For 40 years, the Russian family was cut off from all contact with people and did not even suspect about the Second World War. In 1978, Soviet geologists discovered a family of six in the Siberian wilderness. The six members of the Lykov family had been living away from people for more than 40 years, they were completely isolated and were located more than 250 kilometers from the nearest city.
The Siberian summer is very short. In May there is still plenty of snow, and in September the first frosts come. This forest is the last of the greatest forests on earth. This is more than 13 million square kilometers of forests, where even now new discoveries lie in wait for a person at every corner. Siberia has always been considered as a source of minerals and geological exploration is constantly being carried out here. So it was in the summer of 1978. The helicopter was looking for a safe place to land the geologists. It was next to an unnamed tributary of the Abakan River, close to the Mongolian border. There is simply nowhere to land a helicopter in such wilderness, but, peering into the windshield, the pilot saw something that he did not expect to see. In front of him was a cleared, and clearly human, rectangular clearing. The confused helicopter crew made several passes over the place before realizing that something very similar to human habitation was standing near the clearing. 
Karp Lykov and his daughter Agafya wore clothes given to them by Soviet geologists. It was a startling discovery. There was no information anywhere that there might be people here. It was dangerous to land the helicopter on the clearing. it is not known who lived here. Geologists landed 15 kilometers from the clearing. Under the direction of Galina Pismenskaya, keeping their fingers on the trigger of their pistols and rifles, they began to approach the clearing. 
The Lykovs lived in this log cabin, which was lit by a single palm-sized window. As they approached the house, they noticed footprints, a shed stocked with potatoes, a bridge over a stream, sawdust, and obvious traces of human activity. Their arrival was noticed ... When they approached the house and knocked, the grandfather opened the door for them. And someone from the group said in a simple way: "Hello, grandfather! We came to visit!" so far, then come on..." There was one room inside. The only room was lit by a dim light. It was crowded, there was a musty smell, it was dirty, and there were sticks sticking out all around that supported the roof. It was hard to imagine that such a large family lived here. 
Agafya Lykova (left) with her sister Natalya. A minute later, the silence was suddenly broken by sobs and lamentations. Only then did geologists see the silhouettes of two women. One of them was hysterical and praying, and it was clearly audible: "This is for our sins, our sins ..." The light from the window fell on the other woman, kneeling, and her frightened eyes were visible. The scientists hurried out of the house , moved a few meters away, settled down in a clearing and began to eat. About half an hour later, the door creaked open, and the geologists saw the old man and his two daughters. They were frankly curious. Cautiously, they approached and sat next to each other. When Pismenskaya asked: "Have you ever eaten bread?" the old man replied: "Yes, but they never saw him...". At least contact was established with the old man. His daughters, however, spoke a language distorted by life in isolation and at first it was impossible to understand them. Gradually, geologists learned their history. Old Believers have been persecuted since the time of Peter the Great, and Lykov talked about it as if it happened only yesterday. For him, Peter was a personal enemy and "the devil in human form." He complained about the life of the early 20th century, not realizing that so much time had passed and much had changed. As the Bolsheviks came to power, the life of the Lykovs became even worse. Under Soviet rule, the Old Believers fled to Siberia. During the purges of the 1930s, a Communist patrol shot dead Lykov's brother on the outskirts of his native village. The Karp family fled. It was in 1936. Four Lykovs were saved: Karp, his wife Akulina; son Savin, 9 years old and Natalia, daughter, who was only 2 years old. They fled to the taiga, taking only seeds. They settled in this very place. A little time passed and two more children were born, Dmitry in 1940 and Agafya in 1943. It was they who never saw people. All that Agafya and Dmitry knew about the outside world, they learned from the stories of their parents. But Lykov's children knew that there were places called "cities" in which people lived cramped in high-rise buildings. They knew that there were countries other than Russia. But these concepts were rather abstract. They only read the Bible and church books that their mother had taken with her. Akulina could read and taught her children to read and write using pointed birch branches that she dipped in honeysuckle sap. When Agafya was shown a picture with a horse, she recognized him and shouted: "Look, dad. A horse!" 
Dmitry (left) and SavinGeologists were surprised at their resourcefulness, they made galoshes from birch bark, and sewed clothes from hemp, which they grew. They even had a yarn loom that they made themselves. Their diet consisted mainly of potatoes with hemp seeds. Yes, and there were pine nuts all around, which fell right on the roof of their house. Nevertheless, the Lykovs lived constantly on the verge of starvation. In the 1950s, Dmitry reached maturity and they had meat. Without weapons, they could only hunt by making pit traps, but mostly meat was obtained by starvation. Dmitry grew up surprisingly hardy, he could hunt barefoot in winter, sometimes he returned home after several days, spending the night outside in 40 degrees below zero, and at the same time he brought a young elk on his shoulders. But in reality, meat was a rare delicacy. Wild animals destroyed their carrot crops, and Agafya remembered the end of the 1950s as a “hungry time.” Roots, grass, mushrooms, potato tops, bark, mountain ash ... We ate everything, we felt hungry all the time. They constantly thought about how to change the place, but remained ... In 1961, in June, it began to snow. A severe frost killed everything that grew in the garden. It was in this year that Akulina died of starvation. The rest of the family escaped, fortunately the seeds sprouted. The Lykovs put up a fence around the clearing and guarded the crops day and night. 
Family next to a geologistWhen Soviet geologists got to know the Lykov family, they realized that they had underestimated their abilities and intelligence. Each member of the family was a separate person. Old Karp was always in awe of the latest innovations. He was amazed that people were already able to set foot on the moon, and he always believed that geologists were telling the truth. But most of all they were struck by the cellophane, at first they thought that it was geologists who crumpled glass. The younger ones, for all their isolation, had a good sense of humor and were constantly ironic above oneself. Geologists introduced them to the calendar and clock, which the Lykovs were very surprised at. 
The saddest part of the Lykovs' story was the rapidity with which the family began to dwindle after they made contact with the world. In the fall of 1981, three of the four children died within days of each other. Their death is the result of exposure to diseases to which they had no immunity. Savin and Natalia suffered from kidney failure, most likely as a result of their harsh diet, which also weakened their bodies. And Dimitri died of pneumonia, possibly due to a virus from his new friends. His death shocked the geologists who were desperately trying to save him. They offered to evacuate Dmitry and treat him in the hospital, but Dmitry refused ... When all three were buried, geologists tried to persuade Agafya and Karp to return to the world, but they refused ... Karp Lykov died in his sleep on February 16, 1988, 27 years after his wife, Akulina . Agafya buried him on the mountain slopes with the help of geologists, and then turned around and went to her house. A quarter of a century later, yes, and at present, this child of the taiga lives alone, high in the mountains. Geologists even made notes. "She will not leave. But we must leave her: I looked at Agafya again. She stood on the river bank, like statue. She did not cry. She nodded and said: "Go, go. We walked another kilometer, I looked back ... She was still standing there"
Peskov was able to trace the historical, more than three hundred years, path of an Old Believer family from the Volga region to a forest hut in the deserted wilds of Abakan. There was, however, one "blank spot" in the "Taiga dead end". “The dramatic events of the 30s, which broke the fate of people throughout the vast expanse of the country, have also reached secret places,” he wrote. - They were perceived by the Old Believers as a continuation of the previous persecution of "true Christians". Karp Osipovich spoke about those years muffled, indistinct, with apprehension. He made it clear: it was not without blood.
