An ordinary electrician from Kirovograd has accumulated treasures worth a billion dollars. "Dragon Syndrome": the real story of Ilyin's mysterious collection Komsomolskaya Pravda about Ilyin's collection

Passions around the so-called "Ilyin's collection", both legendary and unique, have not subsided so far. Recently, journalists have been calling her nothing more than “cursed” or “unclean”. For more than a decade, the controversy around this collection has not subsided. Disputants break spears on two main points. The first is where a modest electrician has a full attic of unique works of art. The second question is whether the find, which, at first glance, looks like ordinary rubbish, is really worth $40 billion and can be equated to the cost of 8 tons of gold.

So how did it all start?

In October 1993, a certain Alexander Borisovich Ilyin died quietly in Kirovograd. He lived, they say, modestly, worked as an electrician. The death of this man remained almost unnoticed by the general public. A modest funeral was quite consistent with the modest lifestyle led by an employee of the Kirovograd canteen trust. By the way, he was seen off on his last journey without the traditional funeral dinner. Rumor has it that he and his relatives lived in poverty. Considering that in the first years of independence, Ukraine was in crisis and poverty, it is not surprising that many buried the dead without the traditional wide commemoration for such an occasion.

However, for Kirovograd collectors, local historians, art historians, employees of museums and art galleries, this was a heavy loss. If only because Ilyin was known as a restorer and bookbinder of the highest class. But there was another side of his activity, about which he did not expand and which he did not advertise - a simple electrician was superbly versed in art and from time to time advised interested people on this issue.

When a very modest funeral took place and relatives began to examine the house in order to evaluate the property left behind, they found a blockage of things covered with cobwebs and dust in the attic. They began to disassemble - and gasped: completely old. In the attic of a dilapidated house on the outskirts of Kirovograd, in which an inconspicuous and low-income electrician lived, as many works of art were found as there are not in the funds of the Kirovograd Regional Museum and Regional Library. Where, by the way, is one of the most complete collections of unique book rarities in all of Ukraine.

Alexander Borisovich Ilyin and his collection became for some time the number one topic in the regional and metropolitan media. The all-Ukrainian newspaper The Day repeatedly returned to history with the collection. Even the Moscow Komsomolskaya Pravda wrote about him. It was then that a flurry of information fell upon the stunned public, the reliability of which was impossible to assess either then or today. In particular, there was a rumor that one of the rarities of the Ilyin collection is already at the largest auction in the world. Allegedly, the value of his collection is estimated at 40 billion US dollars, although in fact, of course, such a collection is priceless.

It should be borne in mind that these events took place in a half-starved and difficult time, when the smallest salaries amounted to millions of coupons and were not always paid. Almost every Ukrainian was a semi-poor millionaire. It is not surprising that the published figure of the estimated value of the hitherto unknown collection of Ilyin excited the imagination of journalists and turned the heads of the townsfolk. The amount of $40 billion was ten times the amount of Ukraine's external debt. If (theoretically) this collection could be sold, then every adult citizen of our country could get a little more than one thousand US dollars. Many Ukrainians at that time did not know what a hundred dollar bill looked like. And if this amount was the limit of desires and dizzy, then what can we say about the figure of 40 billion.

“Although the amount mentioned is overestimated, but still we are talking about billions of dollars. There is more than 200 kg of silver alone here. Note that not silver scrap, ingots or even coins - 200 kg of products of the most famous jewelry firms of the second half of the 19th and early 20th centuries: Faberge, Collins, Khlebnikov, Alekseev, ”the Kievskiye Vedomosti newspaper wrote in 1994.

Ten judicial executors were engaged in the inventory of property. More than five hundred bags of rarities were taken out on several trucks, and it lasted more than one day. Everyone who dismantled the collection worked in respirators. Each item was covered in finger-thick mud. Many specialists who sorted through the rubble of rarities almost got asthma: the airways were constantly clogged, people sneezed and coughed.

Here is how Pavel Bosy, who in 1993-1994 headed the Kirovograd Regional Museum of Local Lore, recalled Alexander Ilyin: “The fact that Ilyin collected rarities was indeed known to a rather narrow circle of people. But the electrician did not make a special secret of what he does. It's just that his hobby, in principle, passed by the attention of the public. The world of collectors is quite specific, and Ilyin was known in this world. Although no one really knew about the true volume of the collection he had collected. My colleague Vladimir Bosko, who, like all of us, had a remote idea of ​​the collection, divided all the “initiates” into “undergrowths” and “Cossacks”. "Podgrushniki" - those who sat in the yard under a pear tree, and "Cossacks" - those whom Ilyin allowed beyond the threshold of the house.

For those whom Ilyin allowed into the yard, he sometimes took out of the house and showed a certain item from his collection. But there were several “Cossacks”, I don’t really know how many there were, maybe five people, whom Alexander Borisovich sometimes let into the kitchen and carried something out to them. But in principle, no one had a complete idea of ​​the collection. Someone saw one book, someone saw another, someone saw some kind of order.

In Soviet times, Alexander Ilyin was robbed only once. The police found the thieves surprisingly quickly. Icons and ancient gold jewelry were confiscated from the criminals. Ilyin took the icons, but refused the gold. Said: "Not mine."

