Gnutov Vasily Petrovich was born into a Cossack family on August 25, 1911 in x. Sizov, Nizhne-Chirsky district, in the region of the Don Army, now Volgograd.
He began writing and publishing at the age of 16.
After graduating from the Rostov Pedagogical Institute (philological department), he later worked as a head teacher and director in schools in the Azov and Shakhty regions, teaching Russian language and literature.
After graduating from the Krasnodar Medical School, he worked for decades as a paramedic at a first-aid post in the Krasnoye farm, and was in charge of a paramedic and obstetric station.
Fate was harsh to him: V.P. Gnutov was repressed, with ten years in the Gulag behind him. But he passed the difficult path of life with honor.
It was there, in a camp setting, that the cycle of poems and stories “Northern Notebook” was formed. This is how, thanks to his enviable capacity for work and perseverance, Vasily Petrovich made his way into literature.
V. P. Gnutov wrote poems for children and about children, stories about nature. He wrote many articles on local history, pedagogical, and philological topics.
Vasily Petrovich was published in regional and central newspapers and magazines. He participated in many collective collections.
The story “Refused Pardon” was published in 1979 and tells the story of a Narodnaya Volya member, a native of the Don, Vasily Generalov.
In 1986, the novel “The Feat of Ermak” was published, in the center of which is the legendary figure of Ermak and the campaign of the Cossack squad associated with his name in Siberia. The novel takes place in the era of Ivan the Terrible. The author studied chronicles for four years to write this novel.
The essay-stories of V. P. Gnutov were created as a result of studying the works of A. S. Pushkin, the memoirs of the poet’s contemporaries, literary works and are the fruit of the researcher’s painstaking work.
Therefore, the book “A Poet in the Land of the Vast Steppes” took a long time to write. The stories in this book were first published by the Molot newspaper in 1974. A separate book was published in 1985. In his essay stories, V. Gnutov resurrects pictures of A. S. Pushkin’s stay on the Don, Kalmykia, and the North Caucasus. An expanded and revised edition of this book was published in 1998.
Before his death, V.P. Gnutov completed a large historical chronicle novel, Steep Waves, which tells about one Cossack family for more than two centuries.
Vasily Petrovich was constantly engaged in self-education. While still working in the north, he received additional medical literature from his sisters. But his creative nature also took its toll: he played the violin, guitar, balalaika, mandolin, and even participated in an orchestra, without having a musical education.
In addition to literature, Vasily Petrovich was very fond of theater. In the north, while working as a doctor in a hospital, he participated in an amateur group and staged plays.
The great merit of V.P. Gnutov is that the Aksai Museum organizes annual memorable holidays in honor of A.S. Pushkin.
In recent years, Vasily Petrovich lived and worked in Aksai.
Cossack, writer, Don writer died on June 20, 1999 at the age of 88.
Vasily Petrovich Gnutov, our fellow countryman - a member of the Union of Writers of Russia and today brings to readers the living word from the pages of his works.
This transcript of the audio recording was transferred in 1998 to the Aksai History Museum.
The recording itself was made earlier.
I was born on August 25, 1911 in the village of Sizovo, Nizhne-Chirsky district, Volgograd region. This is the former region of the Don Army. Both parents are hereditary Don Cossacks. He studied at high school in the village of Morozovskaya (now a city). The school had a pedagogical focus, and a year after graduation, on the advice of the writer I. Babel, I went to a Russian village, more precisely, to a remote village on the Volga, to learn from the people, observe life and teach.
I started writing at school, first poetry and a wall newspaper for the 10th anniversary of the October Revolution. When I was 16 years old, my essay about how I studied during the years of devastation was published in the Rostov magazine “Problems of Enlightenment in the Northern Caucasus.” The following year, in 1928, when I turned 17 years old, my review of the writer Arefiev’s story “Olga” was published in the Leningrad youth magazine “Rezec”.
Then I had a long observation period. Yes, and there was something to observe. The 29-30s passed: collectivization, dispossession, riots, arrests, executions, tears of the people. I was a primary school teacher. These observations were enough for me to write a novel - the story of four generations from 1770 to 1934 ("Steep Waves", written in the 80s, never published).
From this Volga village I moved to the Rostov region and entered the Rostov Pedagogical Institute here (5 years), after graduating from which I worked in a high school as a teacher of Russian and literature. He held administrative positions, was a head teacher, and a director in a secondary school in the city of Shakhty, Rostov region.
I've never been to the party. Then I was repressed in 1945 under Article 58, for a poem that was directed against the injustice of our Soviet system and Stalin himself personally. I remember the poem, but personally I stopped liking it.
In the north, being on public works for the first two years, I experienced both the hardship of labor and hunger. Of course, there was not enough food, people became dystrophic.
So I ended up in the hospital, where, of course, they fed me well and gave me rest. It was there that they noticed that I had an education and was quickly involved in medical work.
When monthly nursing courses were created, I was enrolled there. My sisters sent me textbooks and additional medical literature. While also educating myself, I completed the courses with honors. I became a nurse, although there we were called paramedics. So I stayed to work at the hospital.
During these years it became easier to live both morally and financially. And I started writing poetry again. I had them for about 50 years, and I never printed them anywhere. But last year (1996-1997) I published them in the Aksai newspaper “Victory” under the title “Poems from the Northern Notebook”, not all of them, of course, there is a large section about love, but I didn’t publish them anywhere, I’m afraid they will be misunderstood .
