Sergey Grigorievich Chavain

He is one of the founders of Mari literature, a writer, poet and playwright. He was born in 1888 in the village of Malye Karamasy, Morkinsky district.

His father, Grigory Mikhailov, was a peasant, tar distiller. Mother, Tatyana Anisimovna, was a gifted storyteller, she knew many folk tales and songs, to which she turned her son.

The father and grandfather of the future founder of Mari literature had the surname Strelkov, so Sergey graduated from school, being Strelkov. In 1904, on the advice of his teacher P.G. Grigoriev, Sergey entered Kazan Teachers' Seminary under the name Grigoriev. In the future, he take the pseudonym Chavainby the name of the hero Chavaya.

At the age of 17, he writes the poem "Oto" (Grove), it was translated into 45 languages of the world.

The classic novel "Elnet" and the historical drama of S.G. Chavain "Akpatyr" became atop of the oeuvre.

It would seem that nothing should have interfered with Chavain in his further activities and life. Together with Olyk Ipay and Shabdar Osyp, he wrote the epic poem "Chotkarnergenmuro" ("The Song of the Bogatyr Chotkar", 1936) and prepared the libretto for the first Mari opera. However, in 1937, dark clouds gathered over the poet beloved by the people. Since January, the whispering campaignhas begun. On May 25, Sergey Grigorievich returned from Moscow and was immediately arrested at the station.

On November 11, 1937, Sergey Chavainwas shot. Presumably, buried in the Mendur cemetery. He was rehabilitated in 1956. However, the date of death of the founder of Mari literature was kept secret for many years. Relatives were told that he died on October 16, 1942 in places of detention from cerebral hemorrhage. And only on the eve of the 100th anniversary of the birth of S. Chavain, the true date of death was made public.

In honor of his 90th birthday, on July 21, 1978, a sculpture was opened in the city center, at the intersection of Chavain Boulevard and Sovetskaya Street. Opening date is 1982.

The sculptural composition represents one-figure: a figure of a writer with a book in his hand on a granite pedestal.

The sculptor is Boris IvanovichDyuzhev,the architect is Pavel AlekseevichSamsonov.