Talalai Mikhail Grigorievich. Mikhail Talalai Research works. Books and brochures

Preface. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Part one.
Russian Athos in the XV-XX centuries
(M. Talalay, P. Troitsky)
I. Renewal of ties between Rus' and Athos. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
1. XV-XVI centuries. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
2. “Panteleev” monastery. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
II. Athos and Russia in the 17th century. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
1. Alms from Muscovy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
2. Correction of the “Moscow” books on the Athos rite. . . . 31
III. Crisis and revival: XVIII - early XIX centuries. . . . . . . . . 35
1. Decline of Russik. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
2. Help for Russian Afonites. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
3. The feat of St. Paisia. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
4. Transfer of Athonite traditions to Russia. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
IV. XIX century. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Panteleimon Monastery. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
1. Crisis in the first half of the 19th century. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
2. Greco-Russian Panteleimon trial. . . . . . . . . . 72
3. Abbess Fr. Macaria. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
4. Founding Fathers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
St. Andrew's Skete. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
1. Founding Fathers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
2. Second half of the 19th century. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
3. Beginning of the twentieth century. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
Elias Skete. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
1. The end of the 17th - first half of the 19th century.
The service of the monk-prince Anikita. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
2. Mid-19th century: Paisiy-“Second”. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
3. Second half of the 19th century. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
4. Rev. Gabriel of Athos. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
Small Russian monasteries. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178
1. Kelly St. John Chrysostom
(Khilandar Monastery). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178
2. Cell of St. Ignatius the God-Bearer
(Khilandar Monastery). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
3. Cell of St. John the Evangelist
(Khilandar Monastery). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190
4. Annunciation cell
(Khilandar Monastery). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196
5. Cell of the Holy Trinity
(Khilandar Monastery). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200
6. Kelly St. Nikolai "Belozerka"
(Khilandar Monastery). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202
7. Kelly St. John Chrysostom
(Iversky Monastery). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
8. Cell of St. Onuphrius of Egypt and Peter of Athos
(Iversky Monastery). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
9. St. George's cell on Kerashi (Great Lavra). . . . 210
10. Artemyevskaya cell (Great Lavra). . . . . . . . . . . . . 212
11. Holy Cross cell
(Karakal Monastery). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214
12. Cell of Presentation of the Virgin Mary into the Temple
(Stavronikitsky Monastery). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220
13. Annunciation cell
(Simono-Petrovsky Monastery). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220
14. Cell of St. Stephen
(Panteleimon Monastery). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222
CONTENTS 7
15. Cell of the Position of the Belt (Iveron Monastery). . . . 222
16. Ascension cell (Filofeevsky monastery). . . . 226
17. Cell of St. Nicholas
(Filofeevsky Monastery). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228
18. Cell of the Great Martyr George
(Filofeevsky Monastery). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
19. Cell of Michael the Archangel
(Cathedral of the Archangels; Stavronikitsky Monastery). . . . . 231
20. Russian cells and kalivas of the Karulsky monastery. . . . . . . . . . 232
21. Brotherhood of Russian monasteries. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237
V. Beginning of the twentieth century. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249
1. Attempts at reform on Mount Athos and Russian diplomacy. . . 249
2. Joining Greece. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254
3. Athos question after the London conference
great powers (A. Parshintsev). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263
4. Athonite "Troubles". . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293
5. First World War. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295
Part two.
Russian Svyatogorsk residents in 1918-2015.
(M. Shkarovsky)
1. Russian Athonite monasticism
in the first post-revolutionary years. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305
2. Spiritual and economic life
Russian monasteries of Athos in the 1925-1930s. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 327
3. Holy Mountain during the Second World War. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 347
4. The gradual decline of Russian Athonite monasticism
in 1945-1960s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 367
5. The struggle of the Moscow Patriarchate
for the preservation of Russian monasteries. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 413
6. Revival of Russian Athonite monasticism
in the 1990s - 2010s. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 443
List of abbreviations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 463

A citizen, historian and chronicler of “Russian Italy” answers our questions

Mikhail Grigorievich Talalay born in 1956 in Leningrad. In the 1980s, he was known as a specialist in St. Petersburg toponymy, one of the active figures in the city protection “Salvation Group”. In the 1990s he became one of the main experts on Russian heritage abroad. Since 1993 he has lived in Italy. Engaged in research on Russian emigration in Italy, history Orthodox Church in Italy, Russian necropolises in this country. Creator of the website “Russian Italy”. Candidate of Historical Sciences, defended his dissertation on the topic “The Russian Church in Italy” at the Institute of General History of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

Mikhail, “Russian Italy” - a real or speculative concept? Are its components felt (or feel themselves?) to be parts of a single whole?

It exists, but not everyone, even its components, knows about it. The concept of “Russians in Italy” is very clear: its components are dealt with by our diplomatic structures; in the era of Mussolini, they were subject to complete secret surveillance - the Russians were then considered a subversive nation, not loyal to the fascist regime. Now this makes it easier for me to search in old police archives. If we add to this personal list of compatriots of all times the Russian cultural and historical layer that has grown in Italy, we get “Russian Italy”. However, you need to feel this layer and be interested in it.

How does a Russian who has lived in Italy for as many years as you and who is studying Russian there feel like - Russian or Italian?

I knew one Russian lady who was born in Florence before the revolution; she first came to Russia when she was already a pensioner, but she stubbornly considered herself Russian, refusing the epithet “emigrant”: it was Russia, they say, that emigrated from me, not me. So the years are secondary. The main thing is your own attitude. “Russianness” is generally difficult to remove, and even those who, wittingly or unwittingly, try to do it, succeed poorly. Rather, we can talk about some kind of merging of identities: at first I used this term cautiously, but now more and more willingly - for example, the Russian-Italian sculptor Paolo (Pavel Petrovich) Trubetskoy and so on. And “Italianness” is a nice thing, I willingly and voluntarily merged with it. So instead of the technical “Russian historian living in Italy,” over the years I began to respond to the “Russian-Italian historian.”

"Russian Italy" through the eyes of emigrant artist Ivan Zagoruiko. 1958

Do Italians notice the Russian heritage - against the background of their own, so rich and famous? Do they value it, do they study it, are there any special programs, tourist routes associated with “Russian Italy”?

