Vagankovsky cemetery is probably the most famous necropolis of our time. The history of this place began almost three hundred years ago and continues to this day. It is unlikely that someday it will be possible to establish an accurate list of all those buried in the Vagankovsky cemetery at least in the last hundred years, not to mention its entire long history. According to the most conservative estimates, the list of the deceased who found the last refuge here should have totaled about half a million names. However, many burials remain nameless.
Plague riot and the base of the cemetery
One of the last outbreaks of plague in Russia in 1770-1772 was marked not only by mass deaths, but also by significant unrest in Moscow and its okrug. The riots were suppressed, however, by decree of Empress Catherine the Second, dead citizens were forbidden to bury in the city.
The preventive sanitary measure took effect, the disease receded, and near Moscow in the village of New Vagankovo a necropolis grew up, on which ordinary Muscovites were buried.
Who is buried at the Vagankovsky cemetery? The list of burials in those distant times, of course, no one kept. In the 18–19 centuries, the last refuge there were those who died from epidemics, soldiers who fell in the Battle of Borodino, who died on the Khodynka Field and many other victims of wars and historical tragedies.
The Great Patriotic War added to the Vagankovsky cemetery mass graves and monuments to the defenders of the city.
Do they all remember? Who is buried at the Vagankovsky cemetery from celebrities
Today, the largest cemetery in Moscow is associated with the graves of all our beloved actors, cultural and art workers, politicians - our contemporaries. Meanwhile, many forget that, in fact, the necropolis of celebrities, this place became more than a hundred years ago. If at the very beginning of its history the Vagankovskoye cemetery could only “boast” with nameless mass graves and modest graves of ordinary people, then half a century later it turned into a resting place for the greatest people of its era.
Among those who are buried at the Vagankovsky cemetery are the famous surnames of the 19th century. These are politicians, and military, cultural figures, writers and artists. Next to the magnificent graves of famous historical figures, there are the modest graves of now almost forgotten people, whose names are known only to experts.
The memory of the Decembrist uprising
The list of those buried at the Vagankovsky cemetery can be started with the names of the Decembrists. Currently, only seven of their graves have been preserved. The tombstones of Alexander Filippovich Frolov and Pavel Sergeyevich Bobrishchev-Pushkin are placed in one fence, along with a pink marble stela of Ivan Nikolaevich Khotyainsev.
On the main alley is the grave of Mikhail Alexandrovich Bestuzhev. His daughters and sister Elena are buried here. A great woman whose name is undeservedly forgotten by descendants. It was she who preserved for history the most valuable archival artifact - the famous Bestuzhev gallery of portraits of the Decembrists, taking it out of Siberia after the death of her brother.
The black granite monument crowns the grave of the Decembrist Alexander Petrovich Belyaev, and the grave of Nikolai Alexandrovich Zagoretsky is also nearby.
Friends of A. S. Pushkin
Few people remember where the burial place of the greatest poet. No, of course, he does not rest at the Vagankovsky cemetery. The grave of a classic of Russian literature is located in the Svyatogorsky monastery in the Pskov region. Nevertheless, of those of his contemporaries who were buried in the Vagankovsky cemetery, many were closely associated with A.S. Pushkin and his family.
So, near the church ensemble are the graves of the poet’s close friends: Count Fyodor Ivanovich Tolstoy and the famous theater figure and composer Alexei Nikolayevich Verestovsky.
Brush masters
Famous people buried at the Vagankovsky cemetery, not always having finished their life, came to this place in glory and honor. Especially if it was a question of creative people who gave all their strength to art and thought little about worldly affairs.
The host of outstanding artists, painters and graphic artists who are buried at the Vagankovsky cemetery is impressive. Vasily Andreyevich Tropinin, the great painter of the Romantic era and the founder of a realistic portrait in Russian painting, is buried in a modest grave. He left more than three thousand portraits of his contemporaries, and it was his talent and mastery of the brush that Russian art owed to the development of realism and the appearance of a portrait-type.
V.A. Tropinin was the first famous artist buried at the Vagankovsky cemetery. Following this, this Moscow necropolis became the last refuge for such brush masters as Vasily Ivanovich Surikov, Vasily Vladimirovich Pukirev, Nikolai Alexandrovich Klodt, Aristarkh Vasilyevich Lentulov and many others. Wanderers and avant-garde artists, illustrators, decorators, graphic artists and painters, who worked in the 19–20 centuries, rest here.
People who were buried at the Vagankovsky cemetery and left an indelible mark on history are today mostly forgotten by contemporaries. Many graves are dilapidated; some do not even have commemorative plaques. Nevertheless, they are gradually being returned the names.
