Homemade cannons lined up on the lawn, a sculpture of a soldier on the roof, vigilantly examining visitors - it is impossible not to notice the military miniature located in front of Veniamin Somov’s house. The neat white estate of the Somovs is called “the house with guns.”
But the most amazing thing awaits guests behind the gate. A path entwined with wild grapes leads to a gingerbread house, behind the walls of which is hidden a real museum: here are hunting trophies - deer antlers and a stuffed bear's head, carefully hung herbs, photographs of ancestors yellowed with time, and countless author's sculptures.
Who is he, the owner of this home? Veniamin Ivanovich himself does not know where to classify himself. By occupation he is a military man, by profession he is a driver, and by vocation he is a sculptor, herbalist, hunter and beekeeper.
In 1944, as a 16-year-old boy, Veniamin Somov fled to the front, after the war he served in the troops of the MGB (USSR Ministry of State Security). Front-line service left an indelible mark, and upon returning to his native village, Veniamin Somov made it his life’s work to preserve the memory of those who died defending the Motherland. He decided to express his gratitude to his colleagues in stone.
At first he made small figures of Russian soldiers, and then moved on to monumental art - monuments. Having only 4 years of education, he created his creations on a whim, without drawings or sketches. He himself purchased concrete, granite and marble, forged reinforcement, and ordered equipment for installing the creations. It seems incredible, but over several decades, Veniamin Somov made almost two dozen monuments dedicated to participants in the hostilities. Almost all of them are installed on the picturesque hills of the village of Dalnee Konstantinovo.
Princely gift
Each person is born with his own talent and his own laziness,” Veniamin Somov thoughtfully begins the conversation. - You need talent and hammer a nail.
Somov is reluctant to talk about his talent. But having taken out an album with photographs of creations, he cannot resist commenting:
This is a monument to the Komsomol members of the region who gave their lives for their Motherland, erected for the 50th anniversary of the Komsomol. Here is a chapel in honor of the soldiers who died during the Second World War, right from this place the children were taken to the front. There is a monument to the soldiers of the Dalnekonstantinovsky region who died for the old and new Russia in 1914-1920. A monument to internationalist soldiers who died in Spain, a monument to those killed in the Finnish war, and, of course, to Afghans.
The author's imagination is amazing. Consider, for example, his composition dedicated to the victims of Stalin’s repressions: metal human hands in shackles, growing from the ground and as if calling out to the sky, and a bell swaying rhythmically in the wind. But the monument erected to participants in future wars and ethnic strife is especially impressive: a huge cross made of rails, standing alone in a field, decorated with metal rings - a real work of avant-garde art.
It’s scary to imagine that future generations will participate in wars,” says Somov. “But I feel the need to pay tribute to the courage of these unborn children.
And Veniamin Ivanovich is a lover of creations with secrets. Among its monuments are two monuments in which special sounding devices are walled up: a monument to those killed in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904 and a monument in honor of the victory over Japan in 1945.
Over time, under the influence of rain and snow, the concrete will crumble, and with a light breath of wind penetrating the concrete recesses, a gentle melodic sound will be heard across the hill, Veniamin Somov explains the secret.
But the village sculptor remembers his last work - a 6-meter statue of Alexander Nevsky, towering on a hill above the Ozerka River - with special pride.
A long time ago in Gorodets they collected money for the construction of a monument to Prince Nevsky. And I decided to donate the monument to my district without any fees. I worked on this monument for about a year. He assembled the sculpture from four concrete blocks in his workshop. To take them to the place, he hired a tractor, and to install the monument he had to order a crane. But now newlyweds and schoolchildren come to this monument.
The years take their toll, and, having created the last monumental creation, Somov moved from large forms to small ones. Near the house he installed concrete cannons - copies of artillery pieces from the Patriotic War of 1812. Another designer cannon, a working one, is located near the district administration building. Veniamin Somov annually fires ten shots from it in a salute in honor of Victory Day.
In the regional center, Somov is kindly called an eccentric. The 83-year-old veteran is not offended by the established name and even willingly agrees with the apt nickname.
After all, everyone in our family was eccentrics. But how talented! My grandfather, a craftsman, built wonderful houses. True, he was a bitter drunkard. It used to be that he would come home from his earnings in a three-room class in a woman’s shirt and malakhai and shout to his grandmother: “Pay!” So, I drank it all away. By the way, Somov immortalized his rich pedigree (the family preserved information about ancestors who lived in the 17th century!) in a memorial plaque, which he installed at the local cemetery.
By the way
Veniamin Somov talks about his other hobbies with no less pleasure.
Healing herbs, gifts of nature, which Veniamin Ivanovich was taught to use in everyday life by his grandmother, are an inexhaustible topic for conversation.
To the question “How do you heal?” Somov is perplexed:
Like what? Periodic table. Everything a person needs is in it: silver disinfects, iron relieves anemia, calcium strengthens bones, iodine treats the thyroid gland, salt controls the amount of fluid in the body. People have forgotten how to heal themselves with what nature provides, and indiscriminately swallow pills.
Meanwhile, the secret of longevity is simple: you need to live in harmony with nature. Find your favorite thing and your favorite person. My wife and I got married when we were 16 years old, and we have been together for almost 70 years. There are children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and even great-great-grandchildren! May God grant everyone to experience such happiness in their lifetime.