THE INVESTIGATION IS LEAD BY TIGRIUS
Those dramatic events of the 30s were restored by the author of the documentary book "Lykovs" Tigriy Dulkeit, alas, now deceased. His father, Georgy Dzhemsovich, a well-known biologist in Siberia, led the scientific department of the Altai State Reserve for many years. On its territory, the Lykovs and fellow believers lived in the Stalin era.
Tigriy himself also worked in the reserve for a long time after the war. I talked a lot with schismatics, acquaintances of the Lykovs. Twice he had to be a guide in the NKVD detachment, looking for the family of Karp Osipovich. Luckily, there was no blood. In the 2000s, he visited Agafya more than once.
According to Tigriy, the first cousins Severyan and Efim came to Gorny Altai from the Tobolsk province (now the Tyumen region). We stopped to live in the village of Old Believers Karagayka. In the nineties of the XIX century, the son of Yefim Osip moved with his family to the village of Tishi. Exceptionally blessed places. excellent soils, mixed forests and taiga wilderness, abundance fur animal and deer, roe deer. The rivers teemed with fish. A rider on a horse could easily hide in the tall grass. Hard-working Old Believers settled in such rich places.
The family of Osip Lykov had nine children: Daria, Stepan, Karp, Anna, Evdokim, Nastasya, Alexandra, Feoktista and Khionia. The last four daughters died as children from various diseases.
They lived quietly, because Nicholas II abolished the persecution of the Old Believers. But a revolution broke out, then collectivization. Representatives began to run in and agitate for the collective farms. Most of the Old Believers remained in the village, organized an agricultural artel. Part of the mountains went to Tuva. And the Lykov brothers: Stepan, Karp, Evdokim, together with their father and three more families moved to the upper reaches of Abakan. They cut down the five-walled huts. Hoping to survive the "satanic" times in the wilderness. Their settlement was officially called in the documents "Upper Kerzhak Zaimka".
In 1930, by a decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee and the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR, the Altai state reserve. Zaimka Lykovs was on its territory. And because of this, blood was shed, which Karp Osipovich deafly hinted to Peskov.
“CARRIED OUT” A TERRIBLE DISEASE
But before that, another misfortune struck. In 1933, the Old Believer Nikifor Yaroslavtsev came here from the Swan River. He made his way abroad to Tuva to find a place to live, because he did not want to join the collective farm. The guest complained of a headache, so he spent several days in bed with the Lykovs. Shortly after his departure, the village began to rapidly mow down an unknown ailment. From a terrible headache, people literally climbed the wall, raved, died in terrible agony. No herbs, prayers, conspiracies helped. They did not have time to bury at the castle. Among the first victims were the head of the Lykovsky family Osip Efimovich, the elder brother Stepan. Sleg and Karp.
The Old Believers understood that Nikifor brought a terrible illness from the Swan River. They decided to perform a ritual: to “carry” the disease back. The mission was entrusted to the younger Lykov. A prayer service was served, and before sunrise, Evdokim set off on foot on a dangerous one-fifty-kilometer path through the dense taiga through the Abakan Range. He safely reached the Swan River and near the place where Nikifor lived, "left" the disease.
According to Tigriy Dulkeit, it was a form of meningitis. The most surprising thing is that on the day when Evdokim “suffered” the illness, with the sunrise Karp Osipovich and other sick Kerzhaks felt better and soon recovered. Nobody else died. The deadly disease is gone.
SHOT IN THE BACK
And soon employees appeared at the Kerzhatskaya Zaimka Altai Reserve. They gathered all the Old Believers and announced that they could not live here. Any hunting, fishing, and other economic activities are prohibited in the protected area. In early spring In 1934, the Kerzhaks dispersed, who went where. Karp with his wife Akulina and firstborn Savin went to the Swan River. Evdokim helped his brother with the move and returned to the estate. Aksinya's wife was expecting a child, so the authorities allowed this only family to stay until the fall. Moreover, Lykov decided to enter the guard. An excellent tracker, he knew the surrounding places well. The issue was practically resolved. But there were other contenders for the position of the guard. The authorities received an anonymous denunciation, they say, Lykov is a well-known poacher, he will kill all the animals, and in general, bad person, after the civil war he helped the bandits. (Although at that time he was 15 years old).
The employees of the reserve Rusakov and Khlystunov were immediately sent to the zaimka - "to check the signal." “The management acted thoughtlessly,” Tigriy Dulkeit writes in his book. “I didn’t consult with people who knew the brothers well, I didn’t take into account that Rusakov, always belligerent, was unrestrained, quick-tempered, hot-tempered, didn’t think at all about how everything could end.”
The brothers were digging potatoes and did not immediately notice armed men in eerie attire: black breeches and tunics, black pointed helmets on their heads. This form was introduced in the reserve quite recently, the Lykovs did not know about it. Evdokim rushed to the hut. Karp is behind him. After all, the strangers did not introduce themselves, did not announce why they had come. Rusakov raised his rifle. "Don't shoot, they don't seem to understand who we are!" Khlystunov shouted to his partner. But he shot Evdokim in the back. The wound proved fatal. Thus ended the clarification of the circumstances of the dirty slanderous anonymous letter, which Evdokim never found out about.
To shield themselves, the employees drew up a protocol accusing the Lykovs of armed resistance. Karp categorically refused to sign the "false paper". The next morning, he put his brother's body in a hastily hollowed-out domino and buried it next to close relatives who had recently died from an incomprehensible illness. Then he sent Evdokim's family down the Abakan, and he returned to his wife and son. The following year, their daughter Natalia was born.
Many in the reserve knew the Lykovs well and did not believe that Evdokim offered armed resistance. After all, the issue with his work in security was resolved. The murder was reported to the district. The investigation was carried out superficially, no one was tried. Terrible thirties. Shot, so guilty.
In the spring, a group of employees of the reserve visited the abandoned hut of Kerzhaks. It turned out that the bear dug up the grave, ate Lykov's corpse. Around were gnawed bones, the remains of clothing, a half-preserved skull. Employees re-dug the grave, laid dry grass in the domina, laid down everything that was left of Evdokim, and buried it again.
Chekists took the trail
In 1937, NKVD officers unexpectedly raided the Lykovs on the Swan River. They began to ask in detail under what circumstances Yevdokim was shot three years ago. Like, it was decided to look into this story again. Karp was alarmed by the interrogation. The murderers of a brother can slander him during the investigation. They have more faith. He decided to urgently hide away from people. And he took his family to the "deserts" - the upper reaches of the Great Abakan. Mountains, taiga, hundreds of kilometers without housing, and no roads.