Vorkuta, Pechora, Salekhard, Kos-yu, I was there not only in the hospital. I was sent to a colony. I was getting a divorce.
Perhaps on a sultry evening in the south
I will find you, my friend.
I was not taken to the front because of my eyesight - I was a white ticket worker. I've been wearing glasses since I was 14-15 years old.
Returning from the north, I entered the Krasnodar Medical School and graduated with honors. He got a job as a paramedic in a psychiatric hospital in Rostov, in Kovalevka. He worked there, then went to work in the Krasny farm in the Aksai region. There I became the head of the paramedic and obstetric station.
They allowed me to teach and even gave me a place in the Oryol district of the Rostov region. But I didn’t go there, and there were no places here. Yes, I myself would go reluctantly. Firstly, my teaching profession involves piles of notebooks for testing, and my eyesight is poor. And secondly, writing is always, to some extent, freethinking, a double reading of thoughts, but who cares? From the teacher, and I am unreliable, although I was completely rehabilitated.
And I began to actively collaborate with Moscow magazines and Rostov newspapers. Here in Aksai too.
What were your hobbies besides literature? I love the theater. In the north, an amateur club was organized in the hospital. We once staged Lermontov's Masquerade.
You know, such wonderful people ended up there in the north: scientists and artists and musicians... So, in the play I got into the role so much that the audience felt hatred for my character. A friend of my friend asked her:
How do you live with such a scoundrel? He's such a scoundrel. She laughed:
This is his role in the play, he got into character, and he is a very good person!
I also played violin in the orchestra there. They asked me which music school I graduated from. And I took music lessons, played notes. but I never studied at a music school. He could provide accompaniment for another stringed instrument, played almost all stringed instruments: ordinary violin and viola, dombra guitar, balalaika, mandolin. Even today I have dreams about me playing the violin. Well, I want to play until I cry. But I gave my violin to our Aksai Museum... It is a Stradivarius brand...
Returning from the north, I married a newcomer. She was a participant in the Second World War, awarded military orders, fought on the front line, and went on the attack as a Komsomol organizer...
I was in the north for 10 years less 4 months. After all, we were practically not given credits. And after Stalin’s death, under Voroshilov, tests were introduced to us. But I was already finishing and only 4 months short and I was released in 1954 and immediately got married. I was 43 years old. We got three guys. Oleg appeared even before the camps. I was not married, but still I signed up my son for myself. He has a son. Alexander appeared in 1954, now he works as an engineer in Taganrog and has two sons. Sergei lives in Aksai and also has two sons. And daughter Tatyana, works at Selmash, she has one son. It so happened that I don’t have a single granddaughter, all are grandchildren.
And here are my books. There are collective collections together with N. Skripov, V. Jacques. There are books with poems and stories.
The magazine "Family and School" contains my short stories about children and for children. In Science and Religion there was an article “Superstition or Folk Wisdom.” This is when folk wisdom is expressed in proverbs and sayings. “The Young Naturalist” of 1991 contains my sketches about nature. "Don" No. 12:
The dog is sleeping near the field,
The baby sat on her back.
Well, get up, you lazy dog
Yes, take me faster.
The dog jumped up, eyes shining,
Suddenly the baby starts to cry.
I was afraid that I would kick
It doesn't reach the ground.
After perestroika, “Legends or true stories about Ermak” appeared. Much has been made up about Ermak. For example, the Urals believe that he comes from the Urals, but according to metrics it turns out that when he went beyond the Urals, he was 13 years old. And Ural scientists prove that it was Ermak. Based on the chronicles that were sent to me from Moscow and Leningrad libraries and the books of these Siberian and Ural scientists, I revised this, and in a scientifically based article I write “Legends and true stories about Ermak.”
How did you find the literature you needed?
First at the Public Library. Lenin (Moscow) you make a request: give a bibliographic reference, which books were written over a hundred years on such and such a topic, plus chronicles - 200-150 years ago. Using this directory, I make a request for literature, they send either a book or a film. I still keep some of them this way. But here are the details, what the carriage looked like, the clothes of those times, who was riding in the carriage, what they were thinking about.
Here, for example, from the book “A Poet in the Land of the Vast Steppes.” These are called “essay” stories; some author’s imagination is allowed there. Knowing the works of Pushkin, the biography of Pushkin, the facts of his arrival in Aksai, Starocherkassk, Novocherkassk, Rostov. Then I wrote out a letter from General Raevsky to his daughter, where he described how they stopped at the Rostov fortress, and then the writers told me that they did not expect that Raevsky loved a simple girl... After all, it says “was passing through” everywhere... So what? he stayed overnight, stopped by on his own business, no one had written about this before me.
The first independent book, “Refused Pardon,” was published in 1979.
The second one was about Pushkin. “A poet in the land of boundless steppes” cost... 5 kopecks. They only paid me 400 rubles for it.
It’s a pity that there are no drawings in the book about Ermak. Here I have a photo -monument to Ermak in the Pavlodar region in the young city of Ermak, in Kazakhstan. They say that they now believe that Ermak was a conqueror and a monument.
Did I tell you that I was rehabilitated? In 1990 or 1991, they were equated with war participants. (Coughs, worried. He doesn’t speak very willingly on this topic...). He was rehabilitated as an illegally politically repressed person.
And here is a photo of the Ermak monument in Tobolsk.
But here is a whole chapter from the novel “Steep Waves”.