Alexander Ilyin did not leave a will. But there was not much else: an inventory of the collection, its systematization, no one even knew exactly what was included in it. Why didn't Ilyin leave an inventory and a will? Perhaps he didn’t want anyone to get all this at all. Local art historians ironically noted that, perhaps, he was going to live forever, otherwise how to explain that even the relatives of the deceased did not get the collection. Although many agree in one opinion: during his lifetime, Ilyin did not want his collection to become a museum collection and the property of the general public after his death. Or maybe he decided to leave us his collection as a huge mystery?

As Pavel Bosoy notes, Ilyin's collection was a collection of disparate, unsystematized items. All these treasures were kept in incredibly terrible conditions. For example, he had a chest with the most expensive books, apparently to his heart, on which he sat and even slept. But the books in it were covered in mold.

Those who spoke with the mysterious electrician recall that sometimes he himself forgot what he had, or could not find it. Sometimes he asked to bring some rare book from another city. And then, when the books had already been described by the commission, it became clear that there was already a copy of such a book. His storage of the collection had nothing to do with museum, library or archival storage. In the center of the house there was a room four meters by four meters, no windows - only doors on all sides. No one could enter it: it was very densely packed with books from floor to ceiling. In addition, there was also an outbuilding with an attic. Those who knew Alexander Ilyin got the impression that the deceased was more interested in the process of collecting itself than in enjoying these things later. He certainly had some things dear to him. But some items just lay in piles. Many of them were in very poor condition. Several icons and paintings returned to the local history museum from restoration only a few years later.

What did the electrician Ilyin hide in his house and in the attic?

A detailed study of his collection revealed several thousand books published in the period from the 16th to the 20th century. Among them - "Byzantine enamels from the collection of Zvenigorodsky" - a book that is considered one of the pinnacles of printing art. Only six hundred copies of this book were published, most of which have been lost. Its cover is made of pebbled leather embossed with pure gold. Even the bookmark is embroidered with gold and silver. Another pearl of the collection is the four volumes of "The Royal and Imperial Hunt in Rus'" illustrated by Repin, Surikov, Vasnetsov.

In addition, the collection of the Kirovograd electrician includes books by Ivan Fedorov, a set of Gospels dating back to the 16th century, manuscripts by Pushkin, Lermontov, Gogol, lifetime editions of Grushevsky and Vinnichenko. For their storage, by the way, in Soviet times it was possible to get a term. There are even mountains of parchment scrolls and a piece of papyrus. Alexander Chudnov, the head of the department of rare books of the Kirovograd Regional Library, told journalists about this: “The aerobatics of collecting! There are books with seals from different libraries, as well as with the ex-libris of the Mikhalkov family. The very ones where Sergei Mikhalkov is a famous writer, and Nikita and Andron are famous film directors. There is a gospel donated to the city by Empress Elizaveta Petrovna (the old name of Kirovograd is Elizavetgrad). Many exhibits under mysterious circumstances disappeared from city museums many years ago.”

Of the other finds, a large number of silver crosses, icons in silver frames with precious stones should be noted. Among them are the icon of the 16th century "Odegetria the Mother of God" in a frame with pearls, a silver ladle by the Ukrainian master of the 18th century Ivan Ravich, who worked only for the church, as well as the unique "Mazepa's ladle", which has become a true legend among lovers of antiquity.

The most valuable painting is a portrait of Catherine II in a hetman's attire by an unknown artist. And, of course, a lot of antique furniture. Mainly 18th century. It was damaged by a "bug", therefore it required restoration. However, like all the legacy of Ilyin.

On the second day of the work of the commission, silver was found in the estate, in a garbage heap. We are talking about silver items made by great masters, and their value is far from commensurate with the price of silver scrap. For example, a silver mug made by the aforementioned Ukrainian craftsman Ivan Ravich stood modestly on the closet among some small, completely worthless trinkets. By the way, the relatives who were present at the inventory of the “treasure” and tried to hide this or that antiquity as much as possible, and this mug was called a “souvenir”. But museum workers strictly followed everything that was happening, the mug was taken away and described very simply: “A mug in the baroque style of white metal.” It was not immediately recognized as a work of art. Only when Zhanna Arustamyan, an employee of the Museum of Historical Treasures, arrived from Klev, she looked at the mug and gasped: it was branded by the great Ukrainian jeweler of the early 18th century, Ivan Ravich.

By that time, museum workers already knew a small mug that Ravich made - it is now stored in Chernihiv, in the historical museum. But this one turned out to be much larger, more complex artwork and very expressive form. According to experts, this item can be considered almost the most valuable item from the subject, non-book part of the Ilyin collection, which is currently in state ownership. By the way, some suggested that the mug could belong to Peter I. On the body - a circle topped with the so-called "old royal" heraldic crown. This emblem was used mainly until 1721, when Peter proclaimed himself emperor. And the monogram "VS / PL" (or "VS / PA") can mean "Great Autocrat Peter Alekseevich." This has not been proven. But, nevertheless, it is proved that the mug was made by a great jeweler.

The nephews of Alexander Ilyin lived in the same house, where the priceless collection was kept. No one even entered their room during the inventory of the collection. The commission worked only in those premises where they allowed. It was not always possible to establish with absolute certainty what belonged to the nephews and what belonged to Ilyin. For example, there was a collection of weapons in the house. But many of those who knew the collector knew very well that he could not stand weapons. At the same time, the nephew was collecting weapons and he had the appropriate permit. Naturally, no one touched this collection of weapons with a finger.