If we talk about the material part of our heritage, there is not much of it. However, in contrast to this, there is a lot of, let’s say, memorial, ideological, “noospheric”. And the Italians know and appreciate this: first of all, this is creativity of any kind, including political, of our compatriots. Memorial plaques and monuments mark the places where Gogol, Dostoevsky, Tchaikovsky, Mechnikov, and Tarkovsky lived. This year it is planned to erect a monument to Maxim Gorky in Sorrento. A stele in honor of Lenin, sculpted by the sculptor Manzu, who worked a lot in the Vatican, has long been erected in Capri. Now representatives of labor migration gather at her place, and without any intention at all - the place is convenient. If we return to the material part, then first of all these are Russian churches. But there are not many of them; Imperial Russia arranged only five of them: in San Remo, Merano, Florence, Rome, Bari. Our church in Florence is especially famous, and deservedly so. Its builders were aware of their responsibility for working in the “cradle of the arts” - I came across this expression in a letter from the initiator of the construction, priest Vladimir Levitsky. They value the temple and allocate funds for its restoration. For comparison, both church buildings of the author of the project, architect Mikhail Preobrazhensky, carried out in his homeland, in St. Petersburg, were barbarically broken. In terms of heritage, Italian mansions, villas, and palaces furnished by Russian people should be added to the temples. Some private owners of former Russian places let people in by agreement: this is the Gorchakovs’ villa in Sorrento, the Trubetskoys’ villa on Lago Maggiore, the Li Galli islands, where Nureyev lived, and so on. But as far as special tourist routes around “Russian Italy” are concerned, there are not so many visible ones. There are lectures, conferences, meetings on this topic - yes, there are a lot of them. I would include here and traditional events, dedicated to the Soviet partisans of the Second World War, who were always called Russians here.

- Are our tourists and travelers interested in them? After all, that’s not what people usually go to Italy for?

I know from personal experience that they are interested. For example, in Naples, near the Royal Palace there are two “Horse Tamers” by Klodt. They are often inaccurately called copies, but these are the originals, which spent two years on the Anichkov Bridge and which were removed from their native place and sent to Italy as a royal gift. And our travelers, when they see the “Tamers,” are filled with pleasant excitement and just pride. I observed the same reaction in Venice among compatriots who saw memorial plaques in honor of Tchaikovsky and Brodsky. By the way, in Venice we can talk about a special route through “Russian Italy”: it can even be called a pilgrimage. These are visits to the island of San Michele for the graves of Diaghilev, Stravinsky, Brodsky.

What is the point in searching for your country, traces of your culture in a foreign land? Nostalgia? Method of adaptation? Something else?

Search is always exciting, even if you go to Italy for the sake of your future spouse or new taste sensations. My search led me to a whole “crowd” of wonderful Russian people who lived and worked in Italy, undeservedly forgotten. This alone makes sense to me. As a historian, I established myself in Italy, or more precisely, in “Russian Italy”. In general, the Russian trace abroad is one of the keys to understanding another culture. I went on my first trip abroad in 1988, to Sweden. There was no talk of nostalgia, but even then I found the grandson of Leo Tolstoy near Stockholm, examined the collection of Russian icons in the National Museum, and attended a meeting of the emigrant club “Green Lamp”. I admit that some Swedes I know were kindly surprised and urged me to watch only their “condo”. I watched both. It was more difficult with these interests in Greece, on Mount Athos, where the Hellenes treated me with suspicion, branding me as a Pan-Slavist. In Italy, thank God, I have complete mutual understanding with the local people. This country has attracted foreigners for centuries, and there is already a tradition of exploring the heritage of French, English, German and more. It is important and pleasant that Italians are traditional Russophiles. They like us a priori.

Has your understanding of your own country, its history, its culture changed after what you saw and learned in “Russian Italy”?

Oh yes, it has changed quite a lot. And here, of course, we must first name the understanding of Italy itself. I started my scientific career as a local historian, a historian of St. Petersburg. And for me, world history began in 1703, with the “desert waves.” Before St. Petersburg, everything was foggy and incomprehensible. Now the ideas have been clarified. I remember how surprised my Italian colleagues were when I spoke about the 300th anniversary of St. Petersburg, because for them even Florence is a young city, “only” two thousand years old. St. Petersburg has not lost its charm, and now for me it is the most Italian of Russian cities. But his classicism has now become neoclassicism, as the Italians call this style, because true classicism is antiquity, which we did not have. As for “Russian Italy”, here too much has gone deeper and broader. I had to deal with the 15th century, and the history of Moscow, and all of Europe.

“Horse Tamers” by the sculptor Klodt at the Royal Palace in Naples once stood on the Anichkov Bridge in St. Petersburg

If you try to describe “Russian Italy” as a special country, where is its capital, borders, main cities and localities?

To determine the boundaries, it is easier to exclude from the Apennine Peninsula regions that have not been developed by the Russians. There are quite a few of them, I will name two southern Italian regions: Calabria and Basilicata. The remaining edges have different intensities, different shades. When I was preparing the book “Russian Tuscany,” I looked on the RuNet: someone writes that there, near Arkhangelsk, they have a real Russian Tuscany - soft hills, spiritual nature. Then I sat down to read the book “Russian Sicily” - Runet writes: “here in Rostov we have Russian Sicily, every evening there are a dozen murders.” But in the end, I decided to turn the situation around and overcome the prevailing stereotype. Sicily is not only about the mafia. Of the cities of “Russian Italy”, the main one is, of course, the one where all roads lead. However, Venice can compete with Rome in importance. There is a whole research literature according to the “Russian Venetian”: this phenomenon is unusually bright and holistic.

What is the chronology of “Russian Italy”? It is clear that the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries are included in it. What about earlier times? We count from the 15th century, from Aristotle Fioravanti - or not?

Yes, it’s not for nothing that I already mentioned the 15th century, the Italians call it Quattrocento. After all, Fioravanti’s call to Rus' was preceded by intensive diplomatic missions. And the stay in Venice of the future Russian Grand Duchess Zoe-Sophia Paleologue is part of “Russian Italy”. And don’t forget the great march of Russians to the Florence Cathedral in 1438-1439 - the first of our European travels. Metropolitan Isidore, who signed the union, later fled from Moscow, of course, to Rome, where he was buried in the Basilica of San Pietro. The grave, unfortunately, has long disappeared.

- Is it possible to trace periods of rise, prosperity, and decline in this chronology? By what criteria?

Many lines intersect and overlap here. This is the alternating openness and closedness of Russia in relation to the West: moments of interest changed to something opposite. The diplomatic activity of Catherine II, who flooded the peninsula with our emissaries and diplomats, and the knightly, not without excesses, belligerence of Paul, who sent an army and navy to Italy, with Suvorov and Ushakov, gave way to the lethargy of subsequent cabinets. This is about the big story. However, cultural needs always remained. Their culmination should be attributed to the era of Nicholas I, who decided to send future masters of Russian art for training not to politically and morally suspicious France, but to good, conservative Italy. Thus was born the grandiose project of Russian boarding in Rome. However, the development of art took its toll, and by the end of the 19th century our artistic elite was already heading to Paris. The post-revolutionary outcome brought many new features to “Russian Italy”, with a unique criterion: this is an amazing continuity - mainly those who remained here who had property, connections, etc. even before the revolution. In general, few refugees settled here after 1917 - the country emerged from the First World War with problems, with unemployment, Mussolini did not trust white emigration, Catholics considered the Orthodox then schismatics, etc.

Villa San Donato by Nikolai Demidov near Florence before and after the “renovation” of the 2010s.

- Is there a list of monuments of “Russian Italy”, what are its main attractions?