Here, in August 1940, observers from the Altai Reserve met Lykov. They knew Karp very well. They offered me a job as a security guard at the Abakan cordon. The conditions are excellent: a large semi-detached house, a bathhouse, barns, state-owned food. They promised to bring a cow, sheep. They said that the brother's killers had already been punished (this was a lie.) The head of the science department of the Dulkeit reserve, the father of the author of the book, also participated in the negotiations. Lykov's wife Akulina Karpovna really wanted to move to the cordon, closer to the people. Children are growing! But Karp was categorically against it. “Let’s perish, how many people have been killed, for what? Evdokim was killed and they will take us out!”
And moved even further into the taiga. The fear of sharing the tragic fate of his brother, who was shot dead in front of his eyes, the very blood that he dully hinted at later to Vasily Mikhailovich Peskov, drove the “runner”. Not faith at all. After all, many Old Believers went to work in the reserve, including some relatives of the Lykovs.
And soon the Great Patriotic War began. The reserve was not up to Carp.
However, the NKVD remembered him.
By the end of the summer of 1941, the Chekists took control of all the taiga settlements. So that deserters do not hide there. The authorities considered it suspicious that Lykov suddenly disappeared. And they began to insist on his eviction from the taiga by any means. The directorate of the reserve was sure that Karp Osipovich, as an Old Believer, would not provide shelter to anyone. But arguing with the authorities was dangerous, especially in war time. Moreover, Lykov's age is draft, he himself is obliged to go to the front. A detachment of border guards and Chekists went on a raid to search for deserters and withdraw the Lykovs from the taiga. The guide was Danila Molokov, an employee of the Old Believer reserve, an old acquaintance of Karp Osipovich. From the conversations of the Chekists, he realized that they would not especially stand on ceremony with the Lykovs. The head of the family can be decided in the taiga. Fortunately, Karp noticed the detachment from a distance and began to observe. And when Molokov lagged behind with the horses, he called out to him. Danila said that a war had begun with the "German", the NKVD were looking for deserters and Karp. Time of war, easily "slap"!
SHELTER IN ERINAT
Karp Osipovich urgently took his family to the impenetrable jungle of the Erinat River in the upper reaches of Abakan. In the same Taiga dead end, where the hermit Agafya still lives.
After 5 years, a detachment of military topographers accidentally stumbled upon their shelter, having lost all the horses and almost all food supplies: 12 people under the command of a senior lieutenant. The owners fed them potatoes and fish for two days. Karp Osipovich learned about the victory over the German. The commander's shoulder straps were especially striking. Indeed, under Soviet rule, royal epaulettes were canceled. Has the king returned? (Stalin introduced officer epaulettes in 1943). He helped the guests with information about the surrounding places. The places of residence of the family were marked on secret maps marked "Lykov's Zaimka".
Then, for two days, Karp and his son Savin led a detachment of cartographers through the pass, showed the shortest path to Lake Teletskoye, the regional center. Upon returning, the cautious Lykov decided to urgently move higher into the mountains. At the "alternate airfield" - elan (glade) surrounded by centuries-old cedar taiga. There had been a covered log house there for two years in case of a sudden relocation. And that moment has passed.
The story of the visit of cartographers, the escape higher into the mountains, Peskov described in "Taiga Dead End".
But neither Vasily Mikhailovich nor Karp Osipovich knew the continuation of the story.
The senior lieutenant, of course, reported to the authorities about the meeting with the hermits, their extreme poverty, poverty, three children (Agafya was just born). Director of the Altai Reserve A.I. Martynov was summoned to the regional party committee and made a suggestion, they say, the Old Believers are hiding in the territory entrusted to him, violating a number of laws. The director offered to relocate the Lykovs to the Abakan cordon, arrange Karp as a security guard, and provide the family with all kinds of help and support. There were proposals not to touch them at all, let them live where and how they want. But the bureau of the regional committee decided to send a detachment of reserve workers and employees of the NKVD to Erinat in order to bring the Lykov family to the people, to arrange it. And Karp Osipovich to be held accountable for non-participation in the war.
In winter, at the risk of their lives, the detachment went to the upper reaches of Abakan. Among the guides were the Old Believer Danila Molokov, already known to us, Roman Kazanin, a relative of Karp Osipovich, and 18-year-old Tigriy Dulkeit. The Chekists hoped that the Old Believers would not run away until spring, they hoped to take them by surprise. But the hut was empty. Dulkeith recalled: “We spent several days at the Lykov estate and its environs, making daily radial exits in different directions, making constant observations from dawn until dark, but we never saw any smoke or light anywhere, did not find any, even old footprints in the snow. It was clear that the Lykovs stoked the stove only at night and, apparently, did not go far from their homes, unless, of course, they were somewhere nearby and did not go down the Abakan to their old place of residence.
On the seventeenth day of the campaign, the detachment returned to the reserve with nothing. What was reported to the regional leadership. The region insisted on continuing the search.
In the summer of 1947, the NKVD cavalry detachment made a secret raid on the Abakan places where Lykov once lived. Dulkeith was the guide. Inquiries from the residents turned up nothing. It turned out that all the Old Believers, who fled to the taiga from collectivization in the 30s, sooner or later returned to the people, they work. But no one has heard of the Lykovs. It's like they died.
“Both then and now, many years later, it was clear that if we found the Lykovs, the head of the family would not be in trouble,” Dulkeit writes in his book. - Lykov would have shared the fate of those who in those days dared to live in a way that was not right. I mean that with the exit from the taiga, he would have been arrested and put on trial. This is the bitter truth."
Gradually, they began to forget about the Lykovs in the reserve. Yes, and the Chekists had other concerns ...
Only in 1978, geologists from a helicopter accidentally found the secret dwelling of hermits on the same elani in the cedar, where Karp took his wife and children away in 1946 after the visit of military topographers. In 1982, Vasily Peskov visited the Lykovs, and his Taiga Dead End began to be published in Komsomolskaya Pravda. Other articles and books also appeared, sometimes full of fables and rumors about Siberian Robinsons.
Peskov also visited the Tyumen village of Lykovo, created at the end of the 17th century by the distant ancestors of Karp Osipovich and Agafya. Fleeing from the "antichrist in royal guise", the oppression of the authorities.
After some time, other people settled here. Also Russian, but not Old Believers. As they say, "peace" has come. With "wrong faith". And the Lykovs were not just Old Believers, but "runners" - a very strict sense of schismatics. Their main rule is "You have to run and hide from the world." In the second half of the 19th century, they moved further, to the Yenisei. To the taiga In new places, Karp Osipovich, the head of the famous family of Abakan hermits, was born in 1901. From his parents he knew about the Tyumen past. We wanted to visit the graves of his ancestors, but the Old Believer cemetery had long been plowed up.
Karp Osipovich really said that his ancestors came from near Tyumen. In the Yalutorovsky district they formed a village, then flowed to the Yenisei.
Perhaps the Lykovs came to the Tyumen region from the village of Lykovo in Kerzh. Anton Afanasiev thinks so: https://cheger.livejournal.com/467616.html
But here he speaks about the Olenevsky skete: “It was during these years that the three brothers Stepan left the skete. Karp and Evdokim with their families. The daughter of Karp Osipovich, Agafya Lykova, has survived to this day in distant Erinat. A book by Vasily Peskov "Taiga Dead End" was written about their life and wanderings. Agafya herself was born far from our edges, but from the words of her father Karp she knows our river Kerzhenka , knows the Olenevsky skete."