All things were sealed in bags - under the seal of bailiffs, everything that was placed in bags, these bags themselves, was described, and their number was also indicated. Everything collected in the house first entered the state archive. Then the exported items of museum significance were deposited in the regional museum of local lore, and Ilyin's library - books, manuscripts, documents - in the regional library named after Chizhevsky. Naturally, along with statements and inventories. Special working groups worked with all this property, which included bailiffs and experts - museum workers and librarians.

Until now, it remains a mystery how all this "good" got into the attic of an ordinary modest electrician. Antique paintings, silver ladles and icons do not lie on the street. None of the experts doubts that these things were previously kept in some other collections.

The personality of Ilyin himself is also covered with a halo of mystery. According to one rumor, he was known as an excellent restorer. He did not take money for his work - customers paid him with valuable gifts. According to other, unconfirmed reports, priests from nearby churches demolished Ilyin for storage of precious icons and other utensils at a time when churches were closed by order of the authorities.

There was even a legend that Ilyin was able to collect the fundamental principle of the collection, being the commandant of Leningrad during the war. But, firstly, he was never a commandant, and secondly, he was not in Leningrad. Although during the war a lot of items from museums and libraries really could fall into private hands.

According to another version, Ilyin's collection was collected by three generations. Figuratively speaking, its first layer was made up of the Rimsky-Korsakov family heirlooms, which Ilyina's mother, who came from this ancient noble family, was able to save. The second layer - items collected by the father of Alexander Ilyin and taken out of Germany after the war by his uncle. The third layer - collected by Alexander Borisovich himself and, perhaps, partly by his nephew, also a collector. The fundamental part of the collection could be valuables from the noble estates around Rybinsk, confiscated in 1918 during the Antonov rebellion, in the suppression of which Alexander Ilyin's father allegedly took part. According to some reports, the estate of the Mikhalkovs, the ancestors of today's most famous film director Nikita Mikhalkov, was plundered at the same time. This version left a certain bloody imprint on Ilyin's collection and gave rise to a legend about a curse lying on it.

It was also said that Ilyin was known in Kirovograd as a millionaire collector who was guarded by the KGB. This is due to the fact that there were really few collectors of this magnitude. And the impression was created that the authorities did not touch him, and to some extent, maybe even took care of him. Allegedly, the "authorities" managed to keep the property confiscated after the revolution in the richest estates of landowners and merchants in the south of Ukraine. The Chekists sent gold and jewelry to the disposal of the central authorities, and antiques were stored in special funds on the ground, increasing the amount mined decade after decade. Experienced specialists were involved in the compilation of such funds, which explains the uniquely diverse and qualitative composition of the collection. It is unlikely that it will be possible to find the “gold of the party”, but it is possible that something from the “antiques of the Cheka” was found in Kirovograd.

Although, according to the assumption of some researchers, there could be another “intercession” - from the side of the church. Ilyin restored books, icons for churches, and the patriarch served on the gospels he restored.

The criminal world did not touch him either. There is evidence that Alexander Borisovich set up a warehouse and transshipment base for stolen museum valuables in his attic. And these values ​​were secretly brought to him by directors of museums, cashing in on the exhibits. They even say that Ilyin guarded a kind of thieves' common fund. However, this rumor is perhaps the most incredible. During his more than thirty years of life in Kirovograd, the electrician Ilyin has never come into conflict with the law.

According to Pavel Bosoy, in the sixties of the last century in our country there was a time when many antiques were thrown away “as unnecessary” - they could also be found in a landfill. People got apartments - they threw away old furniture, and Ilyin also collected it. He went to old grandmothers, begged for something, exchanged - this is something that he did not hide.

But much about him remained a mystery. And this concerns not only the origin of the collection, but also the biography of Alexander Ilyin himself. Even the date of his birth in different documents is different. Information about the parents is scarce and contradictory. Father - a revolutionary proletarian, who became the head of the Rybinsk oil and fat plant. Mother - a noblewoman from the Rimsky-Korsakov family. Moscow student and fatally handsome Sasha Ilyin was once arrested for robbery, according to the court sentence he received three years, but he was released four months later.

When the Great Patriotic War began, Ilyin was 20 years old. He was healthy and fit for military service, but for some reason he did not get to the front. What he did is unknown. In 1943, a document was sent to him from Moscow with a proposal to be restored to study at the institute. But for some reason he refused, and after the war, rather strangely, he changed his place of residence to Ukrainian Kirovohrad. It is interesting that in the work book of Alexander Ilyin from 1946 to 1960 there is a gap. That is, for a decade and a half he was not listed anywhere and did not work. And this was at a time when there was an article “for parasitism” in the criminal code.

His photographs have been preserved, where he is depicted together with the servants of the Klevo-Pechersk Lavra. According to one version, at that time he could have been a monk or a novice in a monastery. And then the Lavra was closed and the library with it, too. However, this does not mean that the funds have gone nowhere. Of course, most of the treasures of monasteries and churches went to state funds. But perhaps not all. It is possible that many items from the Klevo-Pechersk Lavra ended up in the collection of Alexander Ilyin.

Shortly after the death of the collector, a rather strange story happened. A book from Ilyin's collection appeared in the Kirovograd bookstore "Bookinist". This was proved, because in the regional library, in the department of rare books, there was a photocopy of this book - Alexander Borisovich at one time allowed it to be copied. The book had pencil inscriptions in the margins, which made it possible to identify it as a book from the Ilyin collection. This fact became proof that the thing belonging to the deceased went on sale before the expiration of the six months prescribed by law from the date of death. At the same time, rumors spread around Kirovograd about the export of rarities already accepted for storage from this collection abroad and for “most loyal donation” to the first persons of the state.