It still needs to be created. There are few large monuments, I have already mentioned them. The churches stand out for their exoticism; besides, Italians are very fond of Russian icons, and are even surprised that icons are painted in other countries. Some Russian villas and mansions have become state property, such as the Demidov Villa near Florence, and are accessible to the public. In the 1990s, the first list of monuments to “Russian Italy” appeared in the Italian press, but with a special intent: at that moment the Russian government was trying to carry out a series of restitutions, and local journalists compiled a list of possible such objects. The Demidov Villa, bought by the Province of Florence at an auction from the heirs of the last Demidova, Princess Maria Pavlovna, also ended up there. Nobody, of course, was going to restitute it, but the frightened administration of the Province tried to rename the villa, removing the “Russianness”. The Florentines call it, of course, in the old fashioned way. In addition to these prominent landmarks, there is an extensive list of Russian addresses that should be expanded and clarified. For example, the Neapolitan address of the remarkable artist Sylvester Shchedrin has not yet been clarified. There is also a Russian necropolis, which I described as a researcher. Some of the tombstones have recently been restored, but there is a lot of work to do. There are works of Russian art in museums and private collections. There are book collections...

- Do you have any favorite story that characterizes the spirit and meaning of “Russian Italy”?

A lot of them. I’ll tell you the last one - it is set out in a book about Nikolai Lokhov, published last year, co-authored with Tatyana Veresova, a Pskov local historian. A Pskovite of titanic energy, at first a revolutionary, almost an associate of Lenin, but even before the revolution he decided that the Russian people must first be enlightened and civilized, and then... How to cultivate? Through acquaintance with the highest achievements of civilization, with the Italian Renaissance. Lokhov goes to Florence and becomes a brilliant copyist, preparing the paints himself. The timing of copying must correspond to the timing of creation, and he calls copies reproductions. The first batch goes to Moscow, to the museum on Volkhonka, to Tsvetaev, who found the necessary funds. War, revolution... Lokhov lives in Italy from hand to mouth, but persistently makes his reproductions for Russia - with Giotto, Beato Angelico, Botticelli. After his death, dozens of paintings remain, but due to the refusal of the USSR, America buys them.

Russian Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in Bari. 1913-1915. Project A.V. Shchuseva

-What discoveries could you name in the history of this country? What are you proud of as a researcher?

I discovered a previously unknown Orthodox layer of “Russian Italy”. They had not done this before me: the emigrants here did not have their own scientific strength, Italian Russianists were almost all from the left camp and considered the Church a reactionary phenomenon. It helped me that in St. Petersburg I was studying the church history of the city, and knew how to approach it. In Italy I found parish archives in good condition, as well as emigrants still touched in the first wave. The priests treated me favorably. The result was a dissertation and a book, for which I was awarded the Makaryev Prize. At the same time, I compiled the “Russian Necropolis”, first using parish registers, then visiting the main cemeteries in the country. I think I’ve been doing this for about a quarter of a century. In Rome, colleague Wanda Gasperovich helped, there in the Testaccio cemetery alone there are a thousand Russian graves. This book has also been published.

Does the Italian understanding of cultural heritage differ from the Russian one? What examples best illustrate the difference?

Italians have a more organic and calm attitude to life, to the world, to history, without the extremes inherent in us. They, for example, respect Mussolini’s architecture - after all, the best architects worked for the Duce. Aware of the ideological sins of post-war leftist artists, they appreciate their art. In the cultural heritage of the Italians, their national trait is obvious: continuity. The new generation cherishes the cultural baggage of the previous one. The Renaissance arose from an environment of skilled artisans. Modern Italian design and fashion are based on a refined taste and understanding of beauty formed over centuries. And one more thing: deep respect for the creators, for the “maestro”. I’ll add the valuable local quality of valorizzare - we don’t even have the corresponding verb: these are purposeful actions to give fame, value, weight to a particular cultural event, which otherwise may remain in vain.

Influence of Italian culture, architecture, etc. into Russian is well known. Is there (has there been in history) a reverse influence? Do Italians notice him? And we?

Yes, there is the influence of Russian art of the 20th century: classical music, choreography, cinematography, literature. After the fall of the Soviet system, we began to attack Soviet art; many had understandable allergies and nausea. For Italians, “Potemkin” remains a cinematic standard, Mayakovsky’s poetry excites hearts, and workaholics here today are called Stakhanovites.

Russian Church RNativity of Christ and St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in Florence. 1899-1903.

Project M.T. Preobrazhensky

If there is a “Russian Italy”, why is there no concept of “Italian Russia”? Or do we just not know about it? Are there any of your counterparts in Russia - people studying traces and monuments of Italian culture in Russian space?

Many of my colleagues study “Italians in Russia.” Together with the Moscow Italian historian E. Tokareva, we prepared a large collection “Italians in Russia from Ancient Rus' to the present day". There are about forty authors under one cover. However, my counterpart is not among them: my colleagues are dealing with some issues, problems, phenomena where the Italians have left a significant mark. Someone, for example, is interested in cannon and bell makers of the 15th century, and there the Italians set the tone. For a leap to “Italian Russia” we need a dense Italian emigration to us, and it has always been not even dotted, but spotty. And this is unlikely to change.

- What is “Russian Italy” in the 21st century? Do you like its new inhabitants? What do they bring with them?

I arrived in Italy a little earlier than the new wave of emigration and participated in printed discussions on the topic of the “fourth wave” of emigration and opposed this term. Life has shown that the scientific community did not accept it, although someone uses it. The previous three waves occurred when the door from our country opened and closed. Now a normal situation has arisen that existed with other diasporas - with “English Italy” or with some other. If a foreigner wants to live in Italy, he has such an opportunity - please. I wanted to return to my homeland - for God’s sake, good riddance. I knew one priest who asked, together with his family, to go on a business trip to Italy, practically for permanent residence, but he did not like it in the very peculiar Naples, and he returned to Moscow. According to my observations, Russians are reluctant to become guest workers, and there are enough of them here even without Russians, and therefore now various types of our professionals, people of creative pursuits, and wealthy pensioners are settling in Italy. And - a lot of “Russian wives”, most often blondes, driving Italians crazy. In general, they are all cultured people, because Italy sets the bar. I have made friends with many people and collaborate with them. I am confident that their work will take its rightful place in the overall national treasure. In particular, a number of artists have already received recognition. One paints temples, the other paints portraits... Russian fine art has preserved, thanks to the Soviet system, academic skills that were lost during the aggressive onset of non-objectivity. And our icon painters founded entire schools in Italy.

Interviewed by Konstantin Mikhailov

Illustrations: courtesy of Mikhail Talalay; WikimediaCommons

Mikhail Grigorievich Talalay(b. October 30, 1956, Leningrad) - historian, writer, researcher of Russian diaspora. Area of ​​scientific interests: St. Petersburg studies, Italian studies, Russian abroad, Orthodoxy.

Biography

Born in 1956 in Leningrad, in 1973 he graduated from school No. 248 with in-depth study of the English language with a Gold Medal.