Here is more about the connection between Kerzhensky Lykov and the Lykovs.
In 1978, Soviet geologists discovered a family of six in the Siberian wilderness. The six members of the Lykov family had been living away from people for more than 40 years, they were completely isolated and were located more than 250 kilometers from the nearest city.
The Siberian summer is very short. In May there is still plenty of snow, and in September the first frosts come. This forest is the last of the greatest forests on earth. This is more than 13 million square kilometers of forests, where even now new discoveries lie in wait for a person at every corner.
Siberia has always been considered as a source of minerals and geological exploration is constantly being carried out here. So it was in the summer of 1978.
The helicopter was looking for a safe place to land the geologists. It was next to an unnamed tributary of the Abakan River, close to the Mongolian border. There is simply nowhere to land a helicopter in such wilderness, but, peering into the windshield, the pilot saw something that he did not expect to see. In front of him was a cleared, and clearly human, rectangular clearing. The confused helicopter crew made several passes over the place before realizing that something very similar to human habitation was standing near the clearing.
Karp Lykov and his daughter Agafya dressed in clothes given to them by Soviet geologists.
It was an amazing discovery. There was no information anywhere that there might be people here. It was dangerous to land the helicopter on the clearing. it is not known who lived here. Geologists landed 15 kilometers from the clearing. Under the direction of Galina Pismenskaya, keeping their fingers on the trigger of their pistols and rifles, they began to approach the clearing.
The Lykovs lived in this log cabin, which was lit by a single palm-sized window.
Approaching the house, they noticed footprints, a shed with stocks of potatoes, a bridge over a stream, sawdust and obvious traces of human activity. Their arrival was noted...
When they approached the house and knocked, the grandfather opened the door for them.
And someone from the group said in a simple way: "Hi, grandfather! We came to visit!"
The old man did not immediately answer: "Well, since you have climbed so far, then go through ..."
There was one room inside. This single room was lit by a dim light. It was crowded, there was a musty smell, it was dirty, and there were sticks sticking out all around that supported the roof. It was hard to imagine that such a large family lived here.
Agafya Lykova (left) with her sister Natalia
A minute later, the silence was suddenly broken by sobs and lamentations. Only then did geologists see the silhouettes of two women. One of them was hysterical and praying, and it was clearly audible: "This is for our sins, our sins ..." The light from the window fell on another woman, kneeling, and her frightened eyes were visible.
The scientists hurried out of the house, moved a few meters away, settled down in a clearing and began to eat. About half an hour later, the door creaked open, and the geologists saw the old man and his two daughters. They were frankly curious. Cautiously, they approached and sat next to each other. To Pismenskaya's question: "Have you ever eaten bread?" the old man replied: "Yes, but they never saw him...". At least contact was established with the old man. His daughters, on the other hand, spoke a language distorted by life in isolation, and at first it was impossible to understand them.
Gradually, geologists learned their history
The old man's name was Karp Lykov, and he was an Old Believer, also he was once a member of the fundamentalist Russian Orthodox sect. Old Believers have been persecuted since the time of Peter the Great, and Lykov talked about it as if it happened only yesterday. For him, Peter was a personal enemy and "the devil in human form." He complained about the life of the beginning of the 20th century, not realizing that so much time had passed and much had changed.
As the Bolsheviks came to power, the life of the Lykovs became even worse. Under Soviet rule, the Old Believers fled to Siberia. During the purges of the 1930s, a Communist patrol shot dead Lykov's brother on the outskirts of his native village. The Karp family fled.
This was in 1936. Four Lykovs were saved: Karp, his wife Akulina; son Savin, 9 years old and Natalia, daughter, who was only 2 years old. They fled to the taiga, taking only seeds. They settled in this very place. A little time passed and two more children were born, Dmitry in 1940 and Agafya in 1943. It was they who never saw people. Everything that Agafya and Dmitry knew about the outside world, they learned from the stories of their parents.
But Lykov's children knew that there were places called "cities" where people lived cramped in high-rise buildings. They knew that there were countries other than Russia. But these concepts were rather abstract. They only read the Bible and church books that their mother had taken with her. Akulina could read and taught her children to read and write using pointed birch branches that she dipped in honeysuckle sap. When Agafya was shown a picture with a horse, she recognized him and shouted: "Look, dad. A horse!"
Dmitry (left) and Savin
Geologists were surprised at their resourcefulness, they made galoshes from birch bark, and sewed clothes from hemp, which they grew. They even had a yarn loom that they made themselves. Their diet consisted mainly of potatoes with hemp seeds. Yes, and there were pine nuts all around, which fell right on the roof of their house.
Nevertheless, the Lykovs lived constantly on the verge of starvation. In the 1950s, Dmitry reached maturity and they had meat. Without weapons, they could only hunt by making pit traps, but mostly meat was obtained by starvation. Dmitry grew up surprisingly hardy, he could hunt barefoot in winter, sometimes he returned home after several days, spending the night outside in 40 degrees below zero, and at the same time he brought a young elk on his shoulders. But in reality, meat was a rare delicacy. Wild animals destroyed their carrot crops, and Agafya remembered the late 1950s as "hungry time."
Roots, grass, mushrooms, potato tops, bark, mountain ash... They ate everything, and felt hungry all the time. They constantly thought about changing the place, but remained ...
In 1961, it snowed in June. A severe frost killed everything that grew in the garden. It was in this year that Akulina died of starvation. The rest of the family escaped, fortunately the seeds sprouted. The Lykovs put up a fence around the clearing and guarded the crops day and night.
Family next to the geologist
When Soviet geologists got to know the Lykov family, they realized that they had underestimated their abilities and intelligence. Each member of the family was a separate person. Old Karp was always in awe of the latest innovations. He was amazed that people were already able to set foot on the moon, and he always believed that geologists were telling the truth.
But most of all they were struck by cellophane, at first they thought that it was geologists who crumpled glass.
The younger ones, for all their isolation, had a good sense of humor and constantly made fun of themselves. Geologists introduced them to the calendar and clock, which the Lykovs were very surprised at.
The saddest part of the Lykovs' story was the rapidity with which the family began to dwindle after they made contact with the world. In the fall of 1981, three of the four children died within days of each other. Their death is the result of exposure to diseases to which they had no immunity. Savin and Natalia suffered from kidney failure, most likely as a result of their harsh diet, which also weakened their bodies. And Dmitry died of pneumonia, which may have appeared due to the virus from his new friends.
His death shocked geologists who were desperate to save him. They offered to evacuate Dmitry and treat him in the hospital, but Dmitry refused ...
When all three were buried, geologists tried to persuade Agafya and Karp to return to the world, but they refused ...
Karp Lykov died in his sleep on February 16, 1988, 27 years after his wife, Akulina. Agafya buried him on the mountain slopes with the help of geologists, and then turned around and went to her house. A quarter of a century later, yes, and now, this child of the taiga lives alone, high in the mountains.
Geologists even made notes.