Who made your bookplate?
Tartynsky did this. He is an engineer, a bibliophile and a Pushkin scholar. In the Azov region, the newspaper published a prologue to Steep Waves. So he formatted a newspaper clipping for me into a book, made a cover and wrote “Tartynnzdat 1994.” number of copies 1.
But in the “Medical Newspaper” in May 1970, I was working as a paramedic at that time, I subscribed to this newspaper - they announced a literary competition. I sent there the story “Olga Sergeevna”. I took 3rd place and received a prize as a laureate - 100 rubles. It was more than my salary.
And here is a photo of me with Boris Izyumsky.
How do you relate to young people, and how do young people relate to you?
Young people treat me well - I haven’t heard anything except praise and gratitude.
What if they know that you are a writer, but on the street, when you are carrying a bag of groceries, they don’t know that you are a writer?
What to say? When I go down the stairs at the post office, someone will always run up and help.
In order to publish a new novel “Steep Waves” or re-publish “Ermak’s Feat”, or re-publish “A Poet in the Land of the Vast Steppes”, he will completely prepare for printing “Azov Region” - novels in “Rostizdat”. If previously publishing houses published novels, sold them, and paid the author a fee in accordance with the prices, now these publishing houses demand money from the writer - find a sponsor, give them money, then we’ll publish them. I contacted the city administration, and they sent letters to entrepreneurs signed by the chief administrator I.A. Kapustin and the chief administrator of the district.
But so far neither the Tretyakovs, nor the Paramonovs, nor the Morozovs, nor the Mamontovs have been found on our land. Our new Russians are not ready to cooperate with writers.
Where do you get your strength?
Longevity depends on genes, on heredity. My mother died at 93, my older brothers died at 90 or so, my sister Antonina - she is 93 - is still alive, she sees well, although she hears poorly, but she writes letters herself.
But I’m almost blind, I can’t hear and I can’t read or write. The general state of health, the attention of people, relatives, children and grandchildren - all this gives me the strength to live and work in moderation.
So let's summarize: is it interesting to be a writer?
And you don’t have to choose this profession. It is complex, difficult, poorly paid, but it gives inner strength and spiritual beauty. You come home from work and instead of going to the movies with your wife or hanging out with the kids, you bury yourself in books.
For example, for 30 thousand copies of “Ermak” - I received 5 thousand rubles (old), then there was a second plant - another circulation - I received another 2 thousand. This was a great financial support for the family. My wife and children approved of this.
Is life worth enjoying?
I don’t remember verbatim now, but Turgenev and Pushkin have statements about the beauty of life. They were life-loving, so I am a life-loving person. Once M. Gorky was taken to cellars to taste drinks, and so he wrote: “Oh, the joy of life in a sunny drink,” however, this is not necessary!
“Life is given once and it must be lived that way. so that there is no excruciating pain for the years spent aimlessly.” N. Ostrovsky.
What about the purity of the Russian language?
In recent years, after perestroika and contact with Western Europe and America, so many unnecessary foreign words appeared in newspapers, which were completely replaced by Russian words, and it became offensive for our great, powerful, beautiful Russian language.
At first, somehow no one paid attention to this. And it seems to me that I was one of the first in Rostov in the regional newspaper “Molot” to publish two articles in defense of the Russian language, in cleansing Rostov of foreignness. Some people paid attention to this, but some did not. Then, in the weekly magazine Literary Russia, I also began to write articles on this topic; in the end, B. Yeltsin issued a decree on the cleansing of the Russian language. Even English writers write that the richest language is Russian.
Writers are not born, are you? Who are your parents?
Cossacks, peasants. My father was a capable man and educated himself. He graduated from accounting courses, and in his mature years served in a general store as an accountant.
Do any of your children or grandchildren continue your writing activities?
No, and I don’t recommend it!
Was born or became?
So, I didn’t go to school yet; back then, people started going to school at the age of 8. I have already read the reading book. There was a portrait of Pushkin, and I dreamed - now, I will also be a poet, they will write about me. It was written there that Pushkin had a sister Olya, and I had a sister Tosya, and I dreamed that they would write about her and they would write about me...
How many children did the parents have?
Mom gave birth to 9 people: 6 boys (1 died) and 3 daughters (2 died), 6 children grew up...
Recorded by poetess Olga Tarasenko
They were included in another chronicle compiled in 1760 by the Tobolsk coachman Ivan Leontyevich Cherepanov.
The Cherepanov Chronicle immediately became a sensation because it was the first to be found in it - what do you think? - pedigree of Ermak. It described in detail how his grandfather worked as a driver for Murom robbers, for which he was caught and imprisoned. Then he fled with his wife and two children, who, after the death of their father, found shelter in the Stroganov estates. It turned out that Ermak is Vasily Timofeevich Olenin. And he still has a bunch of siblings and cousins.
In general, the thing is quite incredible. A Cossack, a robber, a man who actually lives outside the law, suddenly publicly announces his relatives, thereby putting them under undoubted attack. N.M. Karamzin called this “news” a “fairy tale,” and historian L.N. Maikov generally categorically stated in 1876: “...the chronicle of I.L. Cherepanov does not deserve to be published...” But unexpectedly evidence appeared that the Cherepanov chronicle is simply a conscientious compilation of many sources. And one of them - “The Legend of the Siberian Land” - was found by the famous Ural local historian, Alexander Alekseevich Dmitriev. In this "Tale" the information about Ermak almost completely coincided with Cherepanov's.