In 1979 he graduated from the Technological Institute. Lensovet, worked as an engineer in the field of water treatment of boiler houses, author of a number of inventions (Award badge “Inventor of the USSR”), participant of the Exhibition of Economic Achievements (Gold Medal “For Success in the National Economy of the USSR”). In 1981-1987, after completing courses for guides and translators, he worked in the foreign department of the Leningrad Region of the USSR Academy of Sciences and in the Sputnik Bureau of International Tourism. Since 1985 he has collaborated with Samizdat, since 1986 he has been a participant in the public environmental and cultural movement for saving monuments, and in 1987 he organized protest rallies against the demolition of the city's historical buildings.

In 1988-91 he worked in the Leningrad branch of the Soviet Cultural Foundation (department for the protection of monuments).

Since 1992/93 lives in Italy, in Florence, Milan and Naples.

In 1994-2000 permanent correspondent for the weekly “Russian Thought”, 2000-2010. permanent correspondent for Radio Liberty.

In 1996-2001 he studied in correspondence graduate school at the Institute of World History Russian Academy Sci.

In May 2002, he defended his PhD thesis “The Russian Orthodox Church in Italy from the beginning of the 19th century to 1917”

Scientific career

Candidate of Historical Sciences;

Senior researcher and representative in Italy of the Institute of General History of the Russian Academy of Sciences;

In 2012, a scholarship holder of the Hermitage-Italy Foundation;

Laureate of the Makariev Prize 2013;

2013-2014 Associate Professor-teacher of Russian language at the University of Insubria, Como

In 1994-2000 secretary of the parish council of the Russian Church of the Nativity of Christ and St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in Florence;

From 2002 to the present day, secretary of the community - parish council of the Russian Church of St. ap. Andrew the First-Called (Moscow Patriarchate) in Naples;

Head of cultural initiatives of the Patriarchal Compound in Bari.

Member of the scientific committee of the Centro di Cultura e Storia Amalfitanan (Center for Amalfi History and Culture)

Member of the scientific committee of the Association Insieme per l "Athos ("Together for the sake of Mount Athos")

Vice-President of the Association "Russian Apulia - Puglia dei Russi"

Scientific interests

History of the Russian Church abroad, history of Russian emigration, history of St. Petersburg. By order of four large, specialized Italian publishing houses, his works translated dozens of guides to tourist cities in Italy and Europe into Russian.

He focused his research efforts on the topic “Russian presence in Italy.”

He is engaged in research on Russian emigration in Italy, the history of the Orthodox Church in Italy, the Russian necropolis in this country, etc.

Author of numerous articles in Russian and Italian magazines periodicals. He traveled a lot, his travel impressions became material for his journalistic works - in Russian newspapers, on Radio Liberty, and on websites. Published several books.

Awards

Diploma of the House of Russian Abroad named after. A. Solzhenitsyn “For the preservation of Russian culture in Italy” (2013)

Anniversary medal of the Russian Orthodox Church “In memory of the 1000th anniversary of the repose of Equal-to-the-Apostles Grand Duke Vladimir” (2015)

Research works. Books and brochures

Scientific and popular science publications. Books, brochures, collective monographs

This section contains monographic publications, works created in co-authorship, as well as works published as part of collective monographs.

