Cemetery in Paris where Russians are buried. Your Lordships, their Nobles - together at Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois

Small church. The candles have melted.

The stone is worn white by the rains.

The former, the former are buried here.

Cemetery of Saint-Genevieve-des-Bois

This is what the young Soviet poet Robert Rozhdestvensky wrote back in 1970 about the most Russian place in Paris. The suburb of Saint-Genevieve-des-Bois became so at the beginning of the 20th century. At the expense of Princess Meshcherskaya, a nursing home was opened here for Russian nobles who fled from the revolution and were deprived of their means of subsistence. At the same time, the first graves with inscriptions in Church Slavonic appeared at the local cemetery. Gradually, the quiet town became the center of Russian emigration in Paris. A small Orthodox church was built where the first hierarchs of the Russian Church in exile served. This is where they are buried.

Over time, the town of Saint-Genevieve-des-Bois has become part of Greater Paris. But here the atmosphere of a Russian resting place has traditionally been preserved, which is combined with European grooming and cleanliness. Although today most of the residents of the nursing home are French, the administration diligently maintains the “Russian spirit”, in which it is helped by both the local community and the current Russian government.

For quite a long time, burials of White Guard officers prevailed here, but the situation gradually changed. Today, the names of artists, writers, poets and painters are much more common in the alleys of the cemetery. The most famous of them is Ivan Bunin, winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature. The Russian language in his books reached incredible perfection and strength. Zinaida Gippius and Tatyana Teffi, Dmitry Merezhkovsky and Ivan Shmelev found their final refuge here.

Here lies one of the brightest Russian poets of modern Russia - Alexander Galich. His name can be safely placed next to Vladimir Vysotsky and Bulat Okudzhava.

At the end of 2007, the local municipality seriously discussed the issue of liquidating the cemetery due to the expiration of the land lease. Burials there have long been stopped; in order to receive this honor, you must either have a plot purchased before the ban, or obtain special permission. In order to bury Andrei Tarkovsky there, the assistance of the Russian Ministry of Culture was needed. The situation worsened at the end of 2007, and then the Russian government decided to allocate 700 thousand Euros, which paid in advance for the rent of the land plot under the cemetery until 2040.

There are more than 7,000 Russian graves in the cemetery, including famous Russian writers, scientists, artists, artists, statesmen and politicians, military men and members of the clergy. The Cemetery Church of the Assumption was built according to the design of the architect Albert A. Benois in the Novgorod style with a Pskov belfry and gates; it was solemnly consecrated on October 14, 1939.

More than 10 thousand Russians are buried in the cemetery. Many famous people are buried there: writer Ivan Bunin (1870-1953), poet-bard Alexander Galich (1919-1977), writer Dmitry Merezhkovsky (1866-1941), his wife poetess Zinaida Gippius (1869-1949), film actors brothers Alexander ( 1877-1952) and Ivan (1869-1939) Mozzhukhins, writer, chief editor. magazine "Continent" Viktor Nekrasov (1911-1987), dancer Rudolf Nureyev (1938-1993), writer Alexei Remizov (1877-1957), Grand Duke Andrei Romanov (1879-1956) and his wife ballerina Matilda Kshesinskaya (1872-1971) , Grand Duke Gabriel Romanov (1887-1955), artist Zinaida Serebryakova (1884-1967), artist Konstantin Somov (1869-1939), economist and statesman Peter Struve (1870-1944), film director Andrei Tarkovsky (1932-1986), writer Teffi (Nadezhda Lokhvitskaya) (1875-1952), writer Ivan Shmelev (1873-1950) was later reburied on May 30, 2000 in his native Moscow, Prince Felix Yusupov (1887-1967).

At the cemetery, the Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary in the spirit of Novgorod churches, built and painted by Albert Benois in 1938-1939. Buried in the crypt of the church are: the architect of this church, Albert Benois (1870-1970), his wife Margarita, nee Novinskaya (1891-1974), Countess Olga Kokovtsova (1860-1950), Countess Olga Malevskaya-Malevich (1868-1944).

