Metropolitan Innocent I. E.

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“It turns out that I am “great” four times,” says Igor Kurlyandsky. His paternal grandmother, 96-year-old Marina Innokentyevna Kurlyandskaya (nee Veniaminova), is the great-great-granddaughter of St. Innocent, Apostle of Kamchatka and Aleutian. “Grandmother is the daughter of Innokenty Ivanovich Veniaminov, the son of Archpriest Ivan Gavriilovich Veniaminov,” he says. “This is the line of Archpriest Gabriel Veniaminov, the son of St. Innocent.”

– Did your grandmother tell you something about Metropolitan Innocent Veniaminov?

– Too much time has passed since the Metropolitan’s life. She, of course, talked more about her father and grandfather. Our family has preserved some letters from Ivan Gavriilovich and Innokenty Ivanovich. Both of them were repressed. Before the revolution, Ivan Gavriilovich Veniaminov was the archpriest of the house church of the Anichkov Palace in St. Petersburg and the confessor of the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna (the widow of Alexander III). Ivan Gavriilovich was sent into exile in Kashin back in the 20s, where he lived until 1947 with his wife Anna Alexandrovna Veniaminova (nee Popovitskaya). She was the daughter of the publisher of the famous magazine “Russian Pilgrim” Alexander Popovitsky. Innokenty Ivanovich served in the Tsarist, then the White Army and, finally, in the 20s - in the Red Army, in the economic administration of the Red Army. In 1929, he was arrested and, by a resolution of the OGPU board of August 3, 1930, was exiled to Siberia for three years. Then he lived in Arzamas, where he was arrested and on March 25, 1937, sentenced by the Gorky Regional Court to two years for anti-Soviet activities allegedly committed by him in the Arzamas artel “Furrier”.

“My dear Daddy and Mommy! I tried to write to you several times, but I never succeeded, and in my heart I missed you very much,” wrote Innokenty Veniaminov in 1937 to his father Ivan Gavriilovich and mother Anna Alexandrovna. – Stepanovna told me on a date that she received a letter from you, and conveyed its contents to me in words. She told me that the children sent me 20 rubles each. each and she spent this money on transfers to me.” He hoped that he would be sent to one of the camps in the Gorky region. But he was transferred to the Novosibirsk region, where he disappeared. Until the 1980s, the family knew nothing about his fate; he was considered missing in the camps. The family remembered a postcard that had not survived, on which it was written: “I am sick, I am completely naked, I am dying.” Only during perestroika did Marina Innokentyevna find out: in the same year, 1937, in December, her father was shot by decision of the “troika” of the NKVD in the Novosibirsk region in a camp “on charges of preparing an armed uprising.” Both Ivan Gavriilovich and Innokenty Ivanovich were subsequently rehabilitated. Stalin's repressive machine apparently did not work very well. Great-grandfather Igor Kurlyandsky was no longer alive in 1938, and a new case was opened against him, not being satisfied with the “soft” two-year sentence. But the funniest and saddest thing is that, in addition to the rehabilitation for the case of the 37th, in 1990 the family received a document that the great-grandfather was rehabilitated again - for the “posthumous” case of 1938.

– Was the story of St. Innocent somehow preserved in the family?

– The fact is that many families who lived in the 20-40s, when state atheism dominated, were ashamed of their roots. And we tried not to advertise our connection with them. The family kept almost nothing; my grandmother’s cousin Rostislav Sergeevich Veniaminov had more memorabilia. Have you probably heard about the famous Archimandrite Innocent? He just comes from another son of Ivan Gavriilovich, Sergei Ivanovich Veniaminov. Sergei Veniaminov was shot by verdict of a military board in 1938. The execution list, which included his name, was personally endorsed by Stalin, since Sergei Ivanovich was the head of the shipping company, this is a major nomenklatura position.

The family was repressed when Rostislav was only 14. He had to sit in a reception center for children of enemies of the people, then he and his mother ended up in the German occupation, then there was the front, where Rostislav volunteered as an orderly. Former ship doctor, sailor, front-line soldier and former prisoner Rostislav Veniaminov took monastic vows in 1987 at the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. He traveled a lot and, having already accepted monasticism with the name Innocent, flew by plane over Alaska, the Aleutian ridge. According to his memoirs, he loved to visit Alaska, but was very embarrassed when he was greeted there with special honors (they say he looked like St. Innocent). He died in 2002 as a retired archbishop. “The spiritual service of Archimandrite Innocent was close, therefore he was always keenly interested in the legacy of St. Innocent,” says Igor Kurlyandsky. “He even said that he still had the things of Metropolitan Innocent, but I don’t know what happened to them now, obviously they stayed with his relatives in America.”

– Do you sense any family traits of the Veniaminovs?

- Well, what does “family traits” mean? I love all my ancestors - both from my father’s side and from my mother’s. My ancestors included peasants, nobles, and merchants - people of various nationalities. But indeed, such a great man as Saint Innocent sets a good example in life for all people who come into contact with his legacy. I study the history of the Russian Orthodox Church, the history of relations between government and the church both in the pre-revolutionary era and in Soviet times. Of course, my connection with Metropolitan Innocent influenced the choice of my topic. I published scientific works dedicated to my ancestor in the 1990s, at the beginning of the 2000s. There is a monograph “St. Innocent as Metropolitan of Moscow and Kolomna.” I researched the last, Moscow period of his life. I pulled up all the archives I could. These are state funds, and funds of monasteries, the fund of the Moscow Spiritual Consistory. I saw manuscripts, letters, notes. I looked through everything I could. Unfortunately, our archives are very poorly funded, there are not enough people, some are even able to issue only a few cases a day. I tried to bring up a lot of new materials, not all of them have been published yet.

Now there are no priests among the relatives of Saint Innocent. Archimandrite Innocent (Rostislav Veniaminov) was the last. But it is difficult to imagine that anyone from this family, and especially a historian, would be indifferent to the topic of “church and power.” Igor Kurlyandsky says that in recent years he has moved away from the topic of his remarkable ancestor and taken up the figure of Stalin. He published a book, “Stalin, Power, Religion,” which tells about the relationship between the authorities and the Russian Orthodox Church in 1922–1953. The historian tried to explore the personality of Stalin and the reasons for his special type of atheism, active denial of God, which developed since the time of the seminary. Igor Kurlyandsky analyzed the anti-church documents prepared by the Soviet government, as well as Stalin’s personal participation in their development.

– Was it what happened to your great-grandfather and great-great-grandfather that influenced you?

– Any historian comes into contact with political issues in one way or another. But I do not allow political beliefs to influence my scientific research and conclusions. I tried to analyze such a complex phenomenon as Stalin’s “spiritual world”. The book uses many previously unpublished documents, including from the presidential archive. After analyzing everything, I came to the conclusion that the so-called “Orthodox Stalin” is nothing more than a myth that was specially created. There was no turn by Stalin towards the church in 1939, before the war, as is commonly believed.