Our terrain is hilly, there are plenty of hilly mountains, they serve as good landmarks and give us picturesque panoramas from their tops, although not everyone likes to overcome the endless climbs of our hilly plain, which is very similar to a huge washboard.
Mountains also tell us a lot with their names.
For example, mountain-hill of the Balkans near the village of Borisovo-Pokrovskoye so named, most likely, by participants in the Russian-Turkish war of 1877-1878, who returned from the Balkans, where they defended the freedom of our brotherly Bulgaria. And the name of another local mountain is Sokolnaya- probably has more ancient origins. If Borisovo-Pokrovskoye was in the 14th century the possession of the Nizhny Novgorod Grand Duke Boris Konstantinovich, then was this not the place of princely hunts with falcons?
Mountain Krutukha near the village of Bolshoye Teryushevo - this name, of course, is explained by the peculiarity of the mountain (it’s quite steep!). Here's a place Cool in the forest near Dubki - here the steepness of the relief was only enough for such a diminutive name.
Bereznikovskaya mountain- this name is clear to the residents of the village of Surovatikha: from here New Berezniki looks like standing on a mountain.
With title Nagorny Lane in Dalniy Konstantinov, everyone agrees who goes from Vostochnaya Street to Sovetskaya Street along this lane - it is located on a mountain (on the slope of the Kermet River valley). It is curious that the lane was previously called Kuznechny, but the forge was no longer there, so it was named after another characteristic (natural) feature.
Available in our area Golden Mountain, so named either because of the treasures hidden in it, or because the local forests are burning with golden autumn leaves.
Thanks to an interesting historical source, a copy of which was made for the museum by local historian R. Kh. Tabolkina, we learned, in particular, ancient name Uleyka village - Ugornovo. The Russian settlement was once located “near the mountain”; it is still located here, but has long had a different name - Uleyka (from the inhabitants’ beekeeping occupation).
White Mountain, Red Mountain, Stone Mountain- and such (also Russian) names are found in our area, they come from some characteristic features of these heights. But here's the title Silisyat Mountain“We cannot yet explain in the vicinity of Migalikha. It is probably of Mordovian (Erzya) origin, that is, left over from the ancient population of these places. The similarity of the word “Silisyat” with the Mordovian male names Surovat, Murovat (which are present in the names of currently existing settlements).
A local historian-researcher cannot ignore the names of local hills. How sometimes it is impossible for a traveler to get around a mountain, even if it is steep. But going up means learning something new, achieving something. It’s not for nothing that there is an expression “going uphill” - to achieve success, grow in career, etc.
Nikolay GRYAZNOV,
district director
local history museum
For Veniamin Somov, his life’s work was preserving the memory of those who died defending their Motherland. It seems incredible, but a veteran from Nizhny Novgorod, managed to single-handedly erect 11 monuments in the vicinity of his village.
The pensioner forged the reinforcement himself and bought concrete with his own money. Having only 4 years of education, he created his monuments “on a whim,” without drawings or sketches.
Report by Yuri Chukhin.
After the cannon fires, Veniamin Somov sits down on a bench and rests. Once a month, he salutes at the monument in honor of the residents of the regional center who died in the Great Patriotic War with a gunpowder salvo from a homemade gun. However, the entire memorial was created by his hands. Like the other eleven monuments erected by Somov in the area of the village of Dalneye Konstantinovo, where the veteran lives.
Veniamin Somov: “There is a monument to the Afghans, the heroes of the Finnish war, the fallen drivers of our region. Next, there is a monument to the soldiers of the Japanese war of 904.”
It’s hard to believe, but Somov created all these huge monuments, five or six meters high, alone. He forged the reinforcement himself, the basis for future sculptures, bought concrete for pouring with his own money, and installed the monuments himself.
Now Somov is 82 years old. At the age of 16, he volunteered to go to war, and erected the first obelisk specifically for fellow countrymen who fought like him on the fronts.
Veniamin Somov: “We give these monuments as a tribute to the dead, so that they remember.”
Somov never had any projects, sketches, or drawings. The self-taught sculptor created monuments, rather, on a whim. An idea came, a new image was born, and he got to work. Here is a sword lying on the ground. Nearby there is an explanatory inscription: “For enemies of Russia.”
Veniamin Somov: “A sword to defend the Motherland. It’s written here: “For the enemies of Russia.”
The latest work of the village sculptor is a statue of Alexander Nevsky.
Veniamin Somov worked on the monument to Alexander Nevsky for about a year. He assembled the six-meter sculpture from four concrete blocks in his workshop. To bring them to the site, he hired a tractor, and to install the monument he had to order a crane.
But the years take their toll, and, having created a monument to the prince, Somov moved from large forms to small ones. Near the house he installed four concrete cannons: reconstructions of artillery guns from the Patriotic War of 1812. Village youth often come to see them.
Nastya Tkacheva: “Not in every district there is a person who can do this. We should be proud of such people. There are not many of them.”
However, obviously not everyone in Dalny Konstantinov is proud of the sculptor. Until recently, a bell hung near the obelisk. One night he disappeared, probably taken down by metal hunters. Now, instead of a bell, Somov rings a beater. It’s not the same sound at all, the veteran complains. And he hopes that this iron will not be removed either.
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