To the right of the iconostasis there is a memorial plaque in memory of the 32 thousand soldiers and officers who served in the Second World War in the German army. They were handed over by the Allies to the Soviet command and executed for treason.

At the very beginning of the 20s, when the first wave of Russian emigration arrived in Paris, a problem arose: what to do with the elderly, the older generation who left Bolshevik Russia? And then the emigrant committee decided to buy a castle near Paris and turn it into a nursing home. Such a castle was found in the Essonne department, 30 kilometers south of Paris in the town of Sainte-Genevieve-des-Bois. It was a real outback back then.

On April 7, 1927, a nursing home was opened here with a large park adjacent to it, at the end of which there was a communal cemetery. At the very beginning of its existence, the Russian House in Sainte-Genevieve-des-Bois was destined to become the custodian of the relics of pre-revolutionary Russia. When France officially recognized the Soviet Union, the ambassador of the Provisional Government in Paris, Maklakov, had to cede the embassy building to the new owners. But he managed to transport portraits of Russian emperors, antique furniture and even a royal throne made of wood and gilding to the Russian House. Everything is still located in Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois.

This first Russian nursing home in France was inhabited by 150 residents. Wonderful and even outstanding people ended their earthly journey here. Many Russian diplomats, artists Dmitry Stelletsky, Nikolai Istsenov... The last famous person who died in this house at the age of 94 was Princess Zinaida Shakhovskaya. So by the beginning of the 30s, Russian graves appeared here, on the foreign side.

Shortly before the war, the Russians prudently bought a plot of land here of about a thousand square meters and, according to the design of Albert Benois (a relative of Alexander Benois), built a church in the Novgorod style. On October 14, 1939, this church was consecrated and thus the graveyard, called the Russian Cemetery in Sainte-Genevieve-des-Bois, was formed. Later, both Soviet commanders and soldiers were buried here.

*****

The road to the cemetery from the bus stop. It’s sunny and deserted, with occasional cars passing behind us. Ahead is a cemetery fence.

The cemetery's central gate, behind it is a church with a blue dome. On the occasion of Saturday everything is closed. The entrance to the cemetery is a little further.

Ivan Alekseevich Bunin. Calm and quiet.

Nearby is Nadezhda Teffi.

Monument to Russians who fought and died in World War II on the side of the French Resistance.

Rimsky-Korsakov

Rudolf Nureyev

Sergey Lifar

Alexander Galich

Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich Romanov and “Little” Kshesinskaya

Merezhkovsky and Gippius

"In the trenches of Stalingrad." Writer Viktor Platonovich Nekrasov

Writer Vladimir Emelyanovich Maksimov

Captain Merkushov

Grand Duke Gabriel Konstantinovich Romanov

Archpriest Sergius Bulgakov

Veniamin Valerianovich Zavadsky (Writer Korsak) is a very interesting monument.

Professor Anton Vladimirovich Kartashev

Shmelevs. Symbolic grave.

Felix Yusupov, Rasputin's killer. And his (Felix's) wife.

Monument to Drozdovites

General Alekseev and his faithful comrades (Alekseevtsy)

Alexey Mikhailovich Remezov. Writer.

Andrei Tarkovsky (“To the Man Who Saw an Angel” - this is what is written on the monument)

The symbolic grave of General Kutepov (for those who have read “The Invisible Web” by Pryanishnikov, it should be clear why it is symbolic).

Galipolians...

Famous theologian Archpriest Vasily Zenkovsky

One of the first actors of Russian cinema Ivan Mozzhukhin

The alleys of the cemetery are clean... and quiet... only the birds are singing

Cossacks - sons of Glory and Freedom

View from the altar of the Assumption Church.

A Russian nursing home in Sainte-Genevieve-des-Bois, where fragments of the first post-revolutionary emigration still survive. Among them is Lydia Alexandrovna Uspenskaya, the widow of the famous icon painter Leonid Uspensky, who painted the Trinity Church and was buried in this cemetery. In October of this year. she will turn 100 years old. She ended up in France in 1921, she was 14...