How can we arrange Alaska?

Innokenty Veniaminov, the great-grandfather of Igor Kurlyandsky, was a volunteer in the Semyonovsky Life Guards Regiment in 1914, then served in the White Army and the Red Army. And in 1937 he was shot

However, in Irkutsk, Igor Kurlyandsky did not talk about Stalin. In our city, Vanya Popov, once nine years old, received the surname Veniaminov at the Irkutsk Theological Seminary, not yet knowing where his fate would lead him and what role he would play in the life of Alaska. Igor Kurlyandsky spoke about two previously unpublished notes of St. Innocent, which were found in the archive of the foreign policy of the Russian Empire. The history of these searches began back in 1997, when in the American Yearbook, through academician Nikolai Bolkhovitinov, an unknown note from Innokenty Veniaminov to St. Philaret, found by Igor Kurlyandsky, was published, concerning the fate of Orthodoxy after the sale of Alaska to America. That is why Igor Kurlyandsky’s report at the conference was dedicated to the memory of Academician Nikolai Bolkhovitinov. The historian conveyed greetings to Irkutsk from the President of the Moscow Historical and Educational Society “Russian America” Vladimir Kolychev. Igor Kurlyandsky himself has been a member of this society for many years.

“It’s very interesting how the archives of Metropolitan Innokenty were kept,” says Igor of Courland. – There was a personal archive of the saint, albeit small, but these were the papers that he himself collected in groups: on appointment to the post of metropolitan, letters to certain people, letters from the sovereign. Then this archive was divided between two storage facilities. The first part ended up in the manuscript department of the Russian National Library in St. Petersburg, the second - in the manuscript department of the former Leninka in Moscow. In the 50s of the last century, the archival fund of the saint from the Leninka manuscript department was transferred to the archive of the foreign policy of the Russian Empire, since most of the papers in it related to foreign policy subjects, Russian America in particular. The historian Nikolai Barsukov actively used materials from these funds in his works. He published many documents in the famous seven-volume book dedicated to St. Innocent. However, some of the documents remained unpublished. They were discovered later in church archives and archives of government institutions. In particular, two notes on the structure of the diocese in America, which Innokenty Veniaminov wrote when he was already Metropolitan of Moscow and Kaluga.

“Back in 1867, when the agreement on the sale of Alaska to America was concluded, it was at the insistence of the saint that it included a clause stating that churches created by the Russian government in the ceding territories would remain the property of the Orthodox Church,” says the scientist. The saint also insisted that a certain annual percentage from the sale of Russian colonies in America be allocated to the maintenance of Orthodox churches in Alaska. A new diocese was needed in the ceding lands, and in his notes the metropolitan gives his vision of the structure of the American diocese.

“The first note was written in cursive, and it was very difficult to decipher,” says Igor Kurlyandsky. “But your humble servant did it.” The second note is written in a smoother, clerk's handwriting. The first was written shortly before the release of the new definition of the Synod on the structure of the North American see on June 10, 1870. The Metropolitan probably wrote it in early June...

Before the sale of Russian possessions to America in 1867, there was a New Arkhangelsk Vicariate of the Kamchatka Diocese, and the department was located in Sitkha. It was headed by Bishop Novo-Arkhangelsk, vicar of the Kamchatka diocese Pavel Popov. In 1870, the Synod formed the Diocese of Aleutian and Alaska and established the center of the diocese in San Francisco, and the bishop became known as Aleutian and Alaskan. As found archival documents testify, Saint Innocent took a direct part in the organization of the diocese, the transfer of its center and structure. He first expressed his plan for organizing an American diocese in a letter to Metropolitan Philaret in December 1867, not knowing that he had already died (the letters took a long time).

The saint proposed to establish a special North American episcopal see, subordinate to the administration of spiritual authorities in the capital of Russia. And transfer the seat of the bishopric from Novo-Arkhangelsk to San Francisco, where all trade was concentrated, from where ships constantly departed and it was convenient to communicate with the flock of the North American islands, where the Orthodox population of Russian America resided. In a note found by Igor of Courland, the saint even gives calculations that it will be more profitable and cheaper and better in terms of climatic conditions. At the previous department in Sith it had already become uncomfortable, and “dangerous from the exiles.” The saint advises the new bishop, as soon as he takes office, to go on an expedition in order to “see for himself the Orthodox tribes of Alaska.” The metropolitan took into account everything, even whether the applicants for the bishop’s post knew English and how much it would cost to maintain a bishop. He asked to increase from three thousand to ten, since life in California is becoming more expensive. He was personally involved in the selection of a bishop for the projected North American see; it was Saint Innocent who proposed that the new bishop be titled not New Arkhangelsk and Aleutian, but rather Aleutian and Alaskan.

The second note, found by Igor Kurlyandsky, is dedicated to the salaries of employees in American missions. The saint criticizes the project of economic management under the Synod. In his opinion, the salary figures were underestimated, and the situation of the missions themselves - difficulties, poverty - was not taken into account. For example, a Kvikhpak missionary was asked to assign a salary of 1,350 rubles, while Kvikhpak was a place where the poorest population lived, where people did not see vegetables, but ate exclusively fish. The saint believed that these particular priests should be paid more. As the future has shown, much of what Metropolitan Innocent proposed was realized in life.

"Such amazing people"

No one counted the descendants of St. Innocent, says Igor of Courland. “My grandmother has four grandchildren,” he says. – My sister, Anna Innokentievna, has a granddaughter. Moreover, interestingly, both great-great-granddaughters of St. Innocent are still alive. My grandmother is 96 years old, and her sister, who lives in Holland, is 98. These are such amazing people.” None of the descendants have yet decided to serve in the church, but genes and a penchant for asceticism apparently still make themselves felt. Igor Kurlyandsky's paternal brother, 35-year-old Dmitry Kurlyandsky, is a famous contemporary composer, winner of the international Gaudeamus competition in Holland, laureate of the Swiss Gianni Bergamo Prize in classical music for 2010. In 2011, he became the best in the competition for composing an opera named after Johann Joseph Fuchs in Austria. Kurlyandsky is one of the founders of the group of composers “Resistance of Material” (SoMa) and artistic director of the International Academy of the Moscow Ensemble of Contemporary Music in the city of Tchaikovsky. He also published the magazine “Tribune of Contemporary Music”.

“I can’t help but say about the saint’s other descendants - in particular, about my wonderful aunt Anna Sergeevna of Kurlyandskaya,” says the historian, “she is an economist, she worked in banks for many years. And also about her children from different marriages - also four times great-grandchildren of the saint - Sergei Rakovsky and Andrei Sidelnikov. They also became economists.”