1. City names today and yesterday. Leningrad toponymy / S. V. Alekseeva, A. G. Vladimirovich, A. D. Erofeev, M. G. Talalai. - L.: LIK, 1990. - 160 p.
2. Temples of St. Petersburg. Directory guide / A. V. Bertash, E. I. Zherikhina, M. G. Talalay. - St. Petersburg: LIK, 1992. - 240 p. - ISBN 5-86038-002-X
3. Day Angel. Reference book on names and birthdays. - St. Petersburg: “TRIAL”, 1992. - 256 p. - ISBN 5-7601-0001-7
4. Pilgrimage to the North. Russian saints and ascetics.
   1. Chapter I: To the White Lake // Twilight, No. 11, 1992
   2. Chapter II: Apostle of the Far North (St. Tryphon of Pechenga) // Youth, No. 9, 1992. - ISSN 0132-2036
5. City names today and yesterday. St. Petersburg toponymy (jointly with S. V. Alekseeva, A. G. Vladimirovich, A. D. Erofeev). - St. Petersburg: LIK, 1997. - 288 p. - ISBN 5-86038-023-2
6. Russian colony in Merano: To the 100th anniversary of the Russian House named after. Borodina = Die Russische Kolonie in Meran. Hundert Jahre russisches Haus “Borodine” = La colonia russa a Merano. Per i cent’anni della Casa russa “Borodine” / Ed.-comp. B. Marabini-Zöggeler, M. G. Talalay. - Bolzano: Raetia, 1997. - 144 p. - ISBN 88-7283-109-1 - Parallel text. German, Russian Italian
7. Russian burials at the Zeytinlik military cemetery in Thessaloniki - St. Petersburg: VIRD, 1999. - 16 p. - (Russian Necropolis; issue 4) - ISBN 5-89559-035-7
8. Lyubov Dostoevskaya: St. Petersburg - Bolzano = Ljubov" Dostoevskaja. S. Pietroburgo - Bolzano = Ljubov" Dostoevskaja. St. Petersburg - Bozen / Ed.-comp. B. Marabini-Zöggeler, M. G. Talalay. - Florence: Assoc. "Rus", 1999. - 152 p. - Parallel text. German, Russian Italian
9. Testaccio: Non-Catholic cemetery for foreigners in Rome. Alphabetical list of Russian burials. / V. Gasperovich, M. Yu. Katin-Yartsev, M. G. Talalay, A. A. Shumkov. - St. Petersburg: VIRD, 2000. - 160 p. - (Russian Necropolis; issue 6) - ISBN 5-89559-032-2
10. Children of two worlds = Figli di due mondi. Memories of the Russian-Italian family of Tatiana de Bartolomeo / Comp., trans., ed. M. G. Talalaya. - Milan; St. Petersburg: Aton, 2002. - 64 p. - ISBN 5-89077-072-1 - Parallel. tit. l. Italian
11. Russian Orthodox Church in Italy from the beginning of the 19th century until 1917. Abstract of the dissertation for the degree of candidate of historical sciences. / Institute of General History RAS. - M., 2002. - 14 p. - RSL OD, 61 02-7/710-5
12. Russian cemetery named after E.K.V. Queen of the Hellenes Olga Konstantinovna in Piraeus (Greece). - St. Petersburg: VIRD, 2002. - 48 p. - (Russian necropolis; issue 12) - ISBN 5-94030-028-6 - Cap. region: Russian cemetery in Piraeus.
13. Music in exile. Natalya Pravosudovich, student of Schoenberg = Musica in esilio. Natalia Pravosudovic, allieva di Schnberg = DieSchnberg-Schlerin Natalia Prawossudowitsch. / B. Marabini-Zöggeler, M. G. Talalay. - Bolzano: Vienna: Folio Verlag, 2003. - 128 pp. - ISBN 978-3-85256-255-1, 978-8886857437 - Parallel text. Russian, Italian, German
14. Demidovs, princes of San Donato. Foreign bibliography/ N. G. Pavlovsky, M. G. Talalay. - Ekaterinburg: Demidov Institute, 2005. - 128 p. - ISBN 5-87858-009-8
15. Biblical scenes in stone and bronze. St. Petersburg city decoration. Directory guide / O. Alexander Bertash, M. G. Talalay. - St. Petersburg: LIK, 2005. - 188 p. - ISBN 5-86038-129-8
16. Antique and biblical stories in stone and bronze: St. Petersburg city decoration - extended. reissue / S. O. Androsov, O. Alexander Bertash, M. G. Talalay. - St. Petersburg: LIK, 2006. - 348, p. : ill. - (Three centuries of Northern Palmyra) - ISBN 5-86038-130-1
17. In fuga dalla storia. Esuli dai totalitarismi del Novecento sulla Costa d’Amalfi [Escape from history. Exiles of the totalitarian systems of the twentieth century. on the Amalfi Coast] / D. Richter, M. Romito, M. G. Talalay. - Amalfi: Centro di Cultura e Storia Amalfiana, 2005. - 164 p. - ISBN 978-8888283340
18. Saint Peacock the Gracious and the first Christian bells / I. V. Romanova, M. G. Talalai. - M.: Bell Center, 2006. - 48 p.
19. Necropolis of St. Andrew's Skete on Mount Athos. - St. Petersburg: VIRD, 2007. - 104 p. - (Russian Necropolis; issue 15) - ISBN 5-94030-071-5
20. Under an alien sky / E. Bordato, M. G. Talalay. - St. Petersburg: Aletheya, 2009. - 147 p. - ISBN 978-5-91419-160-0
21. The last one from San Donato. Princess [Maria Pavlovna] Abamelek-Lazareva, née Demidova / Int. Demid. Fund; Comp., pub., comm. M. G. Talalaya. - M.: Concept-Media, 2010. - 192 p., ill.
22. Amalfi. Faith, history and art. (translation, addition) - Amalfi: [Archdiocese of Amalfi - Cava dei Tirreni], - 8 pages.
23. Elias Monastery on Mount Athos / M. G. Talalai, P. Troitsky, N. Fennell. - Comp., scientific. ed. M. G. Talalaya. Photos: A. Kitaev, M. Talalai. - M.: Indrik, 2011. - 400 p. - (Russian Athos; issue 8) - ISBN 978-5-91674-138-4
24. Russian church life and church building in Italy. - SPb.: Kolo. 2011. - 400 p. - ISBN 978-5-901841-64-8 - [Makaryev Prize ’2013].
25. Michail Semnov. Un pescatore russo a Positano (a cura di Vladimir Keidan; introduzione e redazione Michail Talalay). - Amalfi: Centro di Cultura Amalfitana, 2011. - 423 pp. - ISBN 978-88-88283-21-0
26. Count Bobrinskoj: the long journey from the Pamirs to the Dolomites = Il conte Bobrinskoj: Il lungo cammino da Pamir alle Dolomiti = Graf Bobrinskoj: Der lange Weg vom Pamir in die Dolomiten / B. Marabini Zoeggeler, M. G. Talalay, D. Khudonazarov. - Bolzano: Raetia, 2012. - 144 p. - ISBN 978-88-7283-411-4 - Parallel text. Russian, Italian, German
27. May a foreign land give you rest. Russian necropolis in South Tyrol. - M.: Staraya Basmannaya, 2012. - 144 p., ill. - ISBN 978-5-904043-58-2
28. Il piccolo ‘Ermitage’ di Vasilij Necitajlov. Tra Amalfi, Positano e Ravello / Mikhail Talalay, Massimo Ricciardi. - Amalfi: CCSA, 2012. - 80 p.
29. The inspirer of our tranquility. Russian necropolis in Venice. - M.: Staraya Basmannaya, 2013. - 90 p., ill. - ISBN 978-5-904043-5
30. Dal Caucaso agli Appennini. Gli azerbaigiani nella resistance italiana. - Roma: Sandro Teti, 2013. - 120 p. - ISBN 978-88-88249-24-7
31. The love of relatives is on guard. Russian necropolis in San Remo. - M.: Staraya Basmannaya, 2014. - 144 p. - ISBN 978-5-906470-15-7
32. Russian Don Basilio = "Don Basilio" Russo: the fate and legacy of V. N. Nechitailov / Yu. N. Nechitailov, M. G. Talalay. - M.: Staraya Basmannaya, 2014. - 196 p. - ISBN 978-5-906470-27-0
33. Russian necropolis in Italy. / Ed. and with additional A. A. Shumkova. - M.: Staraya Basmannaya, 2014. - 908 p., LXXX p. ill. - (Russian Necropolis; issue 21) - ISBN 978-5-906470-18-8
34. St. Petersburg - Meran: Die Russen kommen = Arrivano i russi = Russians are coming / B. Marabini Zoeggeler, M. Talalay. - Merano: Touriseum - Provincial Museum of Tourism, 2014. - 144 p. - Parallel text. German, Italian, Russian
35. Saint Aegidius, Byzantine in the West. Life and Veneration / Ed.-comp. M. G. Talalay. - St. Petersburg: Aletheya, 2015. - St. Petersburg: Aletheya, 2015. - 108 p. - ISBN 978-5-906792-09-9
36. Russian participants in the Italian War 1943-1945: partisans, Cossacks, legionnaires. - M.: Staraya Basmannaya, 2015. - 408 p. - ISBN 978-5-906470-40-9
37. I Russi ad Amalfi. Suggestioni mediterranee e storie di vita [Russians in Amalfi. Mediterranean charm and life stories] / A.A. Kara-Murza, M. G. Talalay, O.A. ukova. - Amalfi: Centro di Cultura e Storia Amalfitana, 2015. - 240 pp. - ISBN 978-88-88283-55-5
38. Russian church project in Tuscany // General Zakrevsky, governor of Moscow and resident of Tuscany [collective monograph] / comp. O. G. Pochekina, M. G. Talalay; scientific ed. M. G. Talalay. - M: Staraya Basmannaya, 2015 - (in print)
39. Russian Church and Holy Mount Athos in the 15th - early 20th centuries. // History of Russian Orthodox diaspora. Volume I. Russian Orthodoxy abroad from ancient times to the beginning of the twentieth century. Book 1. Russian Orthodox presence in the Christian East. X - start XX century Part 2. History of Russian Athos from ancient times to 1917. Chapter II. - M.: Publishing House of the Moscow Patriarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church, 2015 - ISBN 978-5-88017-???-? - (in print) - pp. 227-318.

The legacy of Maria Olsufieva

Soviet literature became known and popular in Italy largely thanks to the titanic translation work of the “White emigrant” Maria Vasilyevna Olsufieva (1907-1988).