Lidia Alexandrovna Uspenskaya before the funeral service at the cemetery:

Memorial service on February 13, 2006 at the Sainte-Genevieve-des-Bois cemetery for all compatriots who died and were buried here (as part of the celebration of the 75th anniversary of the Three Hierarchs' Metochion of the Russian Orthodox Church MP in Paris).

The memorial service was led by Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad (V.R. - currently Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church).

And here they are already burying complete strangers...

Tomorrow other Russian people will come here and a silent prayer will sound again...

Buried here:

Father Sergius Bulgakov, theologian, founder of the Theological Institute in Paris
L.A. Zander, professor at the Theological Institute
Archpriest A. Kalashnikov
V.A. Trefilova, ballerina
V.A. Maklakov, lawyer, former minister
N.N. Cherepnin, composer, founder of the Russian Conservatory. Rachmaninov in Paris
A.V. Kartashev, historian, professor at the Theological Institute in Paris
I.S. Shmelev, writer (only a symbolic grave remains)
N.N. Kedrov, founder of the quartet. Kedrova
Prince F.F. Yusupov
K.A. Somov, artist
A.U. Chichibabin, chemist, biologist
D.S. Steletsky, artist
Grand Duke Gabriel
S.K. Makovsky, artist, poet
A.E. Volynin, dancer
I.A. Bunin, writer, Nobel Prize laureate
M.A. Slavina, opera singer
S.G. Polyakov, artist
V.P. Krymov, writer
S.N. Maloletenkov, architect
A.G. Chesnokov, composer
Archpriest V. Zenkovsky, theologian, professor at the Theological Institute in Paris
Princes Andrei and Vladimir Romanov
Kshesinskaya, prima ballerina
K.A. Korovin, artist
N.N. Evreinov, director, actor
I.I. and A.I. Mozzhukhins, opera and film artists
O. Preobrazhenskaya, ballerina
M.B. Dobuzhinsky, artist
P.N. Evdokimov, theologian
A.M. Remizov, writer
Gallipoli common grave
Common grave of members of the Foreign Legion
Z. Peshkov, adopted son of Maxim Gorky, general of the French army, diplomat
K.N. Davydov, zoologist
A.B. Pevzner, sculptor
B. Zaitsev, writer
N.N. Lossky, theologian, philosopher
V.A. Smolensky, poet
G.N. Slobodzinsky, artist
M.N. Kuznetsova-Massenet, opera singer
S.S. Malevsky-Malevich, diplomat, artist
Common grave of members of the Russian Cadet Corps
L.T. Zurov, poet
Common grave of the Cossacks; Ataman A.P. Bogaevsky
A.A. Galich, poet
P. Pavlov and V. M. Grech, actors
V.N. Ilyin, writer. Philosopher
Common grave of parishioners
S. Lifar, choreographer
V.P. Nekrasov, writer
A. Tarkovsky, film director
V.L. Andreev, poet, writer
V. Varshavsky, writer
B. Poplavsky, poet
Teffi, writer
Rudolf Nureyev, dancer, choreographer
D. Solozhev, artist
I.A. Krivoshein, resistance member, prisoner of Nazi and Soviet camps
S.T. Morozov, the last representative of the Morozov family in France.

Russian cemetery in Sainte-Genevieve-des-Bois December 27th, 2005

The cemetery of Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois (French: Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois) in the suburbs of Paris is perhaps the most famous Russian necropolis abroad. His exact address: rue Leo Lagrange ( rue Leo Lagrange) city of Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois in the Paris region. As history tells, an almshouse was built in this place in the 20s of the twentieth century; at that time, Sainte-Genevieve-des-Bois was still a small village, and most of the inhabitants were nobility who managed to escape from Russia during the revolution...

The construction of the almshouse was carried out according to the idea and personal funds of the Russian princess V.K. Meshcherskaya, this building soon became a shelter for elderly lonely Russian nobles who had neither family nor financial savings; for such citizens, the almshouse became the only place where the elderly could receive care and food.