Anna Sergeevna’s brother, my father, a descendant of the saint, Alexander Sergeevich of Kurland, is also a wonderful person. A physicist by education (he graduated from MEPhI, Candidate of Sciences), in his youth, without abandoning his studies in science, he was fond of jazz, was a student of the famous jazzman Alexei Kozlov and played keyboard instruments in his ensemble, which A. Kozlov mentions in his memoirs. After “perestroika” my dad started his own business.

“You know, among the descendants of St. Innocent there was also a wonderful person - Tatyana Tower, the daughter of Anna Innokentievna Tower (nee Veniaminova), the sister of my grandmother,” says Igor Kurlyandsky. – Tatyana was an outstanding musician, harpist, worked in the symphony orchestra of the Leningrad Philharmonic under the direction of the famous Mravinsky, and was a professor at the Leningrad Conservatory. She died in 1994 in Holland from cancer, she was only 48 years old. Grandmother Anna and Tatiana’s daughter, violinist Anastasia Kozlova, now live in Holland. Tatyana was a very congenial person and my friend.”

“I confess that I would like, if only it were possible, that my name would not be mentioned anywhere except in ordinary lists and commemorations or diptychs,” St. Innocent himself wrote. However, people cannot help but remember. Now the publishing house of the Moscow Patriarchate is preparing for release a new multi-volume collected works of Metropolitan Innokenty Veniaminov. “It will include many documents, notes and letters of the saint found in the archives, including by your humble servant,” says Igor Kurlyandsky. “They have never been published anywhere before.” “Many new unique documents, notes, letters, reports, which were compiled by Metropolitan Innocent, have been found.” Igor Kurlyandsky is the editor and compiler of two volumes dedicated to the Moscow period of the Metropolitan’s life. The first volume of the publication, which tells about the saint’s service in the Aleutian Islands, is now ready; it may be published this year. And the first book about the Moscow period will most likely be read in 2013.

27.12.2017

The recording of this conversation with a descendant of Metropolitan Innocent (Veniaminov), glorified as a saint 40 years ago, in 1977, was made about two decades ago. She recently discovered it by chance when she put on a tape cassette that caught her eye to listen to. The media format in which I worked at that time did not allow publishing interviews. So this is the first publication of an interview with a descendant of St. Innocent, who visited the Elias Church in Cherkizovo in the late 90s. The transcript is given in full, preserving the style of speech of Father Innocent.

Saint Innocent (Veniaminov) - a wonderful missionary who enlightened many peoples with the Christian faith in the east of the Russian Empire, for which he is called the Apostle of Siberia and America - served in the Moscow Church of Elijah the Prophet in Cherkizovo for the last five years of his life, in the 70s of the 19th century, in the rank of Metropolitan of Moscow and Kolomna. And it so happened that his great-great-grandson also came to this temple, who in adulthood accepted holy orders and received the same name in monasticism. Archimandrite Innocent (his secular name is Rostislav Sergeevich Veniaminov) was born in Astrakhan in 1924, as a child he spent about two years in the reception center of the NKVD as the son of an “enemy of the people”, served as a surgeon in the navy, took monastic vows, and rested in the Yaroslavl lands in 2002 year.

Grandson of Saint Innocent -
confessor of Empress Maria Feodorovna

Father Innocent, your ancestor is the famous Saint Innocent. Please tell us about yourself, because you also serve in the priesthood.

“I’d rather tell you about his wonderful descendants.” What am I, I'm a sinful person. Retired, almost 80 years old. My ancestors lived a holy life, not to mention St. Innocent. He enlightened dozens of peoples, studied all local languages, just as a carpenter built churches himself.

The son of Saint Innocent is Archpriest Gabriel, my great-grandfather. He was his personal secretary all his adult life, helping until his death. The great-grandfather was buried in the Novodevichy Convent. But, to the greatest regret, the cross and monument to him were demolished.

The remarkable grandson of the saint, Archpriest Ioann Gavriilovich Veniaminov. My grandpa. And he was a wonderful person in the sense that he was the personal confessor of the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna, the mother of Emperor Nikolai Alexandrovich. Leaving Russia in 1918 (the Dowager Empress was Danish by birth - Princess Dagmara), she said: “Father John, come with me to Copenhagen.” Grandfather said that for the first time in his life he dared not to listen to the empress. He fell to his knees and told her: “Your Imperial Majesty, I cannot leave my homeland. I will stay and endure everything that the Lord grants.” “Well, look, look,” she said. “The Bolsheviks will soon finish their robberies, and we will return.” The mess will end and we will return." And the mess still doesn’t end... yes...

He then served until his death - he died at the age of 92 - in the city of Kashin. They sent him there. And you know what’s surprising: I saw him for the last time in 1944 (I was a nurse and received a business trip to Gatchina from the Southern Front, where I took part in the liberation of Krasnodar), and he told me then that throughout the war he had been like this with his He communicated wonderfully with his parishioners; under his leadership, they collected gifts for the army for tanks and planes.

In Kashin?

- Yes, in the city of Kashin. And he said that they also knitted countless knitted things - scarves, socks, mittens, sweaters. It was he who did such a great job. He died in 1947. He is buried there. I still want to go to Kashin and visit his grave. But I just can’t do it, because I feel very weak: my legs can’t walk, and I’m becoming disabled.

Accused of espionage for knowledge of languages

– My grandfather had two sons - two great-grandsons of St. Innocent. The eldest son was my daddy Sergei Ivanovich Veniaminov, he was born in April 1884 in St. Petersburg, he was a long-distance navigator. Graduated from the Naval Cadet Corps. It would, of course, be more interesting to talk about than about me.

You know, he was accused as an enemy of the people because he served under the command of Admiral Alexander Vasilyevich Kolchak. And this is already a death sentence. Then, as it happened, he served with Vasily Blucher. He was charged with espionage - he spoke five European languages, fluently. My father was declared a spy for French intelligence, English, German, American... Well, in general, that’s what they said...

After Stalin’s death, I wrote a request and was given rehabilitation documents.

When was he arrested?

– He was arrested in 1938 and died soon after. Our entire family was arrested.

Mommy and I were arrested right after daddy, two months later. Mommy spent a little longer than me - two years, and I spent a little less than two years in the children's reception center of the NKVD. Came out a while ago film "I'm Going to My Father", where I talk about this in detail.

And they also released a film in Belarus “I Believe!” The fact is that I was blessed by Metropolitan John of St. Petersburg to become the confessor of the Golden Knight film festival and for several years I traveled with them everywhere, including to Belarus. This, of course, was a great honor for me.