Then a letter was written addressed to the representative of the President of Ukraine in the Kirovograd region N. Sukhomlin and the chairman of the regional council of people's deputies V. Dolinyak. It was signed by the then director of the regional library Lidia Demegtsenko and Pavel Bosoy. The letter expressed concern that Ilyin's collection - a national treasure of unknown value at that time - might go to private hands and contained a request to do everything possible so that this treasure remained in Kirovograd. The President's representative (that's how the governors were called then) instructed the department of justice of the regional state administration, after which, accordingly, there was a court decision and the bailiffs arrested the collection. Thus, the collection of Alexander Ilyin was saved.

Who really was Alexander Ilyin? A collector, thanks to whom unique antiques were preserved, or a buyer and hider of stolen goods? And where did he get the treasures, the value of which is estimated at billions of dollars? There are plenty of assumptions and conjectures in this regard. But will there ever be unambiguous answers to these questions? It seems unlikely. Alexander Ilyin died without leaving a will or any documents or records concerning his collection. So the mystery of his unique collection is likely to remain unsolved.

The prototype of Alexander Nilin / Anatoly Avdeev - - became Alexander Ilyin. For those around him, he was a simple, inconspicuous electrician from Kirovograd. In narrow circles, he was known as a skilled restorer of antiquities and bookbinder. Ilyin's past is shrouded in darkness. For some reason, he left Moscow and settled in Kirovograd. From 1946 to 1960 there is a gap in the book. And this was in those years when they were imprisoned for parasitism! Only in 1960 Ilyin got a job as an electrician. At the same time, he traveled a lot around the Soviet Union, returning with large suitcases. All these years, bandits and thieves miraculously bypassed his house ... Alexander Borisovich died on October 22, 1993 at the age of 72 from a stroke. And already in winter, valuable books with the stamp "Collection of Ilyin" were found in the local second-hand bookstore. Ilyin's relatives decided to sell part of the treasure... Ukrainian special forces entered Ilyin's house, where the most valuable works of art were found. Their number and value were amazing. Experts valued the treasures at BILLIONS OF DOLLARS!. Among the exhibits were: the rarest Byzantine mosaics, 70 thousand rare books (including the manuscripts of Pushkin and Gogol, the personal Bible of Catherine II, the unique Ostroh Bible of the 16th century, the “Naval Charter” and the “Military Charter” of Peter I), the icon of the Mother of God Hodegetria of the end XVI century, a collection of engravings by the English artist William Hogarth, cutlery by Faberge, a silver mug by I. Ravich, which belonged to Peter I, archaeological finds of the Stone Age, Ancient Egypt and antiquity. On July 19, 1994, by special order of the Representative of the President of Ukraine in Kirovograd M. O. Sukhomlin, the Ilyin collection was transferred: the subject part of the collection to the funds of the Kirovograd Regional Museum of Local Lore, the book part of the collection - to the funds of the Kirovograd Regional Library named after Chizhevsky. However, according to some sources, not all values ​​were transferred to the state. In addition, some valuables began to disappear from museums ... Many of the missing rarities have not been found so far ... Where a simple electrician ended up with multibillion-dollar treasures is not known. One of the versions is that Ilyin inherited part of the collection from his ancestors. But where did the rest come from? Another - Ilyin collaborated with the underworld. But there is no evidence of involvement, and antiquities are of no use to the thieves' world. And, finally, according to the third version (described in the film) - Ilyin was the keeper of valuables requisitioned in different years and hidden by high-ranking officials of the Central Committee. Hence, such a diverse composition of the exhibits. But this is also impossible to prove... * *Based on the article by Sergei Ilyenko "Unclean Force. The Mystery of Kirovograd Collector Ilyin" and the documentary "In Search of Truth. The Curse of Ilyin's Collection".

I don’t know where to start, either with Alexander Ilyin, or with Nikita Mikhalkov. Let me start with Ilyin.
Today marks 20 years since the death of this owner of innumerable treasures, "a billionaire from Kirovograd in a quilted jacket and kirzach", Plyushkin and Gobsek of the world of antiques, and versions, scandals and gossip are multiplying around his amazing collection. One of them, connected with Nikita Mikhalkov, I want to tell.

"Portrait of A. Ilyin". V. Fedorov. Kirovograd, 1950s.

On October 22, 1993, seventy-two-year-old former electrician Alexander Ilyin died in his dilapidated house on the street of Urozhaynaya outskirts of Kirovograd, where the floors were rotten and the roof was leaking. He had no family, no friends either, and unloved nephews and several neighbors saw off the dead man on his last journey, marveling at the wretchedness of housing, littered with a lot of rubbish covered with dirt, dust and mold.

Vase. China. Porcelain. _ Portrait of Catherine II in hetman clothes. Late 18th century _ Silver altar cross. 1786 _ A silver mug made by I. Ravich, early 17th century. (presumably made as a gift to Peter I)

And in January 1994, this house was cordoned off by the riot police of the Kirovograd Central Internal Affairs Directorate, and for two weeks, day and night, ten bailiffs, in the presence of museum workers and under the supervision of SBU employees, described the property of the deceased. Which was then taken out by trucks for several days: sealed bags and boxes with old paintings and books, icons and weapons, engravings and utensils, furniture and figurines, and what was not there.
The collection even showed some marigolds, hairs and bones wrapped in signed papers. At first they did not understand what it was - then the invited priests explained that these were the relics of Orthodox martyrs (they were later transferred to the local Intercession Church).