In 1927, a first Russian cemetery, its history began with the allocation of a plot of land for the burial of the permanent inhabitants of the almshouse, who found their last refuge in it. Very little time passed, and Russian nobles from Paris and other cities of France began to be buried in the cemetery in Sainte-Genevieve-des-Bois.

* grave of I. Bunin

Almost 20 thousand Russian people are buried in the cemetery of Sainte-Genevieve-des-Bois, among whom are quite well-known names: the Russian prose writer Ivan Bunin (it is known that the contents of his grave paid for indefinitely by the Nobel Committee ); Alexander Galich (playwright, poet, bard), poetess of the “Silver Age” Zinaida Gippius and her husband, poet Dmitry Merezhkovsky; Russian chess player (and perhaps our distant relative on my husband’s side;)) Evgeniy Znosko-Borovsky; artist Konstantin Korovin; the widow of Kolchak, admiral of the Russian fleet and leader of the White movement - Sofya Fedorovna and their son Rostislav; famous ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev (his grave is a sarcophagus covered with a mosaic “oriental carpet” made by the Italian master Akomen in 1996); director Andrei Tarkovsky, known for his works " Solaris" and "Stalker" (on his tombstone there is an inscription: "The Man Who Saw an Angel"). For many Russians, the cemetery is a place of pilgrimage.

* grave of Gippius and Merezhkovsky

* Tarkovsky's grave

* Nureyev's grave

Is in the cemetery Monument to participants of the White movement . The monument reproduces the shape of a stone mound built in 1921 by Russian emigrants led by General Kutepov near the city of Gelibolu on the European shore of the Dardanelles, which was severely damaged by an earthquake in 1949 and was then dismantled. The monument is dedicated to General Wrangel, General Denikin, Admiral Kolchak and others.

There is an Orthodox church in the cemetery churchDormition of the Blessed Virgin Marybuilt according to the design of Albert Benoit, founded in April 1938 and consecrated on October 14, 1939. It is a small white church with a blue onion dome.

The interior of the church is quite restrained; its main component is the iconostasis, made in two tiers; it was painted not only by recognized Russian artists, but also by talented parishioners. Inside the church is decorated with frescoes, some of them depict events from the life of Jesus Christ, on others you can see the Blessed Virgin Mary, these frescoes were painted by the famous painter Albert Benoit. The western part of the temple was painted by another artist - Morozov.

Directions from Paris: RER C Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois, then by GenoveBus 10-05, stop Piscine.

Material used from sites:

White guard, white flock.
White army, white bone...
Wet slabs are overgrown with grass.
Russian letters. French churchyard...

I touch history with my palm.
I'm going through the Civil War...
How they wanted to go to the Mother See
One day ride on a white horse!..

There was no glory. The Motherland was no more.
There was no heart. And the memory was...
Your Lordships, their Honors -
Together in Sainte-Genevieve-des-Bois.

They lie tightly, having learned enough
Your torments and your roads.
After all, they are Russians. It seems to be ours.
Just not ours, but someone else’s...

How they are after - forgotten, former
Cursing everything now and in the future,
They were eager to look at her - victorious,
Let it be incomprehensible, let it be unforgivable,
Motherland, and die...

Noon. Birch glow of peace.
Russian domes in the sky.
And the clouds are like white horses,
Rushing over Sainte-Genevieve-des-Bois.

(Cemetery near Paris. Robert Rozhdestvensky)

The famous Cemetery called “Sainte-Genevieve-des-Bois” is located in France, in the town of Sainte-Genevieve-des-Bois, 30 km from the southern part of Paris.

Along with local residents, emigrants from Russia were buried there

The cemetery is considered Orthodox, although there are burials of other religions

10 thousand representatives of the Russian people in France found peace here.
These are great princes, generals, writers, artists, clergy, artists

Ivan Bunin

Andrei Tarkovsky

In 1960, the French authorities raised the issue of demolishing the cemetery, since the leased land would soon expire.
The Russian government did not stand aside and allocated a certain amount to pay off the debt, as well as further rent and maintenance.
The ashes of some graves were reburied in Russian cemeteries in the 2000s

After mass emigration during the October Revolution, some old people were left completely alone.
In order to somehow alleviate their fate, the emigrant committee in April 1927 bought an old castle near Paris and set up a shelter in it for elderly lonely emigrants

It began to be called the Russian House, in which 150 people lived.
To this day, relics of Russian culture and the life of white emigrants are kept there.