The grave of the author of "Rooks ..."
At the Vagankovsky cemetery is the grave of the creator of the cult, or, as they say, "archetypal", works of Russian painting. The famous work “Rooks Have Arrived” is still known from the school bench. However, few people know the tragic fate of its creator.
Alexey Kondratievich Savrasov - one of the founders of the Association of Traveling Exhibitions, a brilliant painter and teacher. Alas, he spent the last years of his life in poverty. Personal tragedies with which the artist could not cope, alcoholism and constant need led to the fact that he was completely alone, forgotten and sick. He died in a Moscow hospital for the poor.
Initially, his grave was crowned with the cheapest board cross and a modest inscription on it read: “Academician Alexei Kondratievich Savrasov. He was born on May 12, 1830, and died on September 26, 1897. ” The boards on the cross rotted and collapsed, in the end he disappeared, and the burial place of the great painter was abandoned and forgotten for many years.
However, the words of Isaac Levitan about Savrasov turned out to be prophetic: “One of the most profound Russian artists didn’t become ... With Savrasov appeared lyrics in landscape painting and boundless love for his native land ... and this undoubted merit in the field of Russian art never will be forgotten. "
Today, his grave at the Vagankovsky cemetery is decorated with a granite obelisk with a laconic inscription: "Outstanding Russian artist Alexei Kondratievich Savrasov, 1830–1897."
The Last Way of the Servants of Melpomene
The list of celebrities buried in the Vagankovsky cemetery is impressive. Paradoxically, the necropolis, which emerged as a result of the greatest tragedies in the history of the state, has become a favorite burial place for theater and film actors, directors, musicians and composers.
According to legend, the tradition to bury people of acting professions here came from one of the Moscow mayors, whose decree instructed the actors to bury at Vagankovsky. Perhaps because this cemetery was the largest and it was quick and convenient to get to it, which reduced the cost of the funeral, often at public expense. However, there is another mystical coincidence: it was on the site of the future necropolis in the 17th century that clowns and buffoons settled.
Today, the number of favorite actors, musicians, and singers resting here is hard to pinpoint. The actors buried in the Vagankovsky cemetery were idols of their time, and the glory of many has not been forgotten to this day.
At the entrance stands a snow-white iceberg monument in the style of constructivism on the grave of Alexander Abdulov. The original memorial monument in the form of film frames recalls the beloved by everyone Mikhail Pugovkin. Nearby is the grave of "the best Watson in the world," Vitaly Solomin. Actors Andrei Mironov, Oleg Dal, Leonid Filatov, directors Stanislav Rostotsky and Grigory Chukhrai, author of plays, playwright and satirist Grigory Gorin. Do not count all those who are buried at the Vagankovsky cemetery from celebrities who have enriched domestic and world culture. Below is a list (far from complete, of course, not mentioned in the text of celebrities):
- Aksyonov Vasily - writer.
- Alov Alexander - director.
- Bogatyrev Yuri - actor.
- Emil Bragin - playwright.
- Burkov George - actor.
- Balter Alla - actress.
- Vitsin George - actor.
- Voroshilov Vladimir - the leader.
- Spiridonov Vadim - actor.
- Garin Erast - actor.
- Glebov Peter - actor.
- Gluzsky Mikhail - actor.
- Dvorzhetsky Eugene - actor.
- Kaverin Veniamin - writer.
- Kononov Mikhail - actor.
- Levtova Marina - actress.
- Liepa Maris is a dancer.
- Listev Vlad - journalist.
- Migulya Vladimir is a composer.
- Rozov Victor - playwright.
- Rostotsky Andrey - actor.
- Sazonova Nina - actress.
- Samoilov Vladimir - actor.
- Samoilov Eugene - actor.
- Sagittarius Edward is an athlete.
- Tanich Mikhail is a poet.
- Tulikov Seraphim - composer.
- Fedorova Zoya - actress.
- Kharitonov Leonid - actor.
- Mint Stanislav - actor.
- Chukhrai Gregory - film director.
- Yumatov George - actor.
- Yashin Lev is an athlete.
Two graves of one genius
There is also a monument to Vsevolod Meyerhold. Tragic, like the life of the director himself, the fate of his grave. For a long time, the circumstances and place of Meyerhold’s death were kept secret. Only in 1987 did his true burial place in the cemetery near the Donskoy Monastery become known. A black stone stele with the name Meyerhold was installed on the grave of his tragically dead wife Zinaida Reich 20 years before the discovery of the real burial place of a theater director reformer.