Entire rooms are dedicated to the collection of Ilyin in the Kirovograd Regional Museum of Local Lore

As for the size of the collection, the information is contradictory (from "almost half a million items" to the vague "several tens of thousands"). But there are about 4 thousand items registered in the Kirovograd Regional Museum of Local Lore, where the subject part of the Ilyin collection was transferred. Not all exhibits are exhibited, but many of them are placed in cabinets of the 18th-19th centuries. from the same Ilyinsky house.

The book part of Ilyin's collection was transferred to the Kirovograd Universal Scientific Library. DI. Chizhevsky, and on its account is a little more than 7 thousand Ilyinsky books. But only about a third of them were ancient books, and there are a lot of modern church publications with dedicatory inscriptions to Ilyin from influential lords of the Russian Orthodox Church in the past.
Rare books, lifetime editions of the classics of Russian, Ukrainian and foreign literature and their manuscripts were of particular value to this unique collection. I won't list them all, I'll just focus on a few.

Gospel on parchment 1390-1410. Frame - boards covered with leather of the end of the 20th century. performed by Ilyin. He received it from some Moscow collector for the restoration of another rare edition - the history of France from Napoleon's personal library.
The Ostrog Bible is the first completed edition of the Bible in Church Slavonic, printed in Ostrog by the first printer Ivan Fedorov in 1581. Ilyin traded her in Odessa for several orders.

Lermontov's manuscript (the poem "The Demon"), and Griboedov's manuscript (the comedy "Woe from Wit").
Ilyin traded them in Leningrad immediately after the blockade was broken, in exchange for flour and food.

This is where I end about Ilyin (about him and his strange collection, and so tons of papers are written and kilometers of film are shot), and I turn to Nikita Mikhalkov.
The library in the Mikhalkov family estate in Petrovsky, Yaroslavl province, was one of the largest Russian private libraries, collected primarily by Vladimir Sergeevich Mikhalkov, the great-grandfather of the hymnographer Sergei Mikhalkov. Vladimir Mikhalkov bequeathed to donate his collection to the Academy of Sciences. The transfer of the most valuable books took place, but a significant part of the library remained in Petrovsky.
The last legal owner of the Petrovskoye estate and the family library was the son of Vladimir Mikhalkov, Sergei, who died in 1905 without leaving any children. Books from the Mikhalkovs' library (in the amount of about 6 thousand volumes) were transferred in 1915 by the widow of the deceased to the Rybinsk City Public Library, which was named after S.V. Mikhalkov.

Manor Mikhalkov Petrovskoe

How about a hundred books from the Mikhalkov family library ended up with Ilyin remains unknown, but when in 1994 they were transferred to the Kirovograd Library. Chizhevsky, they began to expect the visit of Nikita Mikhalkov. Moreover, there was already a precedent - in the September issue of Ogonyok for 1995, the story was described in detail, how Sergey and Nikita Mikhalkov tried to seize five icons from Yaroslavl museums that belonged to their ancestors, the nobles Mikhalkov from Petrovsky.
At that time museum workers and the public had difficulty in handing over the icons to Mikhalkov, the governor of Yaroslavl, and Kirovograd librarians, not without reason, expected a repetition of this story already in their city.
But Nikita Mikhalkov did not appear in Kirovograd - he appeared in Kyiv, and began to resolve this issue at a higher level. Where everyone refused him, because no one wanted an inevitable huge scandal for the whole of Ukraine.

.
Most of the stolen books were not unique, they belonged to the section “History of Russia”, and had stamps of V.S. Mikhalkov with an ex-libris “From the library of the village of Petrovsky of the Mikhalkov family”. Moreover, more rare books were not stolen - the thieves were clearly not interested in their material value, but in the presence of Mikhalkov's ex-libris on them.
The performers were never found, nor the customers, but some people are still sure that these books need to be looked for in only one place - in the Mikhalkov mansion near Moscow on Nikolina Gora.
Again, this is the version. There is also an opinion that stealing books is not a sin at all. Well, what do you think, could Nikita Mikhalkov be the customer of this unsolved theft? And if so, is it a sin? After all, these are not just books, but books that belonged to Mikhalkov's great-great-grandfather.

In October 1993 in Kirovograd in an unsightly house on the street. Harvest, 28 at the age of 73, the former electrician of the local canteen trust Alexander Ilyin died. A few months after his death, the house was cordoned off by police and SBU officers.

For almost a week, law enforcement officers, along with librarians and museum workers, took out boxes with old books, icons, church utensils, jewelry, porcelain, paintings, gold coins and crosses from the rooms, basement and attic. All these rarities became the property of the state and were transferred to the Kirovograd Museum of Local Lore and the Regional Library. Chizhevsky. Ilyin never married, and the nephews who lived with him were unable to defend their rights to their uncle's collection.

This incredible story, professionally recreated by the author of the project "In Search of Truth" Yevgeny Gorislavets and director Alexei Umansky, was shown by the STB channel on February 21 at 13.45. The documentary is called The Curse of the Ilyin Collection. At one time, the message about the collection of the collector became a sensation, which was reported not only by domestic, but also by foreign media.

Television people claim that the rarities of an unknown electrician who has been collecting them for 50 years have pulled in 40 billion dollars! And they can be understood: such figures, of course, will stun anyone. However, back in 1994, experts agreed that the amount of almost a billion dollars, which was quoted in the newspapers, was taken from the ceiling. Ilyin's collection is unique, but its scientific value exceeds its consumer value.