At the very edge of the park adjacent to the castle, there was a small local cemetery, which soon began to be replenished with Russian graves.
And later, the dead Soviet soldiers and Russians who took part in the French Resistance movement found their final refuge there.

While on the way to the cemetery, I realized that visiting it could be considered a duty.

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Contacts

Address: rue Leo Lagrang, Sainte-Genevieve-des-Bois

Working hours: in summer - from 8:00 to 19:30, in winter - from 10:00 to 17:00

Temple opening hours: Sat – from 17:00, Sun and holidays – from 10:00

How to get there

: Care d'Austerlitz station (line C)

Buses: Cimetiere de Liers station

A luxurious city, covered in the spirit of antiquity, passion, art... Many Parisian museums and memorable places testify to the fact that famous people tried to connect their fate with this corner of the world. From century to century it attracts with its wealth, power and freedom. All this attracts modern tourists.

But people don’t just come here to see grandiose architectural monuments. Here you get acquainted with the unique French mentality and history.

Ancient buildings and winding alleys of parks, such objects as, for example, old cemeteries, can tell not only about the past of the capital of France, but also about the plight of other countries. During various political vicissitudes, many sought refuge in Paris and successfully found it.

Russian cemetery in Paris

Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois is known as the Russian cemetery of Paris. This does not mean that only Russians are buried there, but there are about 15 thousand such graves there. Writers, artists, ballet dancers, military personnel, and simply people who fled persecution in their homeland found their peace here. The cemetery can hardly be called a landmark, but tourists quite often want to visit it.

This place gained its particular popularity due to the fame of the personalities buried there. After the revolution of 1917, the flow of such people was practically inexhaustible; France was ready to accept cultural leaders with understanding

Tours and social life, many of whom at that time became famous in Russia and throughout Europe.

In Sainte-Genevieve des Bois, a nursing home was then opened for poor nobles from Russia. Since 1929, Russian funerals here have become very frequent. In 1939, following the design of architect Albert Benois, a building was erected at the Russian cemetery of Saint Genevieve in Paris. Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

In 2007, the lease for land for the cemetery expired, and then the question of its liquidation became acute. The Russian government was understanding and allocated 700,000 euros to extend the long-term lease until 2040.

Who is buried in the cemetery of Russian emigrants in Paris

If from the beginning of the cemetery's existence military officers were mainly buried here, then later it became the last refuge of cultural and artistic figures. We have known the names of many of them since school, but it is very rare to find a person who knows about the burial place of a celebrity.

The list of those buried in the Russian cemetery in Paris is very large; in order to name their names, it is necessary to write material that would look like a reference book. Here we will focus only on some individuals.

At the Parisian Russian cemetery, every tourist can see the graves:

Ivan Bunin,
Dmitry Merezhkovsky,
Zinaida Gippius,
Ivan Shmelev,
Tatiana Teffi,
Gaito Gazdanova.
The famous modern poet Alexander Galich found his eternal refuge here.

In 1963, his wife-poet Irina Odoentsova reburied the poet in the Russian cemetery Georgy Ivanov. In Paris rest:

publicist Bashmakov A.A.,
the architect A. Benois himself and Margarita - his wife,
Voskresensky V.G., who organized Russian ballets,
theatrical prima Glebova-Sudeikina O.A.,
widow and son of the white leader A.V. Kolchak,
Prince Lvov G.E.,
Nekrasov V.P.,
ballerina Preobrazhenskaya O.I.,
famous scientist, public and political figure Struve P.B.,
representatives of the princely families of Yusupov and Sheremetev
and others.

How to get to the Russian cemetery in Paris

The easiest way to get to Sainte-Genevieve-des-Bois is from Place Denfert-Rochereau.