"She won't leave. But we must leave her:
I looked at Agafya again. She stood on the bank of the river like a statue. She didn't cry. She nodded and said, "Go, go." We walked another kilometer, I looked back ... She was still standing there"
The Phenomenon of Agafya Lykova and the Old Believers. Symbols of the Old Believers
From the very moment of the tragic schism, the Russian Church showed the brightest images of asceticism, confession and Faith. In the middle of the 17th century, the feat of the brethren of St. Solovetsky Monastery, who refused to accept the church reforms of Patriarch Nikon and suffered for this from the tsarist troops.
The Solovetsky Monastery, which was under siege for many years, became a symbol of monastic and popular resistance to the "newly-loved inventions" of Patriarch and Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. After the destruction of the monastery, the surviving elders of the monastery spread throughout Orthodox Russia, carrying the news of its irresistible confessors, who commanded to keep Old Faith.
As works are created and distributed Old Believer literature apologists for the Old Believers and their writings, which defend ancient church customs and traditions, are becoming increasingly important. At the beginning of the 18th century, a landmark a symbol of the Old Believers becomes the name and his writings - "Life", messages to Christians, letters to the king and other works, rewritten in tens of thousands of copies.
Later, when during the time of Empress Catherine the Second the fetters of state violence were somewhat weakened, new images and symbols appeared in Russia. Old Faith. The mere mention of the Rogozhsky, Preobrazhensky, Gromovsky cemeteries, the Irgiz monasteries and the Kerzhensky sketes evoked in the Russian heart an echo of sweet antiquity, ancient church tradition and true faith.
When in the 30s XIX years century, the persecution of the Old Believers resumed, the ideologists of the persecution wanted to destroy or shake symbols of Russian ancient Orthodoxy. The Irgiz and Kerzhensky monasteries were destroyed, the altars of the Rogozhsky churches were sealed, the hospitable houses of the Transfiguration cemetery and others were closed. centers of the Old Believers. A hundred years later, already in the years of Soviet power, the new regime went through the remaining cultural and spiritual heritage of the Old Believers with an ideological roller. The atheists sought not only to physically intimidate Christians, but to erase the very memory, which was actually done by the 70s - 80s of the XX century.
Someone completely forgot about the faith of their ancestors. Others, remembering their roots, could not find the way to the temples. Still others believed that the Old Believers had long since disappeared. But unexpectedly, in 1982, the whole country started talking about the Old Believers. What was the matter?
The Lykov family. Taiga dead end?
For the first time about the Lykov family told the newspaper "Komsomolskaya Pravda" in 1982. Her special correspondent, host of the author's column "Window to Nature" Vasily Mikhailovich Peskov published a series of essays under the general title " Taiga dead end”, dedicated to the family of the Old Believers of chapel consent Lykov, living near the Erinat River in the mountains of the Abakan Range of the Western Sayan (Khakassia).
The story of a family of hermits who had not come into contact with civilization for more than 40 years caused a strong resonance in the Soviet press.
Readers were interested in everything - both the local nature that fed the "taiga Robinsons" and the story itself the Lykov family, and the ways of survival developed during the years of solitary living in the taiga, and, of course, everyday, cultural and religious traditions that served as a support for the mysterious hermits.
Peskov himself later said that the very publication of materials about the Lykovs was not easy for him. For a long time he could not approach the topic, it was difficult to tell in a youth newspaper about hermits-Old Believers without falling into "anti-religious revelations." Then Peskov decided, by showing the drama of people, to admire their resilience, to evoke a feeling of compassion and mercy.
Indeed, the book mainly told about the fate of the family, the characters of its members and the peculiarities of life. The religious beliefs of the Lykovs are not given much space at all. The journalist did not hide the fact of his atheistic views and was prejudiced against any religion. According to the writer, it was religion that brought the Lykov family into the "taiga dead end". In his publications, it was easy to notice ironic intonations about the "darkness", "ritualism" and "fanaticism" of the Lykovs.
Despite the fact that Peskov came to the forest lodge for four years in a row and spent many days and hours visiting the Lykovs, he was never able to correctly identify their religious affiliation. In his essays, he erroneously indicated that the Lykovs belonged to a wandering sense, although in fact they belonged to a chapel agreement (groups of Old Believer communities united by a similar creed - editor's note) were called opinions and agreements.
Nevertheless, Peskov's essays, which later became a book, revealed to the world the history of the family's life. Old Believers Lykovs. Peskov's publications not only helped the public learn about the life of one Old Believer family, but also aroused general interest in the Old Believer topic. After Peskov's book, the Academy of Sciences and others research institutes organized a number of expeditions to Siberia and Altai. They resulted in numerous scientific and journalistic works devoted to the history and culture of the Old Believers in the eastern part of Russia.
A number of films were made about the capture of the Lykovs and other Siberian hermitages, which, as it turned out later, still exist in sufficient numbers in the forests of the Urals, Siberia and Altai, which helped create a positive image of the Old Believers in the media. Undoubtedly, the Lykov family and especially Agafya Lykova today are an important information phenomenon. A phenomenon that has played and continues to play a crucial role in the Russian information space.
Journalists and film crews continue to visit the Lykovs' once-secret hideout, and footage shot there is circulating TV channels. Search engines Runet consistently show a high interest in the personality of Agafya Lykova, and the number of requests addressed to her exceeds the ratings of any Old Believer figure of our time.
The difficult life path of the Lykovs
Like many thousands of other families of Old Believers, they moved to remote areas of the country mainly because of the unprecedented long persecution by the state and the official church. These persecutions, which began with the second half of XVII century, continued until the early 90s of the twentieth century.
Christians who refused to accept church reforms Patriarch Nikon and cultural reforms Peter the Great, found themselves in a situation of extreme religious intolerance. They were subjected to the most severe executions, defeat in civil rights, fiscal oppression. For the outward manifestation of faith, the so-called "evidence of a schism", they were exiled and thrown into prison. The persecution then subsided, then resumed with new force but never completely stopped.
Hundreds of thousands of Old Believers fled outside the Russian state. Today their descendants make up Russian communities on all continents of the world. Others tried to escape in internal emigration - they settled in inaccessible and remote places in the Urals, Siberia and Altai. These also include the Lykov family.
Their ancestors fled from central Russia shortly after the church schism to take refuge in the desert lands of the Urals and Siberia. According to Agafya herself, her grandmother Raisa was a resident of one of Old Believer monasteries Ural, located in the village of Yalutorskoye, and, according to legend, based on the place "tortured". Agafya Lykova remembers an old family tradition about a terrible tragedy that happened there in the 18th century. The government detachment seized the Old Believer priests who were trying to hide in these places. Not having achieved renunciation of the faith, they were executed with a terrible execution: they were placed in a barrel with nails and lowered down the mountain. And in the place where the barrel stopped, the key subsequently began to beat.
Karp Lykov and family
The ancestors of the head of the Lykov family lived in the village of Tishi, not far from the city of Abakan (Khakassia). When, after the revolution of 1917, detachments of CHON (special purpose units engaged in terror against "hostile" elements) began to appear in the vicinity of the village, Karp Osipovich Lykov and his brothers decided to move to a more secluded place.