Archbishop Luke (Voino-Yasenetsky)
blessed to be a surgeon

Everything was difficult. I was a non-church person. I graduated from medical school. And then, with the blessing of Archbishop Luke of Simferopol and Crimea, I began to practice surgery in the Far East. Sailed on fishing boats. And he retired from there. And with Vladyka Luka, that was also a very interesting story. My uncle was Metropolitan Nikolai (Yarushevich)…

Is he also a relative of St. Innocent?

- No. Here's the thing. He was Boris Dorofeevich Yarushevich in the world. And his brother was Dorofey Dorofeevich. And so he was married to my daddy's cousin. And Vladyka Nikolai helped my grandmother a lot throughout his adult life until his death, including financially, after the death of my grandfather.

Anna Aleksandrovna Popovitskaya, married to Veniaminova, is my grandmother. And what was she famous for - maybe you heard that we had a magazine in Russia called “Russian Pilgrim”...

I saw such a magazine - it was founded in the Russian Church Abroad in New York.

- Nothing like this. Initially, the magazine “Russian Pilgrim” was organized and edited throughout his life until his death by my great-grandfather, the father of my grandmother Anna Alexandrovna. He is buried in St. Petersburg at the Smolensk cemetery.

It was forbidden to learn languages
so as not to be called a spy

– And then it so happened that I was invited to America by Metropolitan Theodosius of the American Autocephalous Church (The Primate of the Orthodox Church in America, His Beatitude Metropolitan Theodosius, was retired on April 2, 2002 - approx.). I went there in 1989, and then I started flying there every year, and my children moved there.

Once I was on Kodiak Island, and suddenly there was a telephone - but I don’t know languages, my grandmother did not allow me to teach languages. She said: “God forbid, if you meet foreigners, talk to them, they will immediately declare you a spy.” This was the spy mania. And you know, there was one priest there, he can only speak English, and I can only speak Russian. "Phase Innocent, phase Innocent, background, background." I think what it is and say: “What, a telephone?” - “Yes, yes, yes!” I run up, listen, and suddenly they speak to me on the phone in Russian. I ask: “Who is this?” – German Podmoshensky (Father German revived the pre-revolutionary Russian-language Orthodox magazine “Russian Pilgrim” abroad - approx.). “I am,” he says, “the editor of the Russian Pilgrim.” And he, it turns out, called that priest on business, and he said that he had a guest - the great-great-grandson of St. Innocent. And Father Herman invited me.

But I replied that I couldn’t travel around so freely - on a meager pension. Why do I go - when someone invites, they pay for the trip, so I can ride like that. And I hear: “That’s it, I’m issuing a ticket. Tomorrow you are flying to me in San Francisco. I'll meet you." And he actually sent me a ticket, and I flew to San Francisco.

But for me it was a little regrettable - it was my great-grandfather’s magazine! And it is published in America!

“Since the Lord appointed to live in Borisov
– so fight with yourself!”

During a memorable conversation, Father Innocent spoke about the difficulties observed at that time in the relationship between the clergy of the Moscow Patriarchate and the Church Abroad, to which, it so happened, he belonged. Let me remind you that our conversation took place six or seven years before the signing of the Act on Canonical Communion, which marked the restoration of unity within the Local Russian Orthodox Church.

“You see, our people here are big zealots. And that’s why they treat me with little respect here. They say: “Oh, he’s from abroad. He is not ours." What should I do. And I love them. You know, Lenochka, I’ll tell you what. Of course, in this respect I imitate and listen to my great-great-grandfather. “There were no such people, no,” as Metropolitan Philaret Drozdov said about him, “and there will never be such bishops.” After all, just think - he knew several languages of the small nationalities of Russia, created writing in their languages. He was a carpenter! And Saint Innocent spoke about this like this. He had a daughter, the nun Polyxenia - she entered a monastery at eighteen, she was a beauty. And somehow I find letters. I have fourteen letters from him. And she writes to him: “Daddy, what should I do? It’s so hard for me in the monastery.” She was in the Borisov desert, not far from Tikhvin. “This one doesn’t love me. That one doesn't love me. I suffer so much,” she complains. And he writes to her: “My dear daughter, you write that they don’t love you. My dear daughter, it doesn’t matter. The Holy Fathers of the Church said: it doesn’t matter that they don’t love you, it’s important that you love everyone. And the fact that they don’t love you... And take a closer look - maybe there’s something not to love you for? So you correct yourself and love those who don’t love you. The Lord sent you there specifically. For what? For patience. So that you can fight with yourself. Where are you? In Borisov. It’s not in vain that you are there - fight with yourself!”

In general, you know, he is a man of amazing wit! His letters are amazing! When he was in the Hawaiian Islands and Singapore, he was amazed by nature: an orange tree - the fruits are falling, and there are flowers on the branches. He notes that pigs go there and choose the best, ripest fruits, and writes: “Our Russian proverb, “You understand this matter like a pig in an orange,” is completely unfair, because pigs understand oranges very well.” Like this! Listen, he has a lot of such things.

Well, that means I should act this way towards those who scold me. This means that a person loves God. Well, what can I say here - I am a church illiterate person. I graduated from medical school, carried the wounded from the battlefield, and performed operations on ships. There were incredible moments in my surgical life! Storm, wind! They tied the patient to the table. They tied me next to me. I didn’t leave a single one on the table, because I always prayed.

Recorded by Elena DOROFEEVA

Local history and genealogy sector of library No. 18 named after. N.A. Ostrovsky.
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I saw this article in Amur itself, and I saw that there were errors in it (however, the main one I attributed to an oversight of the printing house). But I left it without any consequences, believing that this article would die with me; with a newspaper. But it didn't turn out that way. And therefore now it would be even unforgivable on my part not to point out these mistakes.

1) In the metric books stored in the Irkutsk Spiritual Consistory, it is precisely written that I was born on September 11 (1797). But many; my late mother said that I was born on the day of Adrian and Natalia, that is, August 26; and she remembered this day very well because it was significant at that time in our village; circumstance. Proof of this can also be the fact that my name day was September 2, i.e., on the 8th day after birth. And in the old days, many people, following the letters of the Trebnik, gave names like this. My father died not in April, but in August: I already remember this myself - according to the time since dawn; V a n i o v o s h e y. But these are not the mistakes I want to point out. For this alone it would not be worth taking a pen in hand. To whom, chrome; my relatives, what is the need to know - on this or that day I was born, this month or another; is my father dead?

2) But it does not say that I was four years into the fifth reading of the Apostle during the Liturgy. That's saying too much! This can no longer be missed; otherwise it may give others a reason to think about me; Thurs; something extraordinary, or equate me, God knows with whom! N;t, that was far from the case. When I was four years old and in fifth grade, I just started learning to read and write; and not from anyone else, but from his father, who, being ill for a long time, almost always lay in bed. I read the Apostle not on Easter, but on the Nativity of Christ. I remember it very well; and this was already when I studied with my uncle, that is, the ambassador; the death of my father (in 1803). Consequently, I read the Apostle when I was six years old, in the seventh, if only not in the eighth.