By bus must go to the Cimetiere de Liers stop.
If you are going to go, then choose line C and follow to Care d'Austerlitz station to Sante-Genevieve-des-Bois. After exiting, take bus number 104 and get off at the Piscine stop. This is a suburb, so you won't get there quickly.

Saint Genevieve Des Bois on the map of Paris:

Cimetière communal de Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois). This was the only object in our program that did not fall into the scope of the New Year's bacchanalia. Everything was calm here. Indeed, this place is significant only for those who know and love Russian history and culture.

Founded by emigrants of the first wave, that is, post-revolutionary ones, it gave the last refuge to many Russians who lived and worked in France. Some of them were resistance members who contributed to the fight against fascism. The second wave of emigrants, the dissidents of the Soviet era, also lie here.

In the Soviet Union, this cemetery became known, perhaps, after the publication of a poem by R. Rozhdestvensky in the seventies:

"Small church. The candles have floated.
The stone is worn white by the rains.
The former, the former are buried here.
Cemetery of Sainte-Genevieve-des-Bois.

Dreams and prayers are buried here.
Tears and valor. "Goodbye!" and “Hurray!”
Staff captains and midshipmen.
Grips of colonels and cadets.

White guard, white flock.
White army, white bone...
Wet slabs are overgrown with grass.
Russian letters. French churchyard..."

The “Small Church” of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in this cemetery was built by Albert Benoit. He is a representative of a huge creative family that has enriched Russian culture. Architects with this surname built St. Petersburg, published the World of Arts magazine, and were theater artists and actors. This family includes the architect L. Benois, the artist Z. Serebryakova (buried in the same cemetery), the sculptor E. Lansare, and the English theater and film actor Peter Ustinov.

Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary at the Russian cemetery.

The grave of Zinaida Serebryakova, an artist whose work we became acquainted with only in the seventies. Her paintings then and now are extremely popular. Suffice it to recall the lovely self-portrait "In front of the mirror".

Monument to General M.V. Alekseev and participants of the White movement. There are many burials of Civil War participants in the cemetery.

The entire “Silver Age” of Russian emigrant literature rests in this cemetery. Buried here: V.L. Andreev, I.A. Bunin, Gaito Gazdanov, Z.N. Gippius, B.K. Zaitsev, G.V. Ivanov, D.S. Merezhkovsky, V.N. Muromtseva-Bunina, N.A.Otsup, B.Poplavsky, A.M.Remezov, Teffi, I.S.Shmelev. All of them expressed themselves in pre-revolutionary times in Russia and during emigration. Often misunderstood, often in poverty, obsessed with memories of their homeland and sometimes finding themselves in new conditions. Research has now been written about each of them. Every biography is a romance that does not have a happy ending.

Irina Odoevtseva, poetess, wife of the poet Georgy Ivanov, who, having buried her husband, returned to Russia in her old age, wrote about life in Paris:

"We walk along the embankment at night.

How good - let's go and be silent together.

And we see the Seine, a tree, a cathedral

And the clouds... And this conversation

We'll put it off for tomorrow, for later,

For the day after tomorrow... For when we die."

I. A. Bunin, Nobel laureate, author of “Cursed Days,” a desperate work about the revolution in Russia. In Paris, recognized and famous, he did not find peace. A tangled personal life, the theme of the Motherland, which did not leave until the end. Already during the war he wrote “Dark Alleys” - Russian life, Russian characters.

D.S. Merezhkovsky, writer, philosopher, encyclopedist. His creative legacy contains 24 volumes. For many years it was completely banned in our homeland. Religious philosophy did not correlate well with Marxist-Leninist philosophy, the only correct one, and therefore correct. In the Soviet years, I happened to read the pre-revolutionary edition of his trilogy “Christ and Antichrist” - “The Death of the Gods, Julian the Apostate”, “The Resurrected Gods. Leonardo da Vinci", "Antichrist. Peter and Alexey." An attempt to combine spiritual and earthly values, a brilliant description of the historical background. In the West, Merezhkovsky was assessed as a continuator of the traditions of the Russian novel, who influenced Thomas Mann and Joyce. Now Merezhkovsky is almost forgotten.