In the early 1930s, Karp Osipovich brought his bride, Akulina Karpovna, from Altai. After some time, their children were born. Soon a tragedy happened - in front of Karp Lykov, his brother Evdokim was shot dead by the special services.
After this story, the Lykov family began to go deeper into the taiga. In the late 30s in K.O. Lykov, taking his wife and children, left the community. For several years no one bothered them. However, in the fall of 1945, an armed police detachment came across the shelter of the Old Believers, searching for fugitive criminals and deserters.
Although employees law enforcement the Lykovs were not suspected of any crimes, but it was decided to immediately move to another, even more secret place. Karp Lykov decided to go to a place where one could live in complete isolation from the state and civilization. In the distant tracts of the Erinat River, the last, most remote colony of the Lykov family was founded. Here, to the fullest extent, their skills to live in the most extreme conditions were manifested.
Scientists who subsequently studied the life of the Lykovs found that the agricultural technologies that they used on their site were advanced, given the limited opportunities for a secluded subsistence economy. The crops were planted on a slope that had a curvature of about 45 degrees. The division into beds was made taking into account the peculiarities of the growing season. Potato seeds, which were the main food crop of the Lykovs, were dried and heated in a special way. Then their germination was checked.
Interestingly, the example of the Lykovs, who ate potatoes, refutes the myths about some food prohibitions. The Lykovs were able to reproduce grain crops from a single tip of a barley ear. Thanks to the careful care of these spikelets of barley, four years later they were able to cook the first bowl of porridge. Interestingly, there were no diseases or pests on the plants of the Lykov garden.
At the time of the discovery of the Lykovs' lodge by scientists, the family consisted of six people: Karp Osipovich(born c. 1899), Akulina Karpovna, children: Savin(born c. 1926), Natalia(born c. 1936), Dimitri(born c. 1940) and Agafya(born 1944).
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The wife of Karp Osipovich died first in the family - Akulina Karpovna. Her death was associated with crop failure and famine that hit these parts in 1961. Nevertheless, the death of his wife and mother did not shake the economy of the monastery. The Lykovs continued to provide themselves with everything they needed.
In addition to their own household chores, they carefully followed the calendar and led a difficult schedule of home worship. Savin Karpovich Lykov who was responsible for church calendar, most accurately calculated the calendar and Paschalia (apparently, according to the vrutselet system, that is, using the fingers of the hand). Thanks to this, the Lykovs not only did not lose track of time, but also followed all the instructions of the church charter regarding holidays and days of fasting. Prayer rule performed rigorously according to old printed books available in the family.
The Lykovs made contact with civilization in 1978, and three years later the family began to die out. Died October 1981 Dimitri Karpovich, in December - Savin Karpovich, after 10 days sister Agafya - Natalia. After 7 years, on February 16, 1988, the head of the family, Karp Osipovich, passed away. The only one left alive Agafya Karpovna.
Scientists are inclined to believe that the cause of the death of the Lykovs could be pathogens brought in by city residents who visited their refuge. The opinion was also expressed that the cause of deaths was “peace”, that is, contact with worldly people.
Agafya Lykova and the Old Believer Church
After the death of my father in 1988, Agafya Lykova became the last inhabitant of the taiga settlement.
From this moment on, the theme of exotic "taiga Robinsons", promoted by Vasil Peskov, little by little begins to give way to questions of a historical and religious nature. Freedom of conscience, tacitly declared in the USSR after the celebration of the 1000th anniversary of Russia, finally allows you to tell about the spiritual life of our people.
In 1990, Agafya Lykova was visited by envoys of the Old Believer Metropolitan of Moscow and All Russia (Gusev). Writer Lev Cherepanov, photographer Nikolai Proletsky and Nizhny Novgorod Old Believer Alexander Lebedev took part in this expedition. The guests gave Agafya the message of Metropolitan Alimpiy, candles of "spring wax", spiritual literature and ladders.
Subsequently, in the articles of L. Cherepanov, A. Lebedev's essay "Taiga Clearance", published in the Old Believer magazine "Church", finally, valuable information appears about the spiritual life of the Lykovs and specifically Agafya Lykova. Readers finally learned not only about the homespun ports of the Lykovs, but about those cornerstone religious reasons that forced them, like many other Old Believers, to flee from the oppression of the state and the temptations of this world.
It turned out that Agafya, inheriting the faith of her parents, belonged to the consent of the so-called " chapel". These Old Believers accepted the priesthood "fleeing" from the dominant, synodal church. Priests who came to the chapels received "correct work", began to serve and perform church sacraments in all accordance with the pre-schism church tradition. This situation continued until the beginning of the 19th century.
However, during the persecution initiated by Nicholas I, there were fewer and fewer priests. Many of them were captured by the police and died in the dungeons. Others died of natural causes. Together with the death of the last priests, whose baptism and apostolic succession for the chapel Old Believers was indisputable, they began to get used to serving without priests, gradually becoming bezpopovtsy.
Many chapels kept the so-called Spare Gifts, i.e. bread and wine consecrated by the priest during the Liturgy. Such Spare Gifts were usually hidden in different hiding places, built into books or icons. Since the number of shrines was limited, and the Gifts themselves, after disappearing from the chapel priests, were not replenished in any way, these Old Believers communed extremely rarely - once or twice in their lives, as a rule, before their death.
Spare Gifts were also kept by the Lykovs. According to Agafya herself, they had these gifts from her grandmother Raisa, who lived in the same village of Yalutorskoye in the Urals. However, Agafya found out that the grandmother did not belong to the chapel, but Belokrinitsky consent of the Old Believers(who recognized the new Old Believer priests appointed by the Greek Metropolitan (Popovich) - editorial note). Agathia also inherited from her, which, according to the custom of the chapels, can be multiplied through dilution in new water on the eve of the feast of the Epiphany.
Agafya Lykova. The path of searching
Left alone Agafya Lykova I began to think about my future life. Her marriage did not work out. Agafya began to think about monasticism. In 1990 she moved to Old Believer convent , located in the Cheduralyga area, under the authority of Abbess Maximilla.
In itself, the monastic rule did not bother Agafya at all. When the rest of the Lykov family were still alive, Agafya performed her prayer at home, getting up at 6 in the morning. Subsequently, she mastered the daily reading of the skete rite of "twelve psalms", as well as the canons for the repose of the soul. (" Twelve Psalms"- the rite of prayer, which includes 12 selected psalms and special prayers. It appeared in the 9th century and subsequently spread to the monasteries of the East, including Russian ones, where it was brought by the Archimandrite Dositheus of the Caves in the 12th century - ed. editions).
However, Agafya did not stay in the chapel monastery for long. Significant disagreements of religious views with the nuns of the chapel consent had an effect. Nevertheless, during her stay in the monastery, Agafya went through the rank of “covering”. This is what the chapels call monastic vows. Subsequently, Agafya also had her own novices, for example, a Muscovite who spent 5 years in the Lykovs' skete.
strict ascetic life Agafya Lykova, her spiritual exploits, including frequent, sometimes bold prayer. There were cases when, during summer garden or field work, black thunderclouds approached the zaimka. The novice offered Agafya to stop work and take refuge from the threatening bad weather. Agafya answered this: “Go mow, am I praying in vain or something?” And indeed, the cloud receded from the skete lands.