Protection of the Most Holy Theotokos and the Icon of St. Paraskeva. 1752

In fact, today museum workers cannot accurately determine the cost of this rare collection. Even the number of seized valuables, according to different sources, does not match. Some write about “more than 10 thousand rare and old editions”, others about “500 bags of antiques and 70 thousand volumes of rare books”, others mention “15-20 trucks on which the collection was taken out”.

Scene from Chinese history. Late 19th - early 20th century (Qin era)

Miroslava Egurnova, the head curator of the fund department of the Kirovograd Regional Museum of Local Lore, where the bulk of the rarities ended up, claims that 3,000 items are registered. However, no one questions the fact that this collection is one of the largest private collections in Europe, and its price ranges from 500 million to 1 billion dollars. One piece of silver is more than 200 kg, and we are talking about products of well-known jewelry companies of the second half XIX and early XX centuries: Faberge, Collins, Khlebnikov, Alekseev.

How did an ordinary, unremarkable person manage to collect such a fantastic amount of antiquities alone? The picture is dedicated to the answer to this question. STB has already got a hand in staging documentaries and, when reproducing Ilyin's biography, used the services of three actors of different ages (childhood, adulthood and old age). The actors portraying his parents also played their roles well, although some scenes with their participation seemed to me too intimate.

Antique pottery. End of the 5th-4th century. BC e.

The host is the well-known TV journalist Vyacheslav Garmash, who loves close-ups and, to be honest, knows how to present himself in the most advantageous angle, appears in the frame quite appropriately when the logic of events requires it. Successfully complements the perception and off-screen voice of Grigory Reshetnik.

Vyacheslav Garmash

It is a pity that the authors of the film did not manage to talk to Ilyin's nephews (for many years they flatly refuse to communicate with journalists). Because of this, some secrets of the underground billionaire remained undisclosed, and the operator removed his house only from the outside. Meanwhile, viewers would certainly be interested to see the conditions under which valuables were stored. The fact is that many museum workers who come into contact with his collection ended up in hospital beds. Some researchers see mysticism in this, they say, there is a curse on unique objects, others argue that the reason for everything is the dust and mold that people inhaled.

To some extent, the apparent lack of indoor shots is compensated by numerous interviews with collectors who knew Alexander Ilyin well. Ivan Anastasiev, Gennady Kirkevich and Vadim Orlenko, complementing each other, spoke about some of the features of his character. He did not invite anyone into the house and divided the visitors into two types: “undergrowths” (Ilyin talked with them in the yard under a pear tree) and “sleepers” (he let such people over the threshold into the kitchen).

For 50 years, the collector was robbed only once, and even then by visiting guest performers, in search of which the entire personnel of the local police was thrown. As a result, the thieves were found, but Ilyin recognized only the first edition of Dead Souls from what they had stolen, and refused the old gold jewelry, saying that “this is not his.”

In the interpretation of STB, the brainchild of Alexander Ilyin was assembled by three generations. His mother, a hereditary noblewoman Natalya Rimskaya-Korsakova, after the revolution, saved the family collection, thanks to the fact that she married a simple foundry worker Boris Nikolayevich, who not only duly appreciated the unique collection of his wife, but also increased it. In 1920, their son Alexander was born, whose natural ability to restore antiques was nurtured by his father. The fact that the son turned out to be much more enterprising than his parents is evidenced by the fact that he bought an Old Believer copy of the Bible by Ivan Fedorov for a thousand royal chervonets, which is less common in the book world than the original. Relatives did not speak to him for several months, fearing that the seller would inform the authorities about the strange buyer.

After graduating from school, in 1941 he entered the Moscow Archival Institute. When the war began, in exchange for a rare book, he received a doctor's opinion that he had blood cancer. In 1944, he was arrested for group theft from a food warehouse, but was not shot, but given 3 years, of which he served 3 months.

The STB film crew claims that such a strange "love" of the NKVD for the young man was explained by the fact that he became her secret expert in the search and examination of rarities. Later, the NKVD did not forget about him and used his qualifications for their own purposes, hence the “gold of the party” appeared.

From 1946 to 1960 there is a gap in his work book, but the television people found that from 1945 to 1961. he worked as a restorer in the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, where, as payment for his work, he received books from the Lavra library for personal use. Some publications generally endured under a hollow jersey. When the Lavra was closed, he came to his parents in Kirovograd. He allegedly took 2 containers of books and church utensils with him. He said that the monks themselves persuaded him to take everything away so that the atheists would not get anything.

In Kirovograd, he got a job as an electrician with a salary of 100 rubles. per month. He lived modestly, bought a trophy motorcycle, which he rode around the districts, checking electric meters, buying rare antiques left by people. He was a restorer of the highest qualification, and customers came to him from all over the Union. He took paintings, books, icons, etc. for work. That's how he assembled the collection.

By the way, the authors of the film had to work hard, since only a black-and-white photo of the underground billionaire remained from the archival materials. This shortcoming is filled with documentary chronicles of the 1920s and 1960s: about the destruction of Russian and Ukrainian churches, shots with the silhouette of a man walking into a flame raging on the horizon, stern men in the NKVD uniform, valuable exhibits stored in the regional library named after. Chizhevsky. Thanks to the dynamic editing, the picture looks like a fascinating detective story. True, I did not understand why its creators did not say a word about the fact that in September 2001 43 books from the Ilyin collection were stolen from the library.