Of course, also on A.A. Dmitriev was also immediately attacked by critics. They accused the text he published of being “...represents a stupid and sometimes ridiculous counterfeit of Slavic (language - L.S.) …” and that it does not have the name of the compiler at all. However, Dmitriev also had defenders, who eventually proved that the same biographical information about Ermak was first recorded not so far from 1633.
On the one hand, this immediately strengthened the position of the Cherepanov Chronicle. But, on the other hand, voices began to be heard - whether too much contradictory information appeared at the same supposed time and in the same place. After all, Dmitriev found his “Legend” not just anywhere, but in Solikamsk district.
In general, there are also considerable difficulties with the question of the name of the Siberian hero.
By the way, although this man’s services to the Moscow state were recognized almost immediately - indeed, Ivan Vasilyevich the Terrible himself granted him a fur coat from his shoulder - his elevation to the rank of a national hero had its opponents.
The question turned out to be so serious that it was even brought up at the meetings of the “Historical Department” of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences on June 3 and 6, 1748. This is the information about that meeting given in his book “The Stroganov House in the 16th-17th Centuries” by A.A. Vvedensky: “...in the protocols... it is noted that “Mr. Professor Lomonosov believes that it is truly unknown whether Ermak fought for himself or for the All-Russian autocrat, but it is true that he then bowed to the All-Russian monarch with it. For this reason, if these arguments, which are written with some blasphemy about his affairs, cannot be changed, it is better to throw them all out."
The academician was embarrassed that the main character of the events was a robber. VC. Tredyakovsky, supporting M.V. Lomonosov, pointed out: “Penezh decency and some political dangers and precautions require that the dishonest name of Ermak not offend readers, and especially Russian ones, who already have a great inclination towards him for the noble and useful work he has done... then... the aforementioned Leave all descriptions about him out if they cannot be corrected and softened.”
That's it. And you say: Orwell, Platonov... They started combing the history of Avon back when. So we still have to find out the whole truth about Ermak Timofeevich. But at the same time, most of us, I think, can come to terms with the idea that today science does not know with sufficient certainty how, when, and at whose request Ataman Ermak showed up in the Urals. In the end, it is more important for posterity to know not how he appeared here, but what he did here.
It would seem that all researchers are unanimous on this: he accomplished a brilliant feat. After all, as Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin put it, “...neither his contemporaries nor his posterity thought of depriving Ermak of the full honor of this conquest, magnifying his valor not only in chronicles, but also in holy churches, where we still solemnly pray for him today ...".
We pray, naturally, in Russian Orthodox churches. But not everyone prays there.
The years of Ermak Timofeevich’s life are not known for certain today. According to different versions, he was born either in 1531, or in 1534, or even in 1542. But the date of death is precisely known - August 6, 1585.
He was a Cossack chieftain, he is called a National Hero. It was he who discovered a huge part of our country - Siberia.
According to one version, Cossack Ermak Timofeevich was born in the Middle Urals region. He looked like this: large, broad-shouldered, with a black beard, of average height, with a flat face. We do not know what surname Ermak bore. But one historian is sure that the full name sounded like Vasily Timofeevich Alenin.
Ermak was a participant in the Livonian War, commanding the Cossacks. In 1581 he fought in Lithuania. Ermak also participated in the liberation of besieged Pskov. In 1582 he was in the army that stopped the Swedes.
Historical reference
The Siberian Khanate was part of the possessions of Genghis Khan. In 1563, Kuchum began to rule there, but this did not happen in an honest way. Having killed Ediger, a tributary of Moscow, he “pretended to be one of his own.” The government recognized him as a khan and also obliged him to pay tribute. But, having settled well in Siberia, Kuchum decided to make the Khanate independent and independent: he did not pay tribute and attacked other territories. And Moscow now faced the task of returning the Siberian Khanate under its control.
It should be noted that the eastern lands were colonized by the famous Stroganov family, industrialists and merchants. Their activities were controlled by Moscow. The Stroganovs were unusually rich. They had their own detachments and fortresses beyond the Kama, which they themselves supplied with weapons. The earth had to be protected somehow. And now Ermak comes to their aid.
Ermak Timofeevich: the conquest of Siberia and the discovery of new lands
How it all began
One of the Siberian Chronicles tells that the Stroganovs sent a letter to the Cossacks. The merchants asked for help against the attacking peoples. A Cossack squad led by Ermak came to Siberia and successfully defended the lands from the Vogulichs, Votyaks, Pelymtsy and others.
Still, it remains unknown exactly how the “deal” took place between the Stroganovs and the Cossack army.
- The merchants simply sent or even ordered Cossack troops to conquer Siberia.
- Ermak and his army himself decided to go on a campaign and forced the Stroganovs to provide the necessary weapons, food and other things.
- Both of them made this decision on conditions beneficial to everyone.
Before the start of the campaign, the Stroganovs allocated weapons (guns and gunpowder), provisions, as well as people - about three hundred people. The Cossacks themselves numbered 540. The strictest discipline reigned in the detachment of eight hundred people.
The campaign began in September 1581. The detachment swam along the rivers, long and hard. The boats got stuck, the water was already starting to freeze. We had to spend the winter near the portage. While some were getting food, others were preparing for spring. The flood came, the boats quickly set off. And so the detachment ended up in the Siberian Khanate.