Once women gathered for a long time in the taiga to collect cones. Suddenly, not far from the place of their parking, a strong crunch was heard - a bear was walking nearby in the forest. The beast walked and sniffed around all day, despite the fire and the blows to the metal utensils. Agafya, having prayed by heart the canons to the Mother of God and Nicholas the Wonderworker, finished them with the words: “Well, are you listening to the Lord, or something, it’s time for you to leave already.” As a result, the danger has passed.
At one time, a wolf strayed to the Lykovs' home. He lived in Agafya's garden for several months and even fed himself potatoes and everything else that the hermit gave him. Agafya does not have the fear of the taiga, forest animals and loneliness that is habitual for city dwellers. If you ask her if it’s not scary to live in such a wilderness alone, she replies:
“I am not alone, - and the icon of the Virgin from his bosom gets out. “I have a three-handed helper.”
In 2000, Agafya Lykova was presented with books by an Old Believer bishop Arseny of Ural(Shvetsova), dedicated to the apology of the Old Believer Church and the Old Believer hierarchy. She carefully read them, according to eyewitnesses, making notes and underlining.
Agafya continues during these years to correspond with Moscow Metropolis of the Russian Orthodox Old Believer Church. In one of her letters to the Primate of the Church (Titov), she writes that her ancestors recognized the church hierarchy and prayed with the priests, who were later tortured to death during the persecution of the Old Believers by "fierce torments."
She also studied the life and exploits of the Old Believer Metropolitan Ambrose Belokrinitsky and was absolutely convinced of the truth and Orthodoxy of the Belokrinitsky hierarchy founded by him. At present, she asks to complete her baptism, confess and partake of the Holy Mysteries of Christ
Agafya Lykova and the Russian Orthodox Church
In November 2011, with the blessing of Metropolitan Kornily, the rector of the Old Believer church in Orenburg, Fr. Volodymyr Goshkoderya. Despite the fact that Lykova had many clerics, including New Believers, visiting this place, the Old Believer priest visited this place for the first time. Within a few days of staying with Agafya, Fr. Vladimir performed the sacrament of confession, completed the baptism according to the order of acceptance from the bezpopovtsy and communed her with the Holy Mysteries of Christ.
In April 2014 Agafya Lykova Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church Old Believer Metropolitan Cornelius (Titov). On April 8, 2014, Vladyka arrived in the city of Gorno-Altaisk, where he visited the local Old Believer community at the Church of the Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God. On April 9, by helicopter, together with the spiritual father of Agafia Lykova, the priest Volodymyr Goshkoderya and priest Evagriem(Podmazov), the Metropolitan arrived on the banks of the Erinat River, where the Lykov family had a shelter.
Photos by Agafya Lykova
Interestingly, the holy monk Evagrius, who accompanied the Metropolitan, was himself a native of these places and about 10 years ago joined the Russian Orthodox Old Believer Church by chapel consent. Vladyka presented Agafya with a copper icon of St. St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, cast according to old models, facsimile editions of the books “Grigor’s Vision” and “The Passion of Christ”, beloved in the Old Believers, as well as a lot of clothes and other necessary things.
Waiting for the guests, the hostess of the forest shelter spread colored rugs on the floor of the house, baked bread in a Russian oven, and cooked compote from taiga berries. Already saying goodbye, at the helicopter, Agafya handed the metropolitan a branch of willow and invited him to visit the Lykovs' estate next year.
Upon learning of the accession of Agafya Lykova to the Russian Orthodox Church, the priestless mentors tried to dissuade her and frightened her in every possible way. Even the famous chapel mentor Zaitsev came to Erinat, who convinced her of the fallacy of the step taken: “ Why did you become a church?! What did you do anyway? Whom did you take in?"In the same tone, the abbess of the monastery Maximilla wrote:" Why did you even accept someone there, everything, cover, leave from there, come to us».
Nevertheless, Agafya not only did not succumb to these persuasions, but became even more strengthened in her rightness. Such are the Lykovs - having once made a decision, they do not go backwards. Talking about the disputes with the Bespopovites, Agafya says:
“If the priesthood ceased, was interrupted, then the age would have ceased long ago. Thunder would have struck, and we would not have been in this world. The priesthood will be until the very last Second Coming of Christ.”
Afterword
So, Agafya Lykova today is the most popular person in the media Old Believer world. It is well known outside of the Old Believers themselves. Surprisingly, none of the modern Old Believer hierarchs, clerics, theologians and publicists could have such a strong influence on the information space as a lonely hermit from the banks of Abakan.
The image of Lykova is already inextricably linked with the Old Believers themselves. We can say that Lykova, in the eyes of our compatriots, involuntarily became one of the symbols of the Old Believer ecumene, and her bright, specific traits associated in general with all the Old Believers. On the one hand, this is an endless firmness of spirit, amazing endurance, patience, the ability to survive in the most difficult, most extreme conditions. Here and unconditional standing for the Faith, the willingness to suffer for their beliefs. We see in this guise an inquisitive mind, resourcefulness, a keen interest in the fate of the universe, the ability to get along with nature and traditional Russian hospitality.
On the other hand, there are people who reproach that certain features of the life of Agafya Lykova slightly dampened the image of the Old Believers in the eyes of contemporaries. This is isolationism, wildness, spiritual conservatism, following outdated, primitive household technologies and customs. " We live in a lasa, we pray to a stroller”, - this is how some metropolitan authors sometimes speak of the Old Believers, pointing to Lykova.
They object: history knows not only the fleeing and hiding Old Believers, but also the advancing enlightened, passionate. This is the Old Believers of industrialists and patrons, writers and philanthropists, collectors and discoverers. Undoubtedly, all this is so!
But in order to prove this, it is not enough to refer to the example of ancestors who now lived in the ever more distant XIX-XX centuries. The Old Believers should already today, now generate new ideas, set an example of living faith and active participation in the life of the country. As for the unique experience of Agafya Lykova and other Old Believers hiding from the temptations of this world in the forests and clefts of the earth, it will never be superfluous.
The achievements of civilization are always ephemeral, and Christians, as no one knows, that its history is not only extremely changeable, but also finite.
Agafya Lykova now lives alone in the zaimka - her neighbor Yerofei Sedov has died. This was told by the hostess of the zaimka to specialists who examined the soil and water of the territory after the launch of the rocket from Baikonur.
The information was also confirmed in the Khakassky nature reserve, to which this hard-to-reach area belongs. There is no direct connection between the inhabitants of the zaimka and the Khakassky nature reserve. Therefore, while the details are at least - specialists of the reserve have already left for the zaimka. They will be joined by the police officers of the Tashtyp district, which serves the station. As soon as everyone at the lodge is examined, the hermit is questioned, the police will already give some more detailed information.
He lacked communication
But, most likely, there is no crime in the death of a hermit - Erofei Sazontievich Sedov was under 80 years old. Living conditions - taiga.