The film ends meaningfully - with a message that Ivan Fedorov's Bible was sold at one of the foreign auctions for 0.5 million dollars, and no one knows how it got there: is it from the collection of a Kirovograd restorer? The reception, of course, is not new, but in this context it is quite appropriate, since it is not possible to fully reveal the secret of Ilyin, at least today.

From Polubotok to Ilyin

("Ukraine-Center", 1994 p., No. 4, 6, 7, 10)

In December, at one of the Western auctions, Ivan Fedorov's Bible was sold for half a million dollars. In this regard, Moscow conducted an audit of cash within the former Union of copies of the famous Bibles of the first printer. Someone remembered the Kirovograd pensioner. After all, Alexander Borisovich was known not only in scientific and museum circles. He was a member of the top leadership of the Orthodox Church...

The modest electrician was known to knowledgeable people in Kirovograd as well. Immediately after the death of the collector (October 22), the leaders of the Chizhevsky regional scientific library, the regional museum of local lore, as well as the people's deputy of Ukraine Vladimir Panchenko addressed (November 1) to the representative of the President in the region Nikolai Sukhomlin with a letter about the future of Ilyin's collection. On the same day, Sukhomlin gave appropriate orders to a number of officials, but ...

The situation turned out to be abnormal, and some officials considered it best not to hear these voices at all, but to ignore the instructions from above. Some near-commercial structures have already become interested in the collection. One of those who dared to speak aloud about the collection was threatened with physical violence. And some of Ilyin's books have already appeared in second-hand bookshops, and the regional library had to urgently look for sponsors to buy them...

Whether the Bible from the collections of Ilyin was sold at auction or it was a happy coincidence, there is no need to say. This is from the realm of conjecture and fantasy.

But this event, as well as the perseverance of the regional library and museum, the support from the first deputy head of the regional state administration Valery Repalo, in the end, two months after the first appeals to the administration, moved the stone off the ground.

By a court decision, about half a million items were seized from Ilyin's heritage. This is seven times more than in the regional museum of local lore. There is no need to talk about a qualitative comparison. Incomparable! On January 17, 1994, by order of the President's representative in the region, N. Sukhomlin, a scientific advisory commission was established to address issues related to the Ilyin collection. The main task of the commission is cataloging and evaluating the items of the collection, developing recommendations regarding its future fate. The regulation on the commission provides for the collegial nature of the work of the working groups describing the collection, and strict documentation. Therefore, with full observance of the provision on the commission, the leakage of collection material during its processing is excluded.

However, if the bus coupons are numbered, then the forms with which the commission works are not very strict accountability.

And publicity in the work of the commission is not enough. I think its leaders could hold a press conference on these and other issues. There is also a need to publish a catalog of Ilyin's collection.

This is worth mentioning, since many things came to Ilyin ... from museums and libraries. But this is a topic for a separate discussion.

Now the issue of finding several tens of millions of coupons for the commission's primary needs is being decided. Although this is a drop in the ocean of needs. Many ancient things, books, manuscripts are affected by shashel, fungal diseases. Huge money and skillful hands are needed just to stop their destruction. Even larger sums are needed for restoration work. But the issue is complicated by the fact that the unique collection is currently essentially ownerless.

The committee's voice on the future of the collection is only deliberative. In addition, there are no recommendations from the commission on the fate of Ilyin's legacy yet. So the final decision can be made either by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, or by the court. The unique collection, of course, can return to Ilyin's relatives. But this is unlikely.

***

And now let's continue talking about the collection itself.

Books must be readable. Works of art have a place in museums and galleries. This is what guided the initiators of the seizure of the Ilyin collection. An assembly of this rank can place Kirovograd on a scientific level with Kiev, Lvov, Odessa, Kharkov, Dnepropetrovsk. Ilyin's library can become a support for the creation of one of the best humanitarian universities in Ukraine in Kirovograd. So it's time to think about creating a financial fund for its restoration. If we want our children and grandchildren to receive a proper education without leaving the city, it is worth forking out to save the collection. The state, for obvious reasons, has no money. But Elisavetgrad has always been famous for patrons. These are the millionaire Lazar Brodsky, with whose money the Zlatopol gymnasium was built, the Braker family, which supported the best graduates of the real school, Pashutin and many others. By and large, the first Elisavetgrad tram was also built by patrons. It's time to open and make public the bank account of the Ilyin Library Saving Fund. But that's all in the future. And now... The inventory continues, and many more discoveries and finds await us, although today we can already say something about it.

In addition to books, Ilyin managed to collect unique works of art: paintings, for example, by French artists of the 18th century, a portrait of Catherine II by D. Levitsky. One of the greatest connoisseurs of creativity Levitsky N.M. Gershenzon-Chegodaeva wrote in 1964: “At present, the fate of most of these portraits (Catherine II - V.P.) is unknown.” Well, the Kirovograd find may clarify something. By the way, about the value of Ilyin's legacy. For two portraits of Catherine II, the treasury paid off Levitsky in 1773 a thousand rubles in gold. At that time, the royal chervonets contained 13.09 grams of Ch16 gold, or 12 grams of pure gold.

Ilyin's collection is not only paintings, it's icons, engravings, sculptures, antique bronzes and furniture, Chinese porcelain, other ancient dishes, ancient weapons, samovars, even stone axes. It took about five hundred large bags to seal all this. No more than ten are described per day. So how many secrets can there be? For example, they unsealed one of the bags and, among other things, discovered the first edition of Taras Shevchenko's Kobzar of 1840. Circulation - less than a thousand copies, known today - no more than a dozen. How much joy there was. But alas. If you believe the statement of Ilyin's nephews, this is a fake, or simply a fake.