With the Soviet system, however, most of the authors she translated (Bulgakov, Pasternak, Okudzhava, etc.) had only passport relations, but still Countess Olsufieva, the daughter of a colonel of the Volunteer Army and the head of the Russian church in Florence, had a lot of time to communicate with the “system”, to get to know her momentary affection and subsequent anger.

It was 1957, and the West looked with curiosity at the East, which was taking on humane contours. Florence publisher Bruno Nardini, chairman of the International Book Center, said he was ready to publish Dudintsev if the translator submitted the text in 25 days. “I finished translating at two in the morning, and at six in the morning Nardini arrived and took me to the printing house,” Maria Vasilievna later said, “where the typesetters grumbled that they don’t even print newspapers in such a hurry” 1). The publisher was in a hurry for good reason, reaping commercial success; Olsufieva’s translation talent was also appreciated. From then on, the Russian Florentine prepared one or two books for publication almost every year, going against publishing practice: she chose the authors herself, translated them, and then offered them for publication. Its performance is amazing 2).

...Alas, I did not have the chance to get to know Maria Vasilievna personally. The first time I arrived in Florence was just a year after her death: everything here still breathed with her presence. A few years later, having begun, on behalf of the Russian community, compiling a brochure about the local Orthodox Church 3) and studying its archive, I was amazed at the organizational and research talents of the late elder.

Parish books, minutes of meetings, correspondence with various kinds of persons and authorities - all this was in exemplary order. Moreover, Maria Vasilievna wrote a book about the church in Italian (which greatly facilitated my own work), helped inventory the parish property and collected a card index of Russian burials in local cemeteries.

The love for the history of the fatherland was even more clearly imprinted in the translator’s archive, which I became acquainted with in her home, where her daughter Elizabeth lived. This Russian corner, exotic for Florence, was like a museum, with a lot of relics, icons, photographs, and rare books. translator, I managed to almost immediately find an Italian publisher - so thirteen years after the death of Maria Vasilievna, her new book was published 5).

Communicating with her family and friends, with members of the Orthodox parish, it was not difficult to recreate Olsufieva’s life path.

She left her homeland with her parents when she was 11 years old. However, Italy was in many ways her homeland, for she was born here. The fact is that her parents, Vasily Alekseevich Olsufiev and Olga Pavlovna (nee Countess Shuvalova), being passionate Italophiles, spent a lot of time in the Apennines, and in addition, Olga Pavlovna acquired a trusted midwife in Florence and therefore went here to give birth.

At the age of four months, Masha was brought from Florence to Moscow, to the old family nest of the Olsufievs on Povarskaya Street. Her grandfather, Count Alexei Vasilyevich, an old dignitary who devoted his leisure time to translations of ancient Russian poets (wasn’t the gift from him?) still alive.

In addition to Latin, my grandfather loved Church Slavonic, and Masha took lessons from him in this language, which came in handy while serving as the warden of a Florentine church. The children generally grew up in a multilingual environment: the mother preferred to read and write in French (she also served as a “mademoiselle” in the house);

Maria Vasilievna's parents are Count Vasily Alekseevich Olsufiev and Olga Pavlovna, née Countess Shuvalova

The translator’s archive also preserved another unpublished document, a memoir essay by her mother Olga Pavlovna, in French, under the title “Scattered Leaves.” In an amazing way, the mother's story continues the daughter's broken story, written years later.

...Count Vasily Alekseevich, a retired colonel of the imperial army, volunteers at the very beginning of the First World War. He is sent to the Caucasus, followed by his wife, accompanied by an assigned Cossack, and a little later - all five children.

The revolution overtakes the family in Kislovodsk, where representatives of “old Russia” take refuge in the hope of anti-communist Cossacks and mountaineers. Soviet power, very moderate at first, comes to this resort town. Gradually, power strengthens and expropriations begin. In the summer of 1918, Vasily Alekseevich, together with other officers, went to the mountains, to the detachments of the Volunteer Army. In the autumn of the same year, the “whites” and Cossacks occupied Kislovodsk, but not for long. When the “Reds” approach, the Olsufievs run to the Black Sea coast, and with the help of one Tatar woman they get to Batumi. It is the spring of 1919, and the “red” ring is shrinking. One fine day, an English warship landed in Batumi. Desperate Olga Pavlovna climbs aboard and begs to take her family to Italy, “where there is its own corner.” To her amazement, the British captain immediately invites the whole family to come on board the ship. In March 1919, the Olsufievs landed in the port city of Taranto...

French text

Four girls, having received an excellent education, were famous in Tuscany for their talents and beauty: among bride-seekers, even the collective expression “sorelle Olsoufieff”, “Olsoufieff sisters” arose. In fact, brilliant matches were not long in coming: on November 28, 1929, on the very day of her 22nd birthday, Maria, a philology student, married a Florentine of Swiss origin, Marco Michaellis, later a famous university agronomist;

his brother married the youngest of the sisters, Olga. Two older sisters became related to the Roman aristocracy: Asya, a talented artist, began to bear the surname Busiri-Vici, and Daria - the surname Borghese, along with the princely crown (Daria wrote two interesting Italian books, “Gogol in Rome” and “Old Rome”) .

The elder Olsufievs passed away into another world: the count died in 1925, his wife in 1939.

However, a new, numerous generation has been born: Maria Vasilievna alone has four children!

During World War II, in 1941, Alexei died, drafted into the Royal Navy as an Italian subject. His ship was sunk by the British - the same nation that saved him in the Caucasus. After the war, in the 1950s, when the children grew up, Olsufieva turned to translation work, which we talked about at the very beginning. The apogee of her translations came in the 1960s. Brilliant, sensational publications, success with the public and publishers, teaching at the School of Translators. I note that in Italy in those years the so-called “leftist culture” dominated, and therefore the successes of “Soviet” literature were perceived here with particular enthusiasm. After almost half a century of exile - again trips to Moscow. One circumstance in the “first” homeland turned out to be especially piquant - the board of the Union of Soviet Writers was located in the Olsufievs’ mansion on Povarskaya. It is in his

Everything changed with the change in the political climate in the USSR. The country was frozen again, and when Solzhenitsyn asked Maria Vasilyevna to become the translator of his “Archipelago”, the doors to her homeland that had been slightly opened for her slammed shut - now forever. Olsufieva, however, believed that the absurd regime could not last long, and in addition to translations of Soviet human rights activists, she began to provide them with direct assistance.

In those years, emigrants from the USSR who found themselves in Italy knew that they could be significantly supported in Florence. In fact, in the local press, Lev Tenth Street, on which the Russian church stands, was nicknamed the emigrant path: in total, about three hundred families found temporary shelter here. Maria Vasilyevna even started a special notebook for the reviews of those special guests, which today has turned into a unique document of the “third wave” of emigration. Particularly close to the circles of Academician Sakharov, she tried to attract the attention of Western public opinion to his dramatic fate, and took care of Elena Bonner during her trips to Europe.