He worked as a master driller in the expedition of geologists who discovered the Lykov family, and then took patronage over it. After his leg was taken away due to developed gangrene, Sedov moved to Agafya's estate. It was about twenty years ago. As he confessed to reporters:
I'm used to living in the taiga. I feel at home here...
The small hut of Yerofey is located 100 meters from Agafya's house. Sedov's housing is at the foot of the mountain, at Lykova's - at the top. This distance, inaccessible to Yerofey (well, where will he jump on his prosthesis along a steep path?) Agafya easily overcame.
Sedov's son, who lives in Tashtagol (Kemerovo region), gave him a radio receiver - the only entertainment in the Lykovs' estate. Sometimes Agafya came to listen last news. Erofey explained what she did not understand.
From time to time his son came to Yerofey. Recall that you can get there only by helicopter or by boat on the river.
All visitors were greeted by both. Agafya brushed aside the newspapers she brought, but Yerofey rejoiced. At the same time, he asked:
What newspaper are you from?
From Komsomolskaya Pravda.
This is the best newspaper ever! I have been reading it since I was young.
As colleagues from other publications said, he met everyone with a declaration of love to their newspaper.
He, of course, lacked communication. And he tried to interest his interlocutors in something, who were more interested in Agafya's life, and not him.
Life will show what use the landlady of Sedova will find for housing. Maybe someone would like to brighten up the life of a taiga hermit who Lately asks for an assistant.
"Last time I saw my father in great post he looked tired"
We got through to the son of Erofei Sedov, Nikolai Erofeevich. He said that his father had an “extreme” (for some reason he deliberately avoided the word “last”) time before Easter.
It was just a passionate week, - says Nikolai Sedov. The father looked very tired. He and Agafya Karpovna kept all the fasts. And not like many modern people do fast for diet. They did everything according to the canons, strictly. But he didn't get sick. They didn’t talk about anything special, just about the affairs of life. I was informed of his death five days ago. They said that everything happened on April 20, according to the old style. And according to the new, therefore, May 3. As soon as people appeared in the settlement area, Agafya Karpovna informed them about it. They have already reported further. I can’t say what happened there, my father was still advanced in age. Agafya Karpovna buried him herself. She did everything right. The man died, and it's warm outside. Was it really necessary to wait for the body to arrive? It is the duty of any person when people live at a distance: someone died, to bury him. As soon as the opportunity arises (the distance, as you understand, is large), I will definitely go to my father's grave.
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Neighbor Agafya Lykova Yerofey: “She is such a person ... long-suffering!”
At the capture of the Old Believers-hermits, the Lykovs, they "threw" another package - cereals, animal feed, warm clothes. "Present" for the winter from the governor of the Kemerovo region Aman Tuleyev, he has long been "patronizing" the last of the Lykov family, 69-year-old Agafya, and the same hermit Yerofey Sedov living next door. ()
Agafya Lykova thanked people with prayers for the parcel
In the afternoon at the Lykovs' lodge, where the humanitarian cargo for Agafya arrived, it was -2 °C. Winter in the Western Sayan, in the very "taiga dead end" where the hermit lives, turned out to be warm. Crystal-white snow, impenetrable taiga hiding a hermit's hut on the bank of the Yerenat River, and… silence, which was suddenly broken by the rumble of helicopter propellers. It was MI-8 of the EMERCOM of Russia who brought Agafya Karpovna a gift “from the mainland” of 200 kilograms ... The package contains feed for livestock, medicines and provisions. ()
Agafya Lykova: “A big and great petition to you ...”
The other day, Vladimir Pavlovsky, editor of the Krasnoyarsk Rabochy newspaper, received a letter with such a strange return address: “The Erinat River, a monastery in the name of Holy Mother of God Three-handed". It turned out that this is the famous hermit, 68-year-old Agafya Lykova (she lives in Khakassia, the nearest village of Mrassu is 120 km from the impassable taiga) with an "opportunity" handed over a letter to her long-time friend, who came to her more than once in the taiga. ()
“Agafya Lykova just exclaimed “oh-oh-oh-oh” when she saw Vasily Peskov!”
It was Vasily Peskov who told the world about the unique Lykov family of Old Believers who hid from civilization in the Sayan taiga in 1938. For the first time, Vasily Mikhailovich came to Agafya in 1982 and since then he has not forgotten his heroes, he often visited, always with gifts, delicacies, and medicines. His documentary story The Taiga Dead End about the life of the Khakass Robinsons enjoyed crazy popularity, was republished, and was translated into several languages. ()
There was a man who was ready to go to the "taiga dead end" to save Agafya Lykova The words "Taiga dead end" need no explanation. Few people who read newspapers do not know that we are talking about the fate of the Lykovs. For the first time, Komsomolskaya Pravda spoke about the taiga “find” of geologists in 1982. Interest in a small documentary story was huge. Still, it was about a family that had lived in isolation from people for more than thirty years. And not somewhere in the south, but in Siberia, in the taiga. Everything was interesting - the circumstances that led to the exceptional “Robinsonade”, diligence, the solidarity of people in the struggle for existence, resourcefulness and skill, and, of course, religious faith, which caused a dead end in life, but also served as a support for people in extraordinary, exceptional circumstances. It was not easy in 1982 to collect information about everything that happened. Something was not agreed, the Lykovs simply preferred to remain silent about something, still not fully trusting people from the “world”, something in the confused inconsistent story was simply difficult to understand. And how can you verify what you hear? I had to ask in detail the geologists, who already knew the Lykovs well, to compare, compare. It was even more difficult to publish the narrative. 1982 There was no voice. How to tell in a youth newspaper about the hermits of the Old Believers, without falling into "anti-religious revelations"? The only true thing was, by showing the drama of people, to admire their resilience, to evoke a feeling of compassion and mercy. So the story of the Lykovs is set out ().
After a letter from the hermit with a request for help appeared in the press, a 37-year-old man called the reserve and said that he was ready to come to the zaimka. It’s not so easy to find an assistant, he must also be of the same faith with Agafya, otherwise they definitely won’t get along together. Zaimka Lykova is not just a castle, but practically a monastery, where she is her own mistress. ()
Vasily Mikhailovich Peskov. Taiga dead end
The words "Taiga dead end" need no explanation. Few people who read newspapers do not know that we are talking about the fate of the Lykovs. For the first time, Komsomolskaya Pravda spoke about the taiga “find” of geologists in 1982. Interest in a small documentary story was huge. Still, it was about a family that had lived in isolation from people for more than thirty years. And not somewhere in the south, but in Siberia, in the taiga. Everything was interesting - the circumstances that led to the exceptional “Robinsonade”, diligence, the solidarity of people in the struggle for existence, resourcefulness and skill, and, of course, religious faith, which caused a dead end in life, but also served as a support for people in extraordinary, exceptional circumstances.
It was not easy in 1982 to collect information about everything that happened. Something was not agreed, the Lykovs simply preferred to remain silent about something, still not fully trusting people from the “world”, something in the confused inconsistent story was simply difficult to understand. And how can you verify what you hear? I had to ask in detail the geologists, who already knew the Lykovs well, to compare, compare.
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