This could be the end of this article, because further inaccuracies are very unimportant. But it may be that; It will no longer be possible, or there will be no opportunity, to say something about yourself; . And therefore I will go through the entire article published in Spiritual Bes;d;, correcting it, where; necessary, and I will supplement it with some holy things - to the glory of God. Let my example be new proof of the truth that it is from the Lord that a person’s ways are corrected and that everything; We, the servants of His Church, are nothing more than an instrument in His hands. He was pleased to appoint me; field of ministry in America; - and this came true, despite the resistance of my will.

3) I entered the seminary already nine and a half years ago; How many attempts did my mother make to identify me as my father’s sexton? These attempts were in vain, even despite the fact that my mother remained in a helpless position with three days to spare; me. An attempt of the same kind; the delivery was still two or three years later; my entry into the seminary, but also in vain. And this, of course, is because many; destined to serve not on m;st; my homeland, and to the Americas;.

4) The author of the article on the occasion of which I am writing this will say that he would have had to go to the academy with me, not with others, if I had not already been married at the time when the order came to send from Irkutsk seminary of two students; and moreover, our rector himself told me about this case, as he expressed it to me; last;. And why he didn’t stop my marriage, the reason for this was a very rare and even unusual case, namely: the Angara River, separating the seminary from the monastery (where our rector lived, and where he is from on all school days came to the seminary for the whole day) that year (1817), when it was opened, it stopped all communication between the monastery and the city for many days. At first the ice on it passed almost completely, and then stopped again for several days and so densely that it was then known to Irkutsk; The monastery novice Ivanushko crossed through it from one bank to the other. And at this time, many; The idea of getting married came, and I managed to submit a request, without the permission of the rector’s father, to get permission to get married and even start matchmaking. If this had not happened, then, of course, the rector would not have allowed me to apply; requests for marriage;. And then mn; I would have had to go to the academy, and not to America.

5) But what was most visible was God’s will for me; when I moved from Irkutsk to Unalaska, i.e. to America. I was ordained as a deacon on May 13, 1817, as a priest on May 18, 1821, to that very church, as the author says, and where; I served until I was sent to America. And indeed, that native (from Unalaska) whom he mentions was the main reason why I left for America. But not his stories; l and h n about pl;nil me. It was different - or, perhaps, so, but not so.

This native (who is Ivan Kryukov, who lived with the Aleuts for 40 years); on his way to Irkutsk, stopped in our parish;, where; and lived from November until almost half of February. I was the spiritual father of him and his entire family, and therefore I knew him quite briefly. And sure enough, there was something he didn’t tell me; and about the Americas; in general, and about the Aleuts in particular, and he didn’t stop me from going to Unalaska; but I was deaf to all his stories, and none of his convictions touched me. And indeed, could I, or was I? what a calculation, judging humanly, God knows where, when I was in one of the best parishes in the city, in honor; and even the love of his parishioners, in view and in the account of his superiors, who already had their own house, received more income than the salary that was assigned to Unalaska;?

And therefore, when, by order of the late Right Reverend Michael, everyone was asked; clergymen throughout the diocese: would anyone want to go to Unalaska, and if they don’t want to, then why exactly? - in number; others, I also signed that I do not want to take this position, for reasons; remoteness. And I wrote this with all sincerity, to them; I mean that if our widows, living ten miles from their superiors, are left without everything (there was no guardianship then), then; will it be ten thousand miles away? That's what I thought, that's what I said to my other brothers.

But when this same native - who had already said goodbye to me completely and was still waiting for me at parting - went to Unalaska (I remember this vividly) - on that same day, at his farewell to the Eminence (with whom I happened to be at that time, and even in the living room, which happened to me for the first time), he began to talk about the Aleutov’s zeal for prayer; and hearing the word of God (which, without a doubt, I heard from him before and perhaps more than once): then - blessed be the name of the Lord! - I suddenly and, one might say, was all fired up with the desire to go to such people. I vividly remember even now how I was tormented with impatience, waiting for the moment to announce my desire to the Reverend; and he was definitely surprised by this, but only said: “We’ll see.”

Can I please? This I, speaking in all fairness, understand; as a merit, or to consider it as some kind of feat that I went to America?

Likewise, can I appropriate myself; Thurs; or from what is with pl; or through me something good and useful happened in that place, where; did I serve? Of course, n;t; at least m;r; - I shouldn’t. God knows how hard it is for me; read or hear when I'm behind; or praise, and especially when something done by others, or at least not by me alone, is attributed to me; alone. I admit, I would like, if only it were possible, that nowhere; my name was not mentioned, chrome; ordinary lists and commemorations or diptychs. But since this desire of mine is difficult to fulfill (as, for example, when calculating the cathedrals of bishops, and the shortest history of the Russian Church cannot fail to mention me), then I would sincerely wish that in such cases it would be said about me; just like, for example, in the preface to the Gospel translated into the Yakut language, i.e., that this was done under such and such an eminence: it cannot be better, simpler and fairer than this, in my opinion . “But how,” the author of the article on the occasion of which I am writing this will ask me, “how can we talk or write about your travels? There is no “at” here. How? Very simple! They carried or transported - well, a lot - before; h a l from there - there, and only: because, and in fact d;l;, all; My travel adventures consist precisely in moving from the place, that is, getting into a cart or onto a ship; and there, even if he wanted to go back, he couldn’t; And who doesn’t want to dare and who doesn’t have the strength to do it when business or duty requires it?

6) Last; I will soon announce my wishes to the Reverend; followed by a resolution with the following content: “Many of the clergy refused to serve in such an important and apostolic mission for completely disrespectful reasons, and therefore the consistory will not give them a lot... (such and such) deacons (four, not two ) and the one to whom the lot falls must certainly go.” The day of the lottery has come, what am I talking about; The Eminence himself said beforehand, inviting me to this. But they don’t call me - this upset me extremely, even made me despair... but not to anyone else, but to me; The Lord destined to go to America then. The one to whom the lot fell (my former seminary comrade, a short friend) refused, citing various reasons: sacred responsibilities to elderly parents, etc., and most importantly, the ill health of his wife, which, it must be said, survived him and is almost alive even now; and he died back in 1839 in Krasnoyarsk; - as a soldier, bitterly repenting of his stubbornness!

7) I went to St. Petersburg from America not only out of curiosity, as the author says, but more and almost exclusively in order to publish Aleutian translations of the Holy Books under my own supervision, where he arrived on June 25, 1839.

