The Don Cossacks Defend the Environment

 

Throughout Russia’s long history the Don Cossacks defended their Motherland from the enemies. Now the Cossacks are fighting on a new front: protecting the environment. The «Quiet Flows the Don» ecological organization, named for M.A. Sholokhov’s famous novel about the Cossacks, has been working for the past five years toward a cleaner and healthier environment in Southern Russia.

One of the group’s main tasks is to analyze the state of environment and to inform the public about the urgent measures. Besides the group participates in actions to make our land healthier. Last year they reforested 25 hectares of land on the left bank of the river Don. At the group’s initiative, representatives of over 40 nations have lent a hand in the planting of trees on the left bank, in the area now known as the International Park of Friendship. The site is being transformed from a stripped and barren field into an area of lush greenery. The representatives from the American Peace Corps also contributed into this noble activity. The Cossack group plans to clean up polluted rivers in the region and has enlisted the help of Peace Corps volunteers to identify potential allies in Russia and abroad.

At the same time, the Cossacks are reviving their traditions and they are proud that their culture finds respect and support in the hearts of many people. For example, numerous papers and documents of Cossack culture now housed in the U. S. Library of Congress.

(Текст печатается по материалам статьи Питера  

Брауна в журнале Connections, January 1997).

 

TEXT 20

Two Stories about the Famous People of Rostov

Kh. K. Gusikyants

Khachatur Kirilovitch Gusikyants (or Gusikov a Russian vatiant of his surname) was born in 1840. He studied in the gymnasium of the Institute of the Eastern Languages in Moscow and then in 1859 he entered the Academy of Fine Arts in St.Petersburg. At first he was interested in sculpture but then he decided to become an artist. He was not a regular student but an attending one, so he could alternate studying and practical work, that is why he had been learning for many years. In 1874 he was awarded with the silver medal for his design of a theatre. He took part in many exhibitions but only in 1891 he got a certificate which enabled him to teach drawing. Gusikov worked as a teacher in Nakhichevan-on-Don in the Ekaterinenskaya women’s gymnasium and seminary.

Gusikov had a very specific manner of drawing. For example, he sent a portrait to Leo Tolstoy for his 80-th anniversary which was made of thousands of tiny letters. But these were not simply different letters. Gusikov rewrote the whole story «God sees the truth, but won’t say soon» by L.Tolstoy and some of the letters, which he had made more prominent than the others, composed the portrait of the famous Russian writer.

Leo Tolstoy liked this portrait very much. Unfortunately, the portrait disappeared but there is its reproduction in the newspaper «Priazovsky Kray» dated 1910.

Gusikyants was a cheerful, kind and sociable man. He organized many charity actions in Nakhichevan. He died on the 2-nd of September 1910, but his countrymen still remember him well.

VOCABULARY

1 an attending student – вольнослушатель

2 to alternate – чередовать

3 a countryman – земляк

 

E. T. Paramonov

Many places in Rostov are connected with the name of Elpidiphor Trofimovitch Paramonov, an outstanding merchant and a ship-owner. He was the son of a rich Cossack who lived in stanitsa Nizhne-Chirskaya. Paramonov headed his father’s prosperous manufactory at the age of 22. In 1867 the young merchant became the owner of several large wheat storehouses. These buildings one can see along the Don embankment. He was a wise businessman who could take risk and be economical, even sometimes stingy, at the same time. He had a complex perception of his business and could foresee the future. When he bought an old mill and modernized it with steam engines he decided to secure his activity and grow his own wheat on his own land. His fleet consisting of 100 river-barges and 15 steamers was provided with coal from his coal-mines.

Of course, Paramonov was not the first to start export of wheat but it was he who achieved a prominent position in this sphere. His ill-wishers declared him to be unfit to live among the upper-class people due to his origin. But he had his own rules of life and did not pay any attention to these contemptuous remarks. For example, he did not like to stay in the hotels, so he ordered to build two wonderful houses in Rostov (now there is the University Library in one of them and the other is the so called Paramonov’s House in Suvorov Street). Sometimes he was more than generous. He presented a beautiful house located on the crossing of B. Sadovaya and Khalturinsky Streets (it still decorates our city though it has become a bank office) to a ballet dancer Margarita Chebanova. This small palace was constructed in 1899 by the architect Doroshenko and is considered to be one of the most original buildings in Rostov.

Paramonov did not like to waste money: instead of sending salary to his workers by post he instructed the captain of his ship to distribute it. The best guarantee for him was one’s word of honour. And every merchant in the South of Russia knew him as a trustworthy partner. He participated in different charity actions and gave money for education and cultural needs of Rostov. Paramonov is known as one of the brightest examples of wise businessmen whose efforts were beneficial for the development of our city’s economy.

REFERENCES

1 Астапенко, М.П. Край Донской казачий / М.П. Астапенко. – Ростов н/Д, 1994.

2 Деревянко, Р.Я. Люби и знай свой родной край / Р.Я. Деревянко. – Ростов н/Д, 1991.

3 Ростов-на-Дону (серия Города России). – М.: МП «Книга», 1996.

4 Ростов-на-Дону: Исторические очерки / подгот. В.В. Чеботаревым [и др.]. – Ростов н/Д, 1984.

5 Ростов-на-Дону. Очерки о городе. – Ростов н/Д: Ростов. кн. изд-во, 1973.

6 Cossack Historical Costume. – Ростов н/Д: Ростгорисполком, 1989.

 

 

 

 

 

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Исаева Татьяна Евгеньевна