Getting closer to the goal
In the area of present-day Tyumen, which then belonged to Kuchumov’s relative, Epanch, the first battle took place. Ermak's army defeated the Epanchi Tatars. The Cossacks stubbornly moved forward. The Tatars could only flee and report the attacks to Kuchum. It should be noted that the Tatars did not have gunpowder weapons; they used bows. Therefore, the guns of Ermak’s detachment completely discouraged them, which they reported to the khan. But, on the other hand, the Tatars had a superiority in troops by twenty times or even more. Kuchum, although depressed, as a true leader, quickly gathered all the Tatars under the leadership of Magmetkul and ordered them to go against the Cossacks. And at this time he strengthened the borders of the city of Siberia - the capital of the Khanate.
Magmetkul and the Cossacks fought bloodily and cruelly. The weapons of the former were significantly inferior, so Magmetkul had to flee. Meanwhile, the Cossacks moved further and took a couple of cities. Ermak stops to decide how to proceed. The decision had to be made: go back or move forward. Ataman Ermak Timofeevich feared that there were too many enemies. It was already October 1582. The rivers will soon begin to freeze again, so it is risky to swim back.
And so, early in the morning of October 23, Ermak’s army, with the hope of God’s help, went on the offensive. The fight was incredibly difficult. Ermak’s army was unable to break through the Tatar defenses. But the Russians managed to break through, and the Tatars began to flee the battlefield. Kuchum, seeing all this, also fled, leaving Siberia.
And on October 26, Ermak and his Cossack detachment entered the capital, rich in precious metals and furs. Ermak's banner now fluttered in Siberia.
But it was too early to rejoice. Kuchum, hiding in the steppes, continued to attack the Cossacks. Magmetkul also posed a danger. First, he killed part of the Cossacks in November 1582. But Ermak made a very far-sighted act in the spring of 1853, sending part of the army to attack the Tatars and capture Magmetkul. Although the Cossack army coped with this task, it began to decrease in number and strength. Russian princes with an army of three hundred people were sent to help the detachment. After all, Kuchum did not calm down, and it was necessary to defend the conquered city
Death of Ermak Timofeevich
Here is how it was. Ermak and his detachment walked along the Irtysh. They spent the night at the mouth of the Vagai River. Unexpectedly, in the dead of night, Kuchum attacks the Cossacks and kills them. Only a part managed to escape. Survivors say that the ataman tried to swim to the plows (these are such ships), but drowned in the river. This happened, most likely, due to the heaviness of the armor (Ermak was wearing two chain mail shirts at that time). Of course, it is possible that he was also wounded.
Conquest of Siberia.
Secrets of Siberia. The mysterious grave of Ermak.
Mokrousova Olga
A creative research work about the national hero of the Don Land, Ermak Timofeevich, whose name is associated with many events significant for the entire Russian state. The author of the work examines the image of Ermak in oral folk art, in fiction and in the visual arts.
Many famous writers were also interested in the exploits of Ermak. P.N. Krasnov, P.P. Ershov, L.N. Tolstoy, Anatoly Ivanov, V.A. Zhukovsky, P.M. Karamzin described his life and campaigns in their works. The author of the work writes about the wonderful historical novel by V. Gnutov “The Feat of Ermak”.
The image of Ermak attracted the attention of not only writers, but also many artists. Perhaps the most famous painting about Ermak is V.I. Surikov’s painting “The Conquest of Siberia by Ermak,” painted by him in 1895.“The Conquest of Siberia” is the best painting by Surikov in the State Russian Museum. The author of this creative work writes about her.
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Mokrousova Olga
11th grade student at MBOU gymnasium No. 76.
Teacher Balavintseva N.N.
CREATIVE WORK
The image of Ermak in folklore, literature and fine arts.
Ermak’s great service to his Motherland.
He is our true national hero
Academician A.P. Okladnikov.
Every person should know the history of their region, remember their heroes, their brave deeds. We need to look up to them, because, according to M. Gorky, there is a place for exploits in the life of every person.
There are many national heroes on the Don land. Many events significant for the entire Russian state are associated with their glorious names. One of these national heroes is Ermak, the conqueror of the Siberian Khanate, a Don Cossack. His feat still remains in people's memory. He truly became a folk hero.
In Novocherkassk, near the Ascension Cathedral, there is a wonderful monument to Ermak, and in the cathedral itself there is a unique fresco from which F.S. Kazachinsky painted the painting “Ermak’s Preparations for the Campaign to Siberia.” Having visited Novocherkassk with my parents for the first time and seeing the third largest cathedral in Europe, built in 1892-1905 according to the design of A.A. Yashchenko, I was shocked not at all by the huge and extraordinary beauty of the cathedral, but by the proud appearance of the mighty Cossack ataman, menacingly looking from a high bank at the quiet Don, flowing steadily among the free steppe. For several minutes I could not take my eyes off this unruly figure on a high pedestal in the center of the city. Of course, I had heard a lot about Ermak before, but never before had this personality interested me so much. Bronze Ermak in the clothes of a Cossack chieftain, with a banner in his hand, looked very impressive under the golden rays of the autumn sun. I shuddered at the thought that this man had once terrified the enemies of our country. And, of course, I did not miss the opportunity to get more detailed information about this important historical figure. In Novocherkassk there is a very large local history museum, which contains a lot of interesting and useful material about the history of the Don region. The museum staff were very kind and willing to help me in my search. After an extensive tour of the museum and a detailed excursion into the history of the Don Cossacks, I was advised to visit the local history department in the Novocherkassk library, which I did. After spending more than three hours in the library, I looked through a huge number of books telling about the exploits of Ermak and his squad, about their great campaigns. I took some books home, where I continued to study this topic. To my surprise, I learned that not only me was interested in the life of this hero.