8) N;t, it was not the death of my wife that revealed to me; the path to the bishopric, because she died exactly a year before, and precisely on November 24, 1839. Until November 6, 1840, that is, until the time I began to get ready to go to America, no one had any thoughts or thoughts about the establishment of a bishop’s cathedral in America... But how and to whom the first thought about this came - maybe, in time, our hardworking and well-meaning writer A. N. Muravyov, who took a very active part in this, can say, and about everything else that concerns me, my successor can say, after consideration ;no all;d;l;l and my papers.

Note:
This is how we titled the amendments written by Metropolitan Innocent (then still an archbishop) in 1863 regarding the article published by Archpriest Gromov concerning the biography of Vladyka. Iv. B.
I had written an article a long time ago about my childhood, upbringing and travel from Irkutsk to America, but it was lost in a fire; in 1858.
Archpriest Gromov.
Of which the Lord led me to be the first in a row of three: in America, in I k u t s k; and on A m u r; in Blagov; SHCHENSK;.
I had the best thing, received from Irkutsk. spirit. cons. in number; other d;l; but, unfortunately, she died in a fire.
Pedigree painting: ...

Generation 1 ___

1. ...
Gender: male.
Evsey was born (2-1)
Dmitry was born (3-1)
Spouse: ....

Generation 2 ___

2-1. Popov Evsey... (?-1803)
Gender: male.
Man born (4-2)
A Woman is Born (5-2)
08/26/1797: Vladyka Innocent was born (Ivan Evseevich Popov-Veniaminov (6-2)
1803: Died
1803: Stephen is born (7-2)
Spouse: Sharina Thekla Savishna, life expectancy: 73.
1766: Born. Father: Sharin Sava..., mother: ....
1839: Died

3-1. Popov Dmitry...
Gender: male.
Was born. Father mother: ....
Married
Wife: ....

Generation 3 ___

4-2. Popov... Evseevich
Gender: male.
Was born. Father: Popov Evsey..., mother: Sharina Fyokla Savishna.

5-2. ...
Female gender.
Born. Father: Popov Evsey..., mother: Sharina Fyokla Savishna.

6-2. Vladyka Innocent (Ivan Evseevich Popov-Veniaminov (08/26/1797-03/31/1879)
Gender: male, life expectancy: 81.
Thekla was born (8-6)
Olga was born (9-6)
Praskovya was born (10-6)
Alexander was born (11-6)
08/26/1797: Born. Father: Popov Evsey..., mother: Sharina Fyokla Savishna.
11/15/1822: Innocent was born (12-6)
11/16/1823: Catherine was born (13-6)
07/26/1826: Gabriel was born (14-6)
03/31/1879: Died
Spouse: ... Ekaterina Ivanovna.
11/24/1839: Died

7-2. Popov Stefan Evseevich (1803-1862)
Gender: male, life expectancy: 59.
Married
1803: Born. Father: Popov Evsey..., mother: Sharina Fyokla Savishna.
1862: Died
Wife: ....

Generation 4 ___

8-6. Veniaminova Fyokla Ivanovna
Female gender.

9-6. Veniaminova Olga Ivanovna
Female gender.
Born. Father: Vladyka Innokenty (Ivan Evseevich Popov-Veniaminov, mother: ... Ekaterina Ivanovna.

10-6. Veniaminova Praskovya Ivanovna
Female gender.
Born. Father: Vladyka Innokenty (Ivan Evseevich Popov-Veniaminov, mother: ... Ekaterina Ivanovna.

11-6. Veniaminov Alexander Ivanovich
Gender: male.
Was born. Father: Vladyka Innokenty (Ivan Evseevich Popov-Veniaminov, mother: ... Ekaterina Ivanovna.

12-6. Veneaminov Innokenty Ivanovich (11/15/1822-?)
Gender: male.
Died
11/15/1822: Born. Father: Vladyka Innokenty (Ivan Evseevich Popov-Veniaminov, mother: ... Ekaterina
Ivanovna.

13-6. Veniaminova Ekaterina Ivanovna (11/16/1823-?)
Female gender.
Got married
Died
11/16/1823: Born. Father: Vladyka Innokenty (Ivan Evseevich Popov-Veniaminov, mother: ... Ekaterina
Ivanovna.
Husband: Petelin Ilya Ivanovich.

14-6. Veniaminov Gavriil Ivanovich (07/26/1826-1880)
Gender: male, life expectancy: 53.
Ivan was born (15-14)
07/26/1826: Born. Father: Vladyka Innokenty (Ivan Evseevich Popov-Veniaminov, mother: ... Ekaterina
Ivanovna.
1880: Died
Spouse: ....

Generation 5 ___

15-14. Veniaminov Ivan Gavriilovich
Gender: male.
Was born. Father: Veniaminov Gavriil Ivanovich, mother: ....
Sergey was born (16-15)
1885: Innocent was born (17-15)
Spouse: Popovitskaya Anna Alexandrovna.

Generation 6 ___

16-15. Veniaminov Sergei Ivanovich (?-1938)
Gender: male.
Was born. Father: Veniaminov Ivan Gavriilovich, mother: Popovitskaya Anna Aleksandrovna.
Married
1924: Rostislav was born (18-16)
1938: Died
Wife: ....

17-15. Veniaminov Innokenty Ivanovich (1885-1937)
Gender: male, life expectancy: 52.
1885: Born. Father: Veniaminov Ivan Gavriilovich, mother: Popovitskaya Anna Aleksandrovna.
1914: Anna was born (19-17)
02/24/1916: Marina was born (20-17)
1937: Died
Spouse: ....

Generation 7 ___

18-16. Veniaminov Rostislav Sergeevich (1924-2002)
Gender: male, life expectancy: 78.
Married
1924: Born. Father: Veniaminov Sergey Ivanovich, mother: ....
2002: Died
Wife: ....

19-17. Veniaminova Anna Innokentievna (1914)
Gender: female, age: 101.
Got married. Husband 1.
Got married. Husband 2.
Elik was born (21-19(1))
1914: Born. Father: Veniaminov Innokenty Ivanovich, mother: ....
Husband 1: ....
Husband 2: ....

20-17. Veniaminova Marina Innokentievna (02/24/1916-?)
Female gender.
Got married
Alexander was born (22-20)
Anna was born (23-20)
Died
02/24/1916: Born. Father: Veniaminov Innokenty Ivanovich, mother: ....
Husband: Kurlyandsky Sergey....

Generation 8 ___

21-19(1). ... Elik...
Gender: male.
Was born. Father: ..., mother: Veniaminova Anna Innokentievna.

22-20. Kurlyandsky Alexander Sergeevich
Gender: male.
Was born. Father: Kurlyandsky Sergey..., mother: Veniaminova Marina Innokentievna.
Got married. Wife 1.
Married
Got married. Wife 2.
01/31/1965: Igor was born (24-22(1))
06/09/1976: Dmitry was born (25-22(2))
Wife 1: ... Vera Ivanovna, age: 71.
1944: Born
Wife 2: ....