Gaito Gazdanov, a writer discovered in Russia only in recent years, is buried here. A participant in the Civil War, a Parisian driver, a brilliant stylist who wrote the novels “The Ghost of Alexander Wolf,” “An Evening at Claire’s,” “Night Roads,” etc. He formulated his life experience as follows: “But here’s what I advise you: never become a convinced person, do not draw conclusions, do not reason and try to be as simple as possible. And remember that the greatest happiness on earth is to think that you have understood at least something from the life around you.” And again: “But the red ones are also right, and the green ones too, and if there were also orange and purple ones, then they would be equally right.”

Brilliant Teffi, whose cheerful works were read in Russia before the revolution. Published in the magazine "Satyricon". In France she was recognized and did not lose her sense of humor. Now, after her death, her works are experiencing a renaissance in Russia. Teffi didn't like being called a comedian. “Jokes are only funny when they are told. When they are experienced, it is already a tragedy. My life is a joke, which means it’s a tragedy.” Already in old age, she turned to God with a prayer: “When I die, Lord, send your best Angels to take my soul.”

The grave of K.A. Korovin, painter, portrait painter, theater artist, friend of Chaliapin, author of memoirs about him. In addition to painting, he left a great literary heritage. He explained: “Closing my eyes, I saw Russia, its wondrous nature, Russian people, my beloved friends, eccentrics, kind and so-so - with all sorts of things, whom I loved, of which “some are no longer there, and those are far away” ... "

Artist K.A. Somov, one of the founders of the World of Arts society, author of the illustrated “Book of the Marquise,” is buried in this cemetery.

S. Lifar is a soloist of S. Diaghilev’s Russian Ballet, who headed the Grand Opera ballet troupe. He staged more than 200 performances in France and founded a university of choreography.

At this cemetery we were accompanied by a white cat, apparently a homeless one.

"I'm homeless as a cat,

I'm sick of cats."

I. Odoevtseva.

Burial of M.F. Kshesinskaya, prima ballerina of the Imperial Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg, her husband Grand Duke A.V. Romanov and son V.A. Romanov - Krasinski. This dancer charmed the heir to the throne and the grand dukes. The mansion given to her at the beginning of Kamennoostrovsky Prospekt on the Petrograd side in the Art Nouveau style is its decoration. After 1917, it was occupied by all kinds of revolutionary organizations, including the Museum of the Revolution. Nevertheless, residents of St. Petersburg continue to stubbornly call it Kshesinskaya’s mansion. The legal battle between Kshesinskaya and Lenin for this mansion is funny. Guess who won. In Paris she founded a choreographic school, where she taught dancing until she was very old.

The grave of the Yusupovs, those same Yusupovs, relatives of the royal house. Prince Felix Feliksovich is the organizer of the murder of Rasputin. Fled from Russia after this act. His mother Zinaida Nikolaevna and his beautiful wife Irina Aleksandrovna are buried in the same grave.

This cemetery represents the second wave of Russian emigration - dissidents of the Soviet era. These people, in conditions of unanimity, allowed themselves to have and express their own opinions. Among them V.P. Nekrasov, author of the first true work about the war, “In the Trenches of Stalingrad.” In these trenches he became friends with my uncle G.A. Obradovic. Both are architects by profession, they corresponded for many years. Nekrasov, once favored by the authorities, did not demonstrate proper loyalty, for which he was expelled from the USSR. Lilianna Lungina, who was friends with him, writes warmly about Nekrasov in Interlinear. She wrote that Nekrasov was the freest person she knew. During their meeting in Paris, Nekrasov said that he did not become a Frenchman, but became a Parisian.

V.P. Nekrasov, author of “In the Trenches of Stalingrad.”

Grave of A. Galich.