In 1988, Maria Vasilievna died.

I am sure that if she had time to travel to Russia, which was being reconstructed, an honorable reception would have awaited her there.

Now she cannot “return” to her homeland with her books, like most emigrant writers, because all her works were translations, and she did not write her own texts, although, without a doubt, she could.

My friends and I have repeatedly asked the question: why only translations?

I recently found a possible answer in those modest autobiographical notes that she began but never finished. Maria Vasilievna recalls that since childhood she suffered from particular shyness. Also, since childhood, she wanted to write, and she composed poems and stories, hid them, but adults found them, and, to her horror and shame, read aloud what she had written... Isn’t it really better to translate what someone else wrote?

2) For a general list of her works published in Italy, see: Talalay M.G.

Olsufievs in exile//From the depths of time.

No. 10, 1998. P. 280; see also bibliographic dictionary Scandura C. Letteratura russa in Italia. Un secolo di traduzioni [Russian literature in Italy.

A Century of Translations]. Roma, Bilzoni editore, 2002.

3) See: Talalay M.G. Church of the Nativity in Florence. Florence, 1993 (2nd ed.: Florence, 2000).

4) Pavan S. Le carte di Marija Olsufdva [Papers of Maria Olsufdva]. Roma, 2002.

HISTORY OF DOMESTIC COLLABORATION: MATERIALS AND RESEARCH » PUBLISHED AT A N L E S M TV AS O « STA RA YA B Old Basmannaya Moscow 2017 Scientific publication Responsible editor A. Martynov History of domestic collaboration: Materials and research. – M.: Staraya Basmannaya, 2017. – 396 p.: ill. Italian evidence about the Cossack camp......................251 Belkov A. The beginning of the Great Patriotic War as reflected by the Russian emigrant press in Yugoslavia........ .......274 Martynov A. Reds in the ranks of whites: On the issue of the service of Soviet citizens in the Russian Corps........................... ...........................284 Zhukov D., Kovtun I. Boris Holmston-Smyslovsky and NTS: A history of cooperation and confrontation.... ...................................297 4 Contents Martynov A. “The time has come for the ranks of 1- th Russian National Army left the country": On the history of the presence of Holmston-Smyslovsky’s troops in Liechtenstein................................... ........................................................ ..........339 Shneer A. Camp Travniki based on investigative documents of the NKVD, MGB, KGB and 5) Boutourline M. Ricordi [Memoirs of Count M.D. 1944–1987 in the USSR...................................346 Appendix......... ........................................................ ...................................387 Martynov A. On the history of the activities of the ROA brigade in Italy..... ......388 Italian evidence of the Cossack camp 251 Mikhail Talalay Italian evidence of the Cossack camp Before moving on to the direct evidence of the Italians about the presence of the Cossacks among them, let us briefly recall the facts. , after the successful advance of the Allies in the Apennines, in the northeastern territories of Italy, the Nazis established the province of the Adriatic Coast (Adriatisches Küstenland), which included the regions of Udine, Gorizia, Trieste, Ljubljana, in order to strengthen their positions on the Italian front. In this area, Nazi troops were threatened not only by constant Allied bombing, but also by the ever-increasing partisan movement. It was the successes of the communist partisan brigade named after. Garibaldi forced the Wehrmacht to send Cossacks (and Caucasians) to Italy. Buturlina, ed. V. Gasperovich and M. Talalaya]. Lucca, 2001. , remembered by contemporaries for the famous attack of the British Light Brigade and the “thin red line” of the Scottish riflemen. In February 1945, the 76-year-old head of the Main Directorate of Cossack Troops, a participant in the Civil War, cavalry general Pyotr Krasnov, who left Berlin, set up his main headquarters in Verzenis, at the Savoia Hotel (currently Stella d’Oro)4. On January 17, 1947, Krasnov and his closest associates were executed in Moscow. This is a gang of huge and powerful men, armed to the teeth, on excellent horses imported from Poland. Ahead is a real army of occupation – without women, consisting of colonels, majors, captains, lieutenants and further below in rank”10. They killed the vicar priest, the holy man, Don Giuseppe Treppo, when he tried to protect women from rapists obsessed with lust. Don Giuseppe died as a martyr - from these soldiers sent to Carnia, as if it were a partisan region. Paid with his life. Two days later he was buried by Don Carlo Englaro and a Salesian priest from Tolmezzo. Advancement proceeded along the Bute valley, causing death, fires, violence, and robbery. The stunned population began to realize that these horrors may have been caused by the irrationality of the partisans. Guerrilla resistance is a great idea, but in contrast to youthful recklessness, discipline, order, mobility, and fodder are needed. Several thousand partisans, scattered along the gorges, among poor villages, will never be able to defend a region like Carnia, 11 Conference collection: I cosacchi in Italia [“Cossacks in Italy”], 1944-’45 / a cura di A. Stroili. Tolmezzo: Edizioni Andrea Moro, 2008, pp. 155–214. The diary's publisher is Evaldo Marzona. Italian evidence of the Cossack camp 257 from 60 thousand Cossacks sent by Hitler - from their armed occupation army, followed by their families and rear convoys.” The partisans went to the mountains, but, taken by surprise, they did not have good bivouacs there. Winter is at the gates, and so much is unclear. The idol of resistance has faded, and everyone is busy only trying to adapt to the new strict masters.<…> The newcomers are very religious, and our [and Don Giuseppe’s] vestments evoke respect and honor among them. They greet us politely and are ready to listen to our questions.” The name of the partisan brigade in Friuli - “Stalin”, which was commanded by junior lieutenant Daniil Avdeev, who escaped from captivity and died in battle with the Germans (November 14, 1944) gave a special ideological urgency to the conflict. Although the "Stalin" brigade did not operate in Carnia itself, the communist partisans in those parts were often called "Stalinists". Before the arrival of the Cossacks, the priest Graziano Boria ideologically supported the Resistance and helped the partisans, and his colleague from Friuli, the priest Don Aldo Moretti, even personally participated in the creation of the Ozoppo partisan brigade. As a rule, there were serious disagreements between the demo-Catholic partisans and the communist partisans (especially closer to the Slovenian lands, in the Trieste region, where ethnic conflicts arose between Italians and Slovenes, mainly of Tito’s orientation), but in Carnia they managed to create a united front against the German Nazis, Italian fascists, and, from the fall of 1944, against the Cossacks. Don Graziano's connections with the partisans later aroused serious suspicion among the Cossack leadership. 6) Memoirs of M.V. Olsufieva, written in Italian and entitled “Ai miei figli” [To my children], are kept in the family of her son Francesco. The Christian cult contributes - Orthodox priests, “priests” arrived with the Cossack camp, to whom the padre provides all possible assistance in organizing divine services. One of the “priests” is given special attention in the diary; communicating with him is a rare opportunity! - Don Graziano (he sometimes writes about himself in the third person) is trying to find out more about Orthodoxy: 260 M. Talalay “Tall, with a scraggly beard, long hair, sometimes dresses like a soldier, sometimes in a black faded robe to the toes, on the chest , on a cord or chain - a wooden cross, measuring 5 by 7 cm. Polite, speaks only Russian. He spent seven years in Siberian camps, then escaped and joined the displaced Caucasians. We understand each other by signs and illustrated doctrine13. Behaves politely and compliantly. The church in Kiaulis asks me for its services. Of particular interest are the pages of the diary dedicated to Krasnov, who arrived in Verzenyis on February 12, 1945. Why here? The priest himself explains it this way: 13 Illustrated Catechism. 