The personality of Ermak has been worrying us for four hundred years. The Cossack chieftain, who made a heroic Siberian campaign with a small detachment, became a legend.
It is known that Ermak’s victory over Khan Kuchum removed the threat to Russian land from the east, strengthened the borders, and marked the beginning of the peaceful development of Siberia. But much of the distant 16th century remains a mystery. Disputes among scientists about the date and place of Ermak’s birth, about his life before the Siberian campaign, and about his appearance on the Don continue. In the memory of the people, Ermak remained a fair man, an honest and brave warrior, a state-minded ataman. From mouth to mouth, from ancestors to descendants, the Cossacks passed on epics and songs. The Cossacks went on long campaigns with them, and they were preserved in their memories. Don song folklore is colorful and unique. “What sweeping poetry,” V.G. Belinsky wrote about the Don songs, “how much strength and spaciousness of soul it has!” Judging by the song creativity of the Cossacks, Ermak Timofeevich is one of the most revered folk heroes.
The Don land glorifies the Cossack ataman Ermak, son of Timofeev. Songs, stories, legends about him still live. They are memorable for their connection with the past and at the same time modern with a deeply moral meaning: a person capable of high heroic deeds is exalted; actions motivated by pure feelings - dignity, pride, thirst for justice - are poeticized.
Common to oral works about Ermak is heroic content. Each of them glorifies deeds that are vitally significant for the entire people. Most of the songs on the Don are about freedom as the most cherished dream.
Like on the river, on the river, it was on Kamyshinka,
They gathered there, they came together, free people,
Free people gathered, they are passportless,
Either the Don Cossacks or the Greben Cossacks, or they are with the Yaik Cossacks.
Their chieftain, brothers, was Ermak Timofeevich, -
sung in one of the folk songs.
According to numerous legends, Ermak liberates the Don, populates it with fugitives, organizes the Don Army, invents gunpowder, helps take Kazan and Astrakhan, conquers Siberia so that there is somewhere to resettle the Cossacks from the Don.
No matter how the fact of the appearance of the Cossacks is explained in the legends, Ermak is given a primary role: Ermak Timofeevich led our ancestors to the Don under Grozny... Ermak led the first freemen... Before Ermak there were no Cossacks... The Cossacks came from Ermak... Ermak created the Cossacks...
One of the folk songs talks about how the Cossacks chose Ermak as ataman:
They kept guessing great thoughts,
They wondered about a strong Duma, united:
“That’s who of us, guys, should be an ataman,
But which of us, guys, can be considered a captain?
Yermil Timofeich will be the chieftain.”
When Ermak is chosen by the Cossacks as ataman, he shows the abilities of a leader, increases and strengthens his detachment. Ermak passes the test of power with honor. In any situation, he behaves like an ideal ataman in the popular understanding. Having gathered an army, Ermak opposes himself to both the tsar and external enemies, the fight against which the Cossacks consider their first business.
Thanks to the emotional imagery, the song acquires a special capacity and conveys the meaning of real events. The Don region, which has preserved its historical culture, is rightly called one of the most poetic. Songs and legends about Ermak, connected by ideological and artistic unity, convey a complete picture of the events of that era.
Many famous writers were also interested in the exploits of Ermak. P.N. Krasnov, P.P. Ershov, L.N. Tolstoy, Anatoly Ivanov, V.A. Zhukovsky, P.M. Karamzin described his life and campaigns in their works. Vasily Gnutov wrote a wonderful historical novel “The Feat of Ermak”. The action of the novel covers the Don, Western regions of Russia, the Volga and Ural regions, and Siberia. The hero reveals himself in communication with the Cossacks, local residents, in battles, and in extreme situations of the campaign. The author thoroughly and objectively shows the transition of the Cossacks from a free, semi-robbery life to “state” service as an opportunity to earn “forgiveness of past guilt” and fulfill their duty to the Fatherland. “Taking Siberia before the onset of winter is our salvation... In Siberia we will find shelter and food and gain glory!” the Cossacks decide. Reading these lines, you involuntarily recall the words from the folk song “Ermak at Ivan the Terrible”:
Oh you goy, Ermak son Timofeevich,
Oh, you goy, military chieftain of the Don!
I forgive you and with your army,
Is it for your faithful service to me,
And I grant you, Ermak, the glorious quiet Don!
In the descriptions of Ermak’s character by various authors, his nobility, courage and ability to competently use the power given to him are always emphasized. “With his brave soul, Ermak sensed that the Stroganovs were calling him for a glorious feat... And so, having gathered his daredevils around him, Ermak addressed them with the following speech:
Gay, you think, brothers, you think,
And me, Ermak, brothers, listen.
...We, brothers, will cross the steep mountains,
We will reach the kingdom of the Basurman,
We will conquer the kingdom of Siberia,
We, brothers, will conquer it to the White Tsar
“...We love, Ermak Timofeevich, to go with you! It would be a pleasure to conquer the Tsar of Siberia and present him to the Moscow Orthodox Tsar! Love... Amen!..” - so in the novel “Ermak Timofeevich - conqueror of the Siberian kingdom. 1582." P.N. Krasnov shows the devotion of Ermak’s squad to their chieftain.