23-20. Kurlyandskaya Anna Sergeevna
Female gender.
Born. Mother: Veniaminova Marina Innokentievna, father: Kurlyandsky Sergey....

Father Innokenty (Rostislav Sergeevich) Veniaminov among his spiritual children in St. Petersburg (I thank Daniil Petrov for sending me this photograph of him).

Memories of Father Sergei Veniaminov are contained in various interviews with Father Innocent (Rostislav Sergeevich Veniaminov) (1924-2002), my grandmother’s cousin and great-great-grandson of St. Innocent, for example, published in the newspaper “1 September” in 2001 under the title “From the Lord” the ways of man are corrected" (but this information was repeated by him in other publications.)

Let's go through that part of the text that concerns his father, who was repressed in 1938, checking with known documents and facts.

I give the text of Father Innocent in regular font, my commentary in italics.

“My daddy,” said Father Innocent, “Sergei Ivanovich Veniaminov was the first-born of Father John, the grandson of St. Innocent. He was born in the spring, in April 1884, in St. Petersburg."

It's right. Sergei Ivanovich Veniaminov was born in St. Petersburg on April 10 (22), 1884.

“Sergey received an excellent education, spoke foreign languages: French, German, Italian, Japanese”

Of course, he was an educated man and knew some foreign languages. But is there any reason to consider him such a polyglot as the memoirist imagines? He did not complete courses at the university (like his younger brother Innokenty Ivanovich), but only the naval school in Kronstadt. Knowledge of the Japanese (!) language was nowhere to be found.

“After graduating from the Naval Cadet Corps, he took part in the First World War and was seriously wounded near Penang. When I came to my senses, I saw people in white coats above me and heard French speech. Sergei Ivanovich realized that he was in a French hospital. He was later sent to Russia. Sergei Ivanovich was awarded the Order of St. Stanislav of the first, second and third degrees for his participation in battles with the Germans; in addition, he had medals: the 200th anniversary of the victory in Gangut and the 300th anniversary of the House of Romanov.”

According to the documents, S.I. Veniaminov graduated from the naval corps in Kronstadt in 1906 in the electromine class, became a midshipman in 1907, and a lieutenant on December 6, 1910http://www.pershpektiva.ru/%D0%BB%D1%8E%D0%B4%D0%B8%20%D0%A1%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%BA%D1%82-% D0%9F%D0%B5%D1%82%D0%B5%D1%80%D0%B1%D1%83%D1%80%D0%B3%D0%B0/%D0%92%D0%B5%D0 %BD%D0%B8%D0%B0%D0%BC%D0%B8%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B2%20%D0%A1%D0%B5%D1%80%D0%B3%D0 %B5%D0%B9%20%D0%98%D0%B2%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B8%D1%87%201884.htm

The October Revolution found him a senior lieutenant in the Far East, he took part in the First World War, but the data on his injury and participation directly in hostilities need to be verified, and the fact of his stay in a French hospital is doubtful; how he could have ended up there is unclear . Knight of the Order of St. Stanislav of all (!) degrees he clearly was not. The question of his awards will be clearer by familiarizing himself with his service record, which can be stored in the Russian State Academy of Military Fleet in St. Petersburg.

“From 1918 to 1920, Sergei Ivanovich served under the command of General Alexander Vasilyevich Kolchak (this was enough for later, in Soviet times, the authorities to declare him an enemy of the people)”

This is true. In the biographical part of the testimony of S.I. Veniaminov, during interrogation, it is quite possible to believe his confession: “The October Revolution found me in Vladivostok, where I served in the navy, being the commander of the destroyer Bodry.

From the first days of the revolution, I was extremely hostile to the existing system and therefore, during Kolchak’s attack on Vladivostok after the Czech uprising, I, without hesitation, joined its units and served in the Klochak army until 1920.” You can also name the rank in which S.I. Veniaminov served with Kolchak for all two years of Kolchak’s “epic” - Senior Lieutenant of the Navy of the Siberian Flotilla.

“Since 1920, he fought in the Far East on the side of the Soviet regime, passed Khalkin-Gol, Volochaevsk. The Volochaev operation was led by Vasily Konstantinovich Blyukher (later Marshal of the Soviet Union). Since Sergei Ivanovich Veniaminov was fluent in Japanese, he was appointed V.K. Blucher as a military translator. After the war he came to St. Petersburg, but the authorities treated him with distrust.”

But the transition of S.I. Veniaminov on the side of Blucher and his service in the Red Army in the Far East, his service as a military translator under Blucher (as he knew the Japanese language) are already fictions. In various personal data S.I. Veniaminova - there is no information about this, such things were not hidden. Probably, in the families of repressed former whites, such legends (about transitions to the Reds) inevitably arose, as relatives sought to more strongly indicate the LOYALTY to the authorities of their affected loved ones. And what kind of Khalkin-Gol is this under...Blyukher Veniaminov took place in 1920?))) The Volochaev operation took place in February 1922. At this time, Sergei Ivanovich tried in vain to find work in the capitals. As a former white man, he was subject to various restrictions that would have been impossible for a Blucher commander (in the early 1920s).

About the fate of S.I. Veniaminov, after the defeat of Kolchak, in the reference book on white officers there is a brief mention of “went to the hills.”

“Sergei Ivanovich was not allowed to live either in St. Petersburg, or in Moscow, or in Kyiv. As a “dispossessed” he was assigned to Astrakhan, a city for exiles.”

Stated incorrectly. S.I. Veniaminov was not subjected to any repression in the early 1920s. For exile and deportation, an appropriate decision of the OGPU was needed, which was not available in his case. Accordingly, he could live in Petrograd, Moscow and Kyiv, but could not find work there and was forced to move with his family to Astrakhan in 1923, in including out of fear of reprisals - as a former white officer, he fell under the restrictions that exist when recruiting for service in government agencies for “former people.” Let us quote a little more from the biographical part of his testimony during interrogation: “In the end, after a fruitless attempt to get a job in Leningrad and Moscow, I was forced to go to Astrakhan, where I lived from 1923 to the day of my arrest.”

“In 1923, Sergei Ivanovich married Princess Elizabeth Alexandrovna Oranovskaya. The wedding took place in the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood in secret, since the five-year plan was declared atheistic."