"Faithful Galya"
At the Vagankovsky cemetery, poet Sergei Yesenin is buried. The rebellious life and the tragic death of the young genius of poetry attracted the attention of fans and admirers to the place of his repose. Alas, the grave of Sergei Yesenin is notorious. Neither the bust, carved in a block of white marble, nor the granite base, buried in flowers, can erase the sad facts of the history of this burial. One of the cemetery legends tells that at night a ghost of a young woman appears near the grave.
“I committed suicide here, although I know that after that even more dogs will be hung on Yesenin. But he and I do not care. In this grave, for me, all the most expensive ... ".
Perhaps the basis of this legend was the sad fate of his friend and assistant Galina Benislavskaya. A year after the death of the poet, she shot herself at his grave, leaving the famous suicide note. She rests here, next to her idol. The first inscription on a modest grave: "Faithful Galya" very accurately reflected the essence of her feelings for Yesenin and their complicated, drama-filled relationship. However, now the snow-white plate is decorated with long lines from the poet’s letter to her: “Galya, dear! I repeat to you that you are very, very dear to me. And you yourself know that without your participation in my fate there would be a lot of deplorable ”.
The series of suicides that followed at the grave of the "Moscow revelers" enveloped the place with an ominous flurry of fatalism and misfortune. In total, 12 people committed suicide here - all women.
Idols of millions
What celebrities are buried in the Vagankovskoye cemetery and what stories and legends envelop their death and resting place is hard to count. The grave of Vladimir Semenovich Vysotsky was no exception. A little artsy monument depicts everyone’s beloved singer and expressive artist, torn as he was during his lifetime. On the one hand - a portrait, on the other - an allegory monument, the leitmotif of which was the lines of the artist’s prophetic song “Finicky Horses”. A pathetic, strange monument. Eyewitnesses to Vysotsky’s funeral claimed that his widow, Marina Vladi, sobbed when she saw the tombstone, called him an ugly model of socialist realism.
Vysotsky should not have found the last refuge on the main avenue. The authorities allocated him a place in the far corner. However, fate intervened in the person of the director of the Vagankovsky cemetery, a great admirer of the work of Vladimir Semyonovich. It was he who allocated an empty place for the funeral at the very entrance, where the singer is still resting to this day.
The tombstone of another great bard is modest and concise. Bulat Okudzhava is also buried at the Vagankovsky cemetery. The tombstone in the form of a large boulder with intricately executed inscription - the name of the singer and composer. This tombstone can rightfully be considered the most magnificent example of artistic minimalism.
One of the few graves to this day littered with flowers belongs to Igor Talkov. Another idol of millions who died tragically at a young age. And his death is shrouded in secrets, rumors and legends, like many of his predecessors, who were buried at the Vagankovsky cemetery. The photo of the singer in a frame with a wooden carved pediment resembling a Russian hut is almost always framed by garlands of carnations and roses. The tombstone itself is decorated in the neopagan Slavic style. On a black pedestal stands a huge cross made of bronze, the surface of which is adorned with Cyrillic script, and at the base of the pedestal the famous lines “And defeated in battle, I will rise again and sing ...” are gilded.
At the grave of Igor Talkov, as well as at the grave of Sergei Yesenin, there were some attempts at suicide. Fortunately, in this case, suicide was prevented and saved by the restless female fans.
Who are they, saints buried in the Vagankovsky cemetery?
There are special graves on this huge necropolis. Near them is always crowded, come here from afar with prayers and requests for help. One of these graves belongs to Father Valentine. Although officially he was never counted among the saints, people sincerely believe in his intercession and consider the grave miraculous.
Father Valentine was known during his life for his good disposition, open generous heart. The poor and orphans, widows and the homeless turned to him for help. The priest took a sincere part in the fate of all who sought protection and support from him.
It is noteworthy that the exact burial place of Father Valentine is unknown. The priest died in 1908, and in the stormy 20s they wanted to destroy his grave in order to stop the pilgrimage. In 1941, digging up the alleged burial place, no remains were found. It is believed that, fulfilling the will of Father Valentine, he was buried two meters deeper than it was customary to bury the dead.
Today, two crosses stand literally a meter apart from each other at the supposed resting place of the holy father. White, stone, installed by the great-granddaughter of the clergyman, the second, wooden, erected by pilgrims. From somewhere, it was believed that it was here, away from the official grave, that the remains of Father Valentin rested. Both crosses have flowers, candles, always a line of prayers for help and thanks for the intercession.