Several hundred Cossacks, led by Ermak, boldly entered the war with the Tatar Khan Kuchum, ruler of the Siberian Khanate. On October 25, 1581, after a fierce battle, Ermak occupied the capital of Kuchum, located on the Irtysh River. This was the first Russian victory in those parts. Apollo of Corinth writes about this glorious victory in his poem “The Flight of the Gods”:
And the Ob River swam on plows
Ermak is a victorious hero,
With a cross on his chest and a banner in his hands,
We accompany you in a fiery battle.
It is persistently mentioned in the Don legends that the cause of Ermak’s death was the chain mail received as a gift from Ivan the Terrible, “it was this that pulled him to the bottom.” In the literature, the authors adhere to the same point of view. K. Ryleev in the poem “The Death of Ermak” writes about this:
But power gave way to fate...
...Depriving the hero of his strength
Fight the furious wave
Heavy armor - a gift from the king -
Became the cause of his death...
The image of Ermak attracted the attention of not only writers, but also many artists. Perhaps the most famous painting about Ermak is V.I. Surikov’s painting “The Conquest of Siberia by Ermak,” painted by him in 1895. The annexation of Siberia to Muscovite Rus' is an important event in the history of the formation of the Russian state. The decisive battle on the banks of the Irtysh served as the subject of a grandiose canvas. In the icy water of a Siberian river, two elements meet - Ermak’s squad and the Tatar army. Ermak, standing under the banner, confidently and decisively leads the attack. Surikov makes you feel that the Cossacks will emerge victorious from this battle. He achieves this using precise compositional techniques. The artist carefully paints the clothes of his heroes. Here are simple Cossack caftans, a patterned caftan of Yesaul, shiny armor of Ermak, fur-trimmed hats, heavy boots lined with large nails.
The artist M.V. Nesterov, one of the first to appreciate “The Conquest of Siberia by Ermak,” wrote about his impression: “... I see a drama in which people beat each other in the name of something, give their lives for something dear to them, cherished. Severe nature aggravates harsh deeds... The impression grows, embraces me, like life itself..."
“The Conquest of Siberia” is the best painting by Surikov in the State Russian Museum. The richness of Surikov’s colorful palette is striking. Gloomy gray and brown tones emphasize the harshness of the autumn Siberian nature and the tragedy of human struggle and death.
“Ermak died, died in the Irtysh, in a desperate battle with the Tatars, but only his mortal body died. He himself, the great Don Ataman, is still alive. Alive in the songs of the Cossacks, old and new, - “so P.N. Krasnov wrote about the great Cossack in the novel “The Death of Ermak.”
Ermak and his descendants did not forget. In Tobolsk, the main city of Western Siberia, the first to be conquered by Ermak, a monument was erected to him, at the behest of Emperor Nicholas I, in 1838 with the inscription: “To the conqueror of Siberia Ermak.” Another monument was erected in 1904 with donations from the Don people in Novocherkassk, in the Don Army, in Ermak’s homeland. On the Don there is Ermakovskaya village, there are Ermakov farms and more than one Donetsk bears the glorious name Ermakovo, “as if in memory that his grandfathers went on a glorious campaign with Ermak and in a brave battle conquered the whole great Siberian kingdom of their native Rus'!”
I believe that Ermak is truly our national hero, whose actions should not be forgotten. I am proud that I live in a region that has such glorious heroes.
09.05.2015 0 11432
How difficult is it to distinguish a real story from a skillfully told legend? Especially when both of them concern an absolutely real person. ABOUT Ermak Timofeevich, a Cossack chieftain who lived in the mid-late 16th century, legends were composed by both friends and enemies.
A great warrior and conqueror of Siberia, who fought and died for the glory of his country. There are disputes about his name, the number of troops under his command and the circumstances of his death... But his feat is beyond doubt.
Famine and siege
Siberia, Tatar city of Kashlyk (Isker), 1585. The winter was long and monstrously cold, even by Siberian standards. There was so much snow that it was difficult to walk a few steps, let alone hunt. Both night and day, a dank icy wind blew incessantly.
Previously, due to the incessant autumn fighting, the Cossacks were unable to collect enough supplies. Ermak’s army was not used to grumbling, but there was a catastrophic shortage of food, and there were no more than two hundred people left...
Spring did not bring relief: the Tatars came again, encircling the city. The siege threatened to last for many months, dooming the Cossacks to starvation. But Ermak remained Ermak - as always, wise and cool-headed.
Having waited until June and lulled the vigilance of the Tatars, he sent his closest associate, Matvey Meshcheryak, on a night sortie. Matvey, together with two dozen soldiers, made their way to the camp of Karachi, the Tatar commander, and carried out a massacre.
Karachi escaped with difficulty, but both of his sons died, and the Cossacks disappeared into the night as unexpectedly as they had come.
The siege was lifted, but the issue of provisions remained as acute as in winter. How to feed an army when the Tatars can attack at any moment?
And then in August the long-awaited good news came - a rich trade caravan with supplies for the Cossacks was approaching Kashlyk. We just need to protect him from the enemy...
What's in a name?
It is not known for certain in what year Ermak was born. The dates are given differently: 1532, 1534, 1537 and even 1543. Rumors about the place of his birth also vary - either this is the village of Borok on the Northern Dvina, or an unknown village on the Chusovaya River, or the Kachalinskaya village on the Don. This is understandable, almost every Cossack clan wanted to boast that it was they who gave birth to the legendary chieftain!
