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Enduring Value of Russian and World Culture

The 115th anniversary of the writer Mikhail Sholokhov is an important milestone in understanding the heritage of the Russian genius, who became a symbol of the literary era of the twentieth century.

Mikhail Sholokhov entered Russian and world literature, culture as an artist who described the life of the Don Cossacks in a time of peace and tragedy for the whole country. In the diploma of the Nobel Prize laureate we read: “To Mikhail Sholokhov. The 1965 Nobel Prize in literature was awarded in recognition of the artistic power and honesty that he showed in his Don epic about the historical phases of the life of the Russian people”. However, the role of Sholokhov in the holistic perception of him as an artist is far from limited to brilliant works about the people - throughout his life he has acted as an active fighter for the preservation of the spiritual and material values ??of Russian culture.

In 1936, Sholokhov literally saved from destruction the church of the Archangel Michael in stanitsa Vyoshenskaya, built in 1786 and which was the most important spiritual stronghold for the Cossacks of the stanitsa and nearby farms. He managed to persuade the authorities to save St. Nicholas Church in the stanitsa Elanskaya, built in honor of the victory in the Patriotic War of 1812.

Sholokhov supported the preservation of the song heritage of the Cossacks. On his initiative in 1935, the Vyoshensky Cossack folk choir was organized, which included talented Cossacks of the Vyoshensky district. The choir successfully performed not only in Rostov Region, but also in the palaces of culture of Moscow, and even on the stage of the Academic Bolshoy Theater. The choir performed ancient Cossack songs in their authentic sound, which aroused delight and approval from the audience.

In 1936, M. Sholokhov initiated the creation of the “Theater of Cossack Collective Farm Youth”, the first and only at that time in the Soviet Union. The assembled theater troupe from ordinary workers of the stanitsa and farms of the Vyoshensky district successfully performed not only in the stanitsa itself, but also toured throughout the South of the Soviet Union.

Strong friendship and cooperation connected the Russian writer with the the Don Cossack Song and Dance Ensemble under the direction of Anatoly Kvasov. He took into account the opinion of Mikhail Sholokhov as an expert on ancient Cossack songs, he consulted with the writer in determining the creative direction of the ensemble. Mikhail Sholokhov warned against distortion of the original folklore texts, gave valuable advice on how to reduce them, and ordered that the Don song be kept, one of the pearls of folk art.

Mikhail Sholokhov did his utmost to promote Russian classics, the works of contemporary writers abroad, as well as the publication of foreign authors in the Soviet Union, while he re-read a huge amount of published literature, he was personally acquainted with many foreign writers, they often turned to him for help in the publication of works.

Extensive epistolary heritage of Mikhail Sholokhov, correspondence with cultural figures, artists, readers from all over the country, abroad provides rich soil for shaping the image of the writer as a person who is clearly not indifferent to the preservation of folk traditions, culture and life principles.

June 19, 1970 the writer sent a letter to the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the RSFSR G. Voronov about the possibility of considering the celebration of the 400th anniversary of the Don Army and the creation of a museum in the stanitsa Starocherkasskaya dedicated to the Don Cossacks: “... There is something to be done about the stanitsa Starocherkasskaya. The people of the outskirts of Russia, who once inhabited it, stood for centuries on the borders of their homeland, and it is necessary to preserve for history and posterity at least what remains despite our neglect of the monuments of our native country”. In October of the same year, the State Commission arrived in the stanitsa Starocherkasskaya, which identified the monuments and memorial sites of the old stanitsa and, based on the act of this commission and the request of Mikhail Sholokhov, December 30, 1970 a decree for number 726 "On the creation in the stanitsa Starocherkasskaya historical and architectural museum-reserve" issued. For 15 years, thanks to the creation of the museum, such unique monuments as: Troops Resurrection Cathedral with a unique iconostasis of XVIII century were restored., the cathedral bell tower, the palace of the atamans of the Efremovs, ataman cuisine, the building of the monastery hotel, the house of the trading Cossacks Zhuchenkov, the house of K. Bulavin, the church of Peter and Paul, of the Don Mother of God and Ratnenskaya church. Who knows if everything would be implemented if M. Sholokhov did not focus on the preservation of this unique historical place.

March 14, 1978 Mikhail Sholokhov addressed in a letter to Leonid Brezhnev on the problems of the development of Russian culture. The writer openly opposed the belittling of the role of Russian culture in the historical spiritual process, the distortion of its high humanistic principles, and against showing the Russian people spiritually weak, incapable of intellectual creativity; against the destruction of Russian architectural monuments. The letter was filled with pain for the current state and future of Russian culture. Sholokhov’s fears were not groundless - many of the problems he pointed out to be relevant today, although for a long time in our country there has been no socialism “with an inhuman face”. However, as we know, the reaction to the letter was ambivalent in the secretariat of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the USSR, the letter was “carefully considered” and noted that it “is, unfortunately, one-sided and subjective.”

The creative legacy of the writer, his active social activities evoked a response and support from the people of the whole country, authorities could not ignore the position of the writer. At the request of Sholokhov, many issues of preserving the cultural values ??of the Russian people were resolved

It is impossible to overestimate the contribution of Mikhail Sholokhov in the improvement of the stanitsa Vyoshenskaya and Rostov region. In the difficult 1930s, Sholokhov sought to open a pedagogical school in Vyoshenskaya, to build socially significant institutions - a library, a house of culture, a student dormitory, and an educational building. His efforts as a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR erected a power station, a maternity hospital, a kindergarten, and a pharmacy in the stanitsa. In the post-war years, Sholokhov took part in the restoration of his native side, which had suffered during the war. In 1952, the work of the power plant was resumed, in the 1960s Sholokhov promotes the construction of police buildings (the police building now), the new Palace of Culture, the military registration and enlistment office, in 1976 a school building was built for 1000 student places (now the Sholokhov Gymnasium). Sanatorium "Vyoshensky" (1970), gas distribution station (1982), a bridge of strategic importance across the Don River (1984) also remind of the invaluable contribution of the writer to the development of our region.

In 1984, the Russian people experienced a huge loss - the writer was gone. A decree was signed on the perpetuation of his memory and the creation of the National Sholokhov Museum-Reserve. In addition to the fact that the established Museum included memorabilia related to the life of the writer - the house where Mikhail Sholokhov was born, the building of the village office in Vyoshenskaya, the Cossack kuren, to which the young Sholokhovs family moved from Karginskaya, - in 1987, the writer’s wife and children donated to the state the entire Estate of the Sholokhov family. The family made this decision in order to preserve everything in the same form as it was during the life of Mikhail Sholokhov, to enable admirers of the writer’s talent to feel the atmosphere surrounding the writer when creating works, his creative social activities. Life of the Sholokhov’s Estate after it became the object of the Museum is a separate topic, a separate novel, the action of which is unfolding on a larger scale every year and does not lose its main essence - “the spirit of hospitality always reigns here, as during the life of the owner”.

More than one generation will still turn to the writer's legacy in the search for answers to vital questions, in the search for spiritual support. Therefore, the preservation of the heritage of Mikhail Sholokhov, as one of the main missions of the Sholokhov Museum-Reserve, is of paramount importance.

Lidia Slyusarenko