Wife S.I. Veniaminova - also repressed in 1938. Elizaveta Aleksandrovna Oranovskaya did not belong to a princely family, but rather came from a spiritual environment. And the “princes of Oranovsie” are unknown to genealogical reference books. The surname “Oranovsky” may also have church origins. In the histories of surnames we read: “The basis of the surname Oranovsky was the church name Aaron. The surname Oranovsky is presumably a variant of the surname Aronovsky, which is derived from the name Aron, a variant of the name Aaron. This name goes back to the Hebrew word aharon, which is translated into Russian as “ark of the covenant.” According to another version, this name means “mountain, high.” The history of Orthodoxy knows the righteous Aaron, the high priest, brother of the prophet Moses. His memorial day falls on August 2. In this case, the surname Aronovsky is a middle name of the second order: Aronovsky is the son of the man Aronov and the grandson of Aron. According to another version, the surname Oranovsky comes from the name of the village of Oranki, located in the Nizhny Novgorod region. The founder of the Oranovsky family could have come from this village. Aron, or nicknamed Oranovsky, eventually received the surname Oranovsky.”http://www.ufolog.ru/names/order/%D0%9E%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B2%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B8 %D0%B9 But Father Innokenty (R.S. Veniaminov) always liked to repeat that his mother came from a “princely family” and wrote to me about this in a letter at the dawn of our acquaintance with him, my grandmothers (Marina and Anna) always denied this fact, - it turned out that they were right.

As for the “secret wedding” in 1923 (!), this is some kind of fantasy. The “Godless Five-Year Plan” was announced by the Union of Godless in 1932, and 1923 was the year of the beginning of the short-term “religious NEP”; usually weddings were open in the 1920s; they could only be secret for party members and Komsomol members, persons in responsible positions posts in Soviet institutions, but S.I. and his wife have always been non-partisan.

“A year later, the young couple had a son, who was named Rostislav.”

That's right. Rostislav Sergeevich (future father Innokenty) was born in Astrakhan into the family of S.I. and E.A. Veniaminovs in 1924.

“The Veniaminov family began to live in Astrakhan. Sergei Ivanovich got a job as head of the meteorological bureau.”

And here we need to clarify. Head S.I.'s bureau was not there. From his testimony at the investigation: “When I arrived in Astrakhan, I worked for some time in the Glavryba system, and then, from 1925, I worked in the management system of the Hydrometeorological Service. My last position was deputy head of the Astrakhan branch of the Hydrometeorological Service.”

“In Astrakhan, Sergei Ivanovich became friends with Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninov and really loved listening to him play the piano. When S.V. Rachmaninov went into exile, Sergei Ivanovich Veniaminov decided to stay in his homeland and said to his friend: - No, dear Sergei Vasilyevich, I cannot leave my homeland; as a military man I can still serve my country.
Meanwhile, Rostislav grew up and began attending one of the Astrakhan schools.”

This is a family legend. S.I. Veniaminov and S.V. The Rachmaninovs were not only not friends, but they never were and could not have known each other, since their paths did not intersect. Rachmaninov emigrated immediately after the October Revolution in 1917 http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A0%D0%B0%D1%85%D0%BC%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0 %B2,_%D0%A1%D0%B5%D1%80%D0%B3%D0%B5%D0%B9_%D0%92%D0%B0%D1%81%D0%B8%D0%BB%D1 %8C%D0%B5%D0%B2%D0%B8%D1%87 and certainly was not (and could not be) in Astrakhan in the 1920s. Probably S.I. loved to play Rachmaninov’s music on the piano - this became the legend of their acquaintance.

“And so the difficult years of hardships came again for the Veniaminov family.
The newspapers were covered with calls to fight the enemies of the people; Marshal V.K. was also ranked among the enemies of the people. Blucher. Having read about this in the newspaper, Sergei Ivanovich held it in his hands for a long time, looking between the lines and deep in thought. Then he rolled up a sheet of newspaper and, trying to remain as calm as possible, said to his wife and son:
“Now it’s my turn to get hurt.” I'll be arrested soon. But, no matter what happens, know that I am not guilty before my Motherland. I have always loved her, I love her and will love her until the last minutes of my life. Sergei Ivanovich was arrested when his wife, Elizaveta Aleksandrovna, went to visit her relatives in Yaroslavl.
Sergei Ivanovich watched the film “Volochaev Days” with his son and put him to bed in the children’s room. And at night, NKVD agents burst into the house.”

Complete fantasy. Starting with the memoirist’s touching conviction that newspapers during the years of the “Great Terror” immediately reported on the arrests of major leaders, including Blucher... And S.I. I read about this (Blücher’s arrest) in... the newspaper! But in fact, Sergei Ivanovich was arrested on April 6, 1938, shot on July 28, 1938, and Blucher was then still at the zenith of his glory, and he was arrested... October 22, 1938 (November 6, Blucher was beaten to death during interrogation). That is, the whole story is about the tragic experiences of S.I. in connection with the arrest of Blucher’s “comrade in arms” - fiction. It is psychologically understandable why such stories were sometimes invented in the families of the repressed - the former Kolchak officer turned in family legends into a Red Army soldier unconditionally loyal to the Soviet regime, and facts were invented in line with the legend. Even watching “Volochaev Days” (1937) between father and son is an important detail. Yes, they could see it in 1938 in Astrakhan at the cinema. The son’s memories of viewing a painting with his father one day shortly before his arrest; this coincidence could later be transformed in the minds of the orphanage boy into a legend about his father’s connection with Blucher himself. In this case, it is important to understand that the relatives themselves later believed in these legends.

“Mom has arrived. Elizaveta Alexandrovna went to prison. She went to prison every day - she carried packages. But they were not accepted. One day they passed a note from Sergei Ivanovich:
- Don’t worry about me, don’t bring anything, except a wooden spoon.
These were the last words of Sergei Ivanovich Veniaminov that reached his relatives. That was the end of it.
Sergei Ivanovich Veniaminov was transferred to Sakhalin, and there the great-grandson of St. Innocent was martyred.”

An incomprehensible legend regarding the mythical note of S.I. about giving him a “wooden spoon” - why would he really need this? Most likely, there were no last words of his that reached his family at all. As for the legend about the end of Sergei Ivanovich, Rostislav Sergeevich, who after his rehabilitation in 1957 received a fake certificate from the prosecutor’s office about his “death in the camp in August 1939 from a cerebral hemorrhage,” never until his death in 2002 learned that in reality his father - the great-grandson of the saint - was never sent to Sakhalin, and in July 1938 he was transported from Astrakhan to Stalingrad, where immediately after a 10-minute farcical “trial” the visiting session of the Military Collegium of the USSR was held on July 28 killed (shot) - most likely in the basement of the Stalingrad NKVD prison. Father Innokenty (Rostislav Sergeevich), in the last years of his life, in a conversation with me, even once suddenly spoke respectfully of Stalin as a “statesman” - also without knowing that it was Stalin who gave the sanction for the execution of his father, signing on June 10 1938 “hit list” with his name. The “execution lists” were published by Memorial already in the year of his death (in 2002), and he no longer had time to find out about them.