Even Ermak’s name is in question. Some historians claim that Ermak is an abbreviation of the Russian name Ermolai, others call him Ermil, and others derive the name from Herman and Eremey. Or maybe Ermak is just a nickname? And in fact, the ataman’s name was Vasily Timofeevich Alenin. It is unknown where the surname came from - in those days they were not in use among the Cossacks.
By the way, about the Cossacks: the word “armak” for them meant “big”, like a common cauldron for meals. Doesn't remind you of anything? And of course, we must not forget about Ermak’s enemies, who, despite all their hatred towards him, respected him immensely. Irmak in Mongolian means “rapidly gushing spring”, practically a geyser. In Tatar, yarmak means “to chop, to dissect.” In Iranian, ermek means “husband, warrior.”
And this is not the whole list! Imagine how many copies historians have broken, arguing among themselves and trying to unearth Ermak’s real name or at least his origin. Alas, the Cossacks rarely kept chronicles, and when information is disseminated orally, something is lost, something is invented, something changes beyond recognition. This is roughly how real history breaks down into dozens of myths. The only thing that cannot be denied is that Ermak’s name turned out to be very successful.
Free Cossack
In the first decades of his mature life, somewhere before 1570, Ermak Timofeevich was by no means an angel. He was a typical Cossack ataman, walking along the free Volga with his squad and attacking Russian merchant caravans and Tatar and Kazakh detachments. The most common opinion is that Ermak, in his youth, entered the service of the then famous Ural merchants Stroganov, guarding goods on the Volga and Don. And then he “went from work to robbery,” gathered himself a small army and went over to the freemen.
However, the controversial period in Ermak’s life lasted relatively short. Already in 1571, he helped the squad repel the attack of the Crimean Khan Devlet-Girey under the walls of Moscow, and in 1581 he valiantly fought in the Livonian War under the command of governor Dmitry Khvorostinin, commanding a Cossack hundred. And already in 1582, the same Stroganovs remembered the brave chieftain.
Forgetting about all Ermak’s sins, they extremely respectfully asked him to protect the merchant interests of Rus' in Siberia. In those years, the Siberian Khanate was ruled by the cruel and dishonest Khan Kuchum, who overthrew Khan Ediger, who maintained more or less good relations with the Russian kingdom. Kuchum spoke about peace, but in reality he constantly attacked merchant caravans and moved his army to the Perm region.
Ermak agreed with the merchants not only for the sake of a rich reward. The Tatar Khan was a devout Muslim and spread Islam throughout Siberia and wherever he could reach it. For the Orthodox Cossack chieftain, it was a matter of honor to challenge Kuchum and win. Having gathered a relatively small squad - about 600 people - Ermak Timofeevich set out on a great campaign to Siberia.
Thunderstorm of the Siberian Khanate
To describe all the military exploits of Ermak, one article will not be enough. Moreover, as in the case of his place of birth or name, many of them are distorted by retelling, others are downplayed or embellished, there are two or three versions for almost every event. In fact, the incredible happened - six hundred Cossack warriors passed through the huge Siberian Khanate, over and over again defeating the Tatar army twenty times superior to them.
Kuchum's warriors were fast, but the Cossacks learned to be faster. When they were surrounded, they left along the rivers in small mobile boats - plows. They took cities by storm and founded their own fortifications, which then also turned into cities.
In each battle, Ermak used new tactics, confidently beat the enemy, and the Cossacks were ready to follow him through thick and thin. The conquest of Siberia took four years. Ermak broke the resistance of the Tatars and negotiated peace with the local khans and kings, bringing them to the citizenship of the Russian kingdom. But luck could not accompany the ataman forever...
The rumor about a merchant caravan carrying supplies for the starving Cossack army turned out to be a trap. Ermak, together with the rest of his squad, moved out of Kashlyk up the Irtysh River and was ambushed by Kuchum. The Cossacks were attacked under cover of darkness, and although they fought back like mad, there were too many Tatars. Out of 200, no more than 20 people survived. Ermak was the last to retreat to the plows, covering his comrades, and died by falling into the river waves.
Legendary person
Legend has it that the body of the great chieftain, caught from the river by his enemies, lay in the air for a month without beginning to decompose. Ermak was buried with military honors in the cemetery of the village of Baishevo, but behind a fence, since he was not a Muslim. The Tatars respected the fallen enemy so much that his weapons and armor were considered magical for a long time. For one of the chain mails, for example, they gave seven families of slaves, 50 camels, 500 horses, 200 bulls and cows, 1000 sheep...
Ermak lost that fight, but his cause did not die with him. The Siberian Khanate did not recover from the blow inflicted on it by the Cossack army. The conquest of Western Siberia continued, Khan Kuchum died ten years later, and his descendants were unable to provide worthy resistance. Towns and cities were founded throughout Siberia; previously warring local tribes were forced to accept citizenship of the Russian kingdom.
Tales about Ermak were written both during his life and after his death. No, no, and there was a descendant of a descendant of another descendant who knew for certain a certain Cossack from the squad of the great ataman and was ready to tell the whole truth. In my own way, of course. And there are dozens and hundreds of such examples. But is it so important in this case to distinguish reality from fiction? Ermak Timofeevich himself would probably have had a lot of fun listening to stories about himself.
Sergey EVTUSHENKO