14 Stone tiles with relics, similar to an Orthodox antimins. Italian evidence about the Cossack camp 261 Camels, a strange form of clothing, an incomprehensible language... It is not surprising that the Italians called the Cossacks “Mongols” Source: Private collection 262 M. Talalay Samples of passes issued by the administration of the Cossack camp, which allowed the Italians to visit the places from which they were expelled.<Краснов> chose Verzenis because it seemed more reliable and far from bombing. Dzhemona, where he had stopped earlier for two days, did not provide such reliability. We are afraid that now the rules for us will be stricter, but at the same time we hope that the Cossacks will become more disciplined. We hope!” The cardinal of Paris awarded him a gold medal for his book “Hate”18.<…>I didn't see him again. If he had stayed with us, I could have saved him."<…>Around 17.30 we go to take a closer look at the care. We meet “Barbon”, who greets us coldly. We wish good luck to everyone passing by. And the priest leaves. His sister is sitting on the cart, he is standing next to her. We say goodbye to him warmly, but he is silent. We are glad that it is raining - that means there will be no bombing. The column moves, and these unfortunates went towards their death! Don Giuseppe and I exchange anxious thoughts. If they had listened to us, almost all of them would have saved their lives. On the evening of May 2, only 20 Russians remained in Kyaichis, all of them are theater actors and musicians, they were gathered by one Albanian woman who knows Italian. She asks us whether to stay or not. We answer that it is better to stay - it is our responsibility. Later we defended these poor Russians from the Garibaldian partisans who decided to take possession of their chests. They were also protected in writing from the British. They were gathered first in Treviso, then in Rome. They ended up in Brazil: they often wrote thanks for the good they had done.”<…>How many Russians who fell into the hands of Stalin’s army were executed or thrown into the waters of the Danube20!” . The war period of the priest’s diary ends with an entry dated May 6, 1945: “On May 6, in the afternoon, the British appeared in high-speed tanks. They marched to Tolmezzo, where allies flocked from Amaro, Villasantina, and Verzenis. On May 8, the last Russians remaining in Chiachis set out. The allies gathered them in Tolmezzo and sent them to Udine-Treviso. If everyone had listened to our advice, including the general, they could have been saved! Because everyone, with the exception of the most brutal elements, had nothing to fear! However, military events ended the lives of the poor fellows at the very threshold of their salvation.” his research passion - about the blessing of Krasnov himself, who saw an 8-year-old handsome Italian boy and stroked his head. Leaving aside the legends, it should be admitted that the author was seriously interested in 20 Correct: Dravas. Italian evidence about the Cossack camp 267 topic, carefully reconstructed the events and proposed his own interpretation, rehabilitating the Cossacks. After numerous publications in periodicals, primarily in the newspaper L'Arena di Verona, which published about twenty of his articles, where Carnier presented new evidence and polemicized with his opponents, he published in 1965 a solid work, “The Cossack Army in Italy” ( L'armata cosacca in Italy)21, and then, in 1982, Lo sterminio mancato (“The Failed Extermination”). Carnier’s book “The Cossack Army in Italy” is still the richest source of information about the Cossack camp in Italy. 21 In 1993, the Venetian publishing house Mursia published a second, expanded edition of this book. 268 M. Talalay It was at the hands of the “Russian Mongols” that Fyodor Poletaev, Hero of the Soviet Union, fell in Liguria, which Italian veteran eyewitnesses wrote about immediately after the war, but which Soviet historiography was silent about22. In the mid-1990s. An important attempt was made to synthesize different – ​​most often diametrically opposed – points of view: the young historian Gregorio Venir defended his thesis on the Cossack camp at the University of Bologna, and then published it in the form of a monograph: “Cossacks in Carnia (I cosacchi in Carnia, 1995). Ten years later, in 2004, a graduate of the University of Padua, Antonio Dessy, chose a similar topic for his thesis – not yet published: “Krasnov’s Cossacks in Carnia, August 1944 – May 1945, and their forced extradition Soviet side" (I cosacchi di Krasnov in Carnia, agosto 1944 – maggio 1945 e la loro forzata consegna ai Sovietici). Venir, making extensive use of Carnier’s factual information, tried to remove his politicized assessment of the Resistance, where the partisan movement was attributed predominantly a revolutionary, Marxist-Stalinist spirit, and the main goal was a social revolution in Italy. Dessi’s approach is interesting because he was essentially the first to fit the Cossack camp into the socio-economic and agricultural context of the region. The diary of Don Graziano Boria remains an unsurpassed Italian source, to which is added a growing literature of various types every year. Fabio Verardo published a lot, fascinated by the Cossack theme, primarily by the bright figure of Pyotr Krasnov. In 2010, he published the book “The Cossacks of Krasnov in Carnia” (I cosacchi di Krasnov in Carnia), and in 2012, Italian literature received a separate monograph about the ataman - “Ataman Krasnov: The History of a Cossack from the Don to Friuli” (Krasnov l'atamano. Storia di un cosacco dal Don al Friuli)26. In the mid-1980s. A sad episode during the Second World War unexpectedly attracted the attention of two major masters of Italian culture. In 1984, the magazine “Rivista Milanese di Economia” provided its pages to the outstanding Germanist from Trieste, Professor Claudio Magris and his story “Reflections on a Checker” (Illazioni su una sciabola). Subsequently, the story was published (and repeatedly) as a separate book and translated into dozens of languages. A little later, namely at the beginning of 1985, the Milanese publishing house Mondadori released Carlo Sgorlon’s novel “The Army of Lost Rivers” (L’armata dei fiumi perduti) onto the Italian book market, which won the prestigious Strega literary prize that same year. , which could not possibly have taken place: on May 27, 1945, Krasnov surrendered his saber to British officers, and on January 17, 1947, he was executed in Russia. In fact, the dead man turned out to be Major General Fyodor Dyakonov, who was later reburied in the German military cemetery in Kostermano. Carnia, the ephemeral Kozakenland, the Cossack land, is just a short stage on the way to an unknown goal. Cossacks, having lost their own roots, express their warlike and unbridled disposition during skirmishes with partisans. Ataman Krasnov, who has arranged housing in the “stanitsa” in the traditional Cossack style, also searches and does not find his homeland. As a result, the Cossacks die - but, according to Sgorlon, not because they betrayed the Russian (Soviet) state, but because they betrayed their native villages by going to a foreign land.