Near this grave, one of the young tourists asked me who Galich was. I was even confused. There is no point in saying that this is a successful Soviet screenwriter, playwright, as Lungina, who knew him, writes, “a Soviet bourgeois and a snob.” For me, Alexander Galich is the author of protest poems and songs performed with a guitar. As students we sang “ About the sad story about Moscow and Paris, how our physicists lost a bet to their physicists " The consequence of this sad story was:

“And I personally receive treatment from the capital,

So that I don't go crazy,

The stoker said “capital” -

Very good from strontium.”

“I walk and think, slowly,

-Should I become the President of the United States?

T Oh, why don’t you just take it and graduate from the Higher Secondary School!..” (For those who don’t know, HPS is the Higher Party School).

And also tragic poems and songs:

“Clouds float to Abakan”, “When I return”. Galich writes about the available forms of protest against “fanfare silence and glorification of thoughtful thoughtlessness”:

“There is a painting on a stretcher!

Yes - four copies have been made!

There is a Yauza system tape recorder!

It's enough!"

Galich was the first to ask a question about the possibility of protest under Soviet conditions:

“And still the same, no easier,

Our age is testing us.

You can go to the square

Do you dare go out onto the square?

At that appointed hour?!”

This is how I should have answered the young man who asked who Galich was, if I hadn’t been at a loss.

V.E. is buried here. Maksimov, founder and editor-in-chief of Continent magazine. Writers, publicists, critics, human rights activists, and memoirists united around this magazine. Nobel laureates A. Sakharov, A. Solzhenitsyn, G. Böll, I. Brodsky collaborated in it. V. Nekrasov, N. Korzhavin, V. Aksenov and many other creative people who did not find themselves in the Soviet system were members of the editorial board.

Andrei Tarkovsky, film director and screenwriter, is also buried here. He is the author of famous films: Andrei Rublev, Ivan's Childhood, Solaris, Mirror, Stalker, Sacrifice. A. Tarkovsky left a literary legacy, the depth of which is surprising. Here are some quotes from him:

“Taking even a fleeting glance back at the life that remains behind you, remembering even the not-so-bright moments of the past, you are still struck every time by the uniqueness of the events in which you took part, the uniqueness of the characters you encountered.

Hope may be a deception, but it makes it possible to live and love beauty. There is no man without hope.

Life is simply a period allotted to a person, during which he can and must form his spirit in accordance with his own understanding of the Purpose of human existence.

Life, of course, has no meaning.

The purpose of art is to prepare a person for death, to plow and loosen his soul, to make it capable of turning to good.

Time is the condition for the existence of our “I”.

Life turns out to be richer than fantasy.

A book read by thousands of people is thousands of different books.

To be free, you just need to be free, without asking anyone for permission.

We have created a civilization that threatens to destroy humanity.

A truly free person cannot be free in the egoistic sense of the word.”

One of the last to be buried here was the famous Rudolf Nureyev, a graduate of the Vaganova Choreographic School, soloist of the Mariinsky Theater in Leningrad, who scandalously left the USSR. In the West, he made a brilliant career as a dancer and choreographer.

I would like to finish the story about this cemetery with poems by A. Gorodnitsky, written in 1996:

"In the cemetery of Sainte-Genevieve-des-Bois
The grass of oblivion does not grow, -
Her, dressed up like a lover,
The gardener does the cutting regularly.

At the cemetery of Sainte-Genevieve-des-Bois

Where statues freeze in arctic fox boas

The emigrants found peace -

Guarantors of Russian freedom.

….

Rings at the cloister of Sainte-Genevieve

The starlings have flown in a two-syllable tune,

Tying her up with birdsong

With Donskoy or Novo-Devichy.

Again waiting for a new spring
The dead have Moscow dreams,
Where the blizzard swirls,
Flying around cast crosses.

Native places familiar from childhood,

And the dome shines over the temple of Christ,

Inclining the departed to hope,

That everything will return as before.

At the cemetery of Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois,
Disappearing from the planet like the moa bird,
A flock of swan lies
Growing into the Parisian soil.

Between marble angels and Terpsichore

An invisible choir sings canons to them,

And no, it’s clear from the singing,

Freedom beyond the Dormition."

10,000 Russian people are buried in this Parisian cemetery. They all loved Russia.

Margaret Ruppert.

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