 

During the trip, the delegation was warmly welcomed at the stud farm, in the fields and farms, as well as in the agricultural cooperative in the village of Baia, at the metallurgical plant in the city of Dunaivaros, in the mines in the city of Pecs (where the writer was congratulated on his 60th birthday), the National Art gallery. Then part of the delegation visited the museum, others went to football. A lively conversation took place at the Agricultural Research Institute of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. Mikhail Sholokhov was interested in: “Which varieties prevail here - Russian, American or your own?” In response, the delegation said that every year more and more Russian varieties are used, and Hungarian specialists regularly undergo training in the USSR. 

On the eve of his departure, Mikhail Sholokhov was a guest at the Writers' Union of Hungary. Union General Secretary Imre Dobosi congratulated the writer on his anniversary. When it came to creative work, Mikhail Sholokhov said that his novel “They Fought for their Country” was conceived as a trilogy, he listened with interest to the story about the latest works of Hungarian literature. On the one-volume edition of “The Quiet Flows the Don”, Sholokhov autographed Imre Makai, translator of the two-volume edition of the novel (1949) into Hungarian. In conclusion, Mikhail Sholokhov gave an interview to two of his own correspondents of the pioneering magazine “Paitash”. 

The last days of the stay were spent in a holiday home on Lake Balaton, where the rest was combined with meetings with the Hungarian intelligentsia. 

From the memoirs of Andrey Zimovnov: “It is difficult to say why the writer showed greater interest in the Hungarian meetings: in literature or in agriculture. Obviously, the concepts of “art” and “land” were inextricable for him”. 

In the funds of the Sholokhov Museum-Reserve there are kept negatives and photographs with various episodes of the stay in Hungary of delegates from the stanitsa Veshenskaya. 

Lydia Bokova