Museum Collection
A Music Box
This is a present from Iosiyo Abe, the worker of the Japanese Ambassy in Moscow, a harpist.
Mikhail Aleksandrovich and Mariya Petrovna Sholokhov got acquainted with Iosiyo Abe in Moscow early in the 30-s, when she interviewed the writer on the request of the editor of the “Kaizo” journal Yamamoto. In the autumn of 1935 Iosiyo Abe visited Vyoshenskaya. She wrote about her impressions in the essay “A Meeting with Sholokhov on the Don”, which was published in the journal of “Kaizo” (Tokyo, N2, 1936).
Later the Sholokhovs and Iosiyo Abe met several times in Moscow, corresponded. In 1966 Mikhail Aleksandrovich and his family visited Japan on invitation of the Japanese writers and men of culture. Iosiyo Abe was the writer’s permanent guide about Tokyo and other cities of Japan, she accompanied him during the meeting with the Japanese men of letters and at the first night of the play “Virgin Soil Upturned” at the theatre of “Mingay”.
After this meeting Iosiyo Abe presented the Sholokhovs with the music box, which, when open, tunes the melody from the opera by I.I. Dzerzhinskiy “The Quiet Don”.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