The theme of Ilyin's collection is one of the central ones in behind-the-scenes conversations, at meetings of collectors in the Palace of Culture of Kompaniets, although Alexander Borisovich himself did not attend them. It's not his level. However, many old collectors knew him, sometimes communicated, remember, sometimes they tell some interesting details, touches to the portrait. But when I ask if it is possible to refer to them in the newspaper, they make round eyes ... Are they afraid? Whom? So far, the only one who did not wish to remain anonymous and agreed to an exclusive interview is Evgeny SAVCHENKO, Chairman of the Board of the City Collectors' Club.

- Ilyin knew for a long time. Learned a lot. The master is magnificent, - says Savchenko, - he could bring any thing from any material to mind. And if he already takes up some old book ... By the way, he also had a couple of my books "Myths of Classical Antiquity" of 1861 published by Shtol and the Gospel of the 18th century for restoration. Where are they? Who needs them now? He restored things and other people ...

Ilyin's erudition has always amazed me. He was a walking encyclopedia. I think I would put any of our associate professors-doctors into the belt in matters of history, literature, religion, art.

Now they are talking about the criminal flavor of his collection. However, knowing him, I do not believe in it. In the old days, collectors were hunted from time to time. They caught it. They attributed the buying and selling of precious metals, which was a state monopoly. Although collectors paid for the product much more than buying and museums.

- How to explain the origin of the hallmarks on books, dishes?

- Some of the museum relics could become ownerless during the war years. As for books, where are the books from the six old Elisavetgrad libraries and nine book depositories, the libraries of gymnasiums and colleges, churches, noble houses and estates? First, all this was expropriated, then written off and destroyed. In the regional library, not only old books, but even the times of Stalinism, the thaw, and stagnation are difficult to find. A lot of things came to Ilyin precisely from decommissioned, from waste paper. I do not think that at least one of his things or books taken out was wanted. So whether he saved books or ruined them is a moot point.

- A lot is left. The library has a rare book room...

- These are the remnants of former luxury, brought from all over the region ... I have been to Ilyin's house. There were no conditions for storing the collection. And in the museum? Former directors and employees plundered this museum as best they could. Where is the area to accommodate the collected Ilyin? The conversation should be about many hundreds of square meters. Therefore, Kyiv may also want to take part of the collection. If the collection is confiscated, then let it be in Kirovograd. In addition, why are Ilyin's nephews removed from compiling an inventory of her? Why didn't a single person from the city collectors' club get into this commission? Some of us by touch can distinguish a fake from the original, a rarity from consumer goods. Why do we need this secrecy when describing what has been exported, this behind-the-scenes? And who needed chaos during the withdrawal of the collection? After all, people do not know what they took away, how many bags. And for some valuable things made of gold and silver, a pocket would be enough ...

An old legal aphorism says: any legal definition is dangerous. On the one hand, the state has been plundered, but there are no laws to bring the perpetrators to justice. On the other hand, people have been living as a family for decades, collecting collections together. Looking after the old man to death. They bury him. Then someone comes, starts taking something, leaving something, and at the same time they say that they are saving an invaluable national treasure on a full legal basis.

The newspapers reported that Ilyin's collection was collected by three generations. Official researchers are now scrupulously studying the seized documents, letters, trying to confirm or refute this version. We have presented it as it is recorded in family traditions.

Boris Nikolayevich Ilyin, son of an early deceased handicraftsman who had a copper foundry workshop, primary education. Possibly several high school classes. Natalia Alexandrovich Rimskaya-Korsakova, hereditary noblewoman. She graduated from the Smolensk Mariinsky Gymnasium with a gold medal, knew four languages, played, sang. In 1914 she joined the economic department of the Moscow Commercial Institute. I have in my hands her grade book, student card.

The revolution made the impossible possible. In the city of Smolensk, a marriage was registered between a worker and an accountant, Natalia Rimskaya-Korsakova. The former noblewoman became the wife of a worker. The new proletarian class, moving to her husband made it possible to preserve many of the Rimsky-Korsakov family values, to protect them from expropriation and indemnities.

A young turner, an excellent self-taught mechanic, and even with his wife, with an almost higher economic education, quickly went up. It just so happened that he was sent to restore some small oil plant in Vyazma. Then there was a larger plant in Vitebsk, then a large plant in Odessa. In Vitebsk in 1933, much of the family's gold and silver was sold for groceries. But the books remained and even multiplied. Although there was a reverse movement. Once Boris Nikolaevich got hold of bran. In 1933 it was a delicacy. Natalia traded them for a beautiful Belgian gun. Boris passionately loved hunting. A little hungry, the gun is still serving. The war survived in Rybinsk. Three children adopted more orphans. Natalia Alexandrovna worked as an accountant, looked after the house.

And Vitebsk, and Odessa, and Rybinsk - ancient and rich cities - fertile for collecting. Books were preferred.

Well, after the war, Boris Nikolayevich was sent to Kirovograd to build a fat factory. The director was building a plant, and in the evenings he went to sort out the ruins in the district. After all, he himself also had to build ... An unfinished outbuilding made of this brick still stands on the estate ...

The second generation is children.

Alexander Borisovich failed to graduate from the Moscow Institute of Chemical Technology. The war interfered. He went to work as an electrician at a power plant. Due to health reasons, they did not take him into the army. After the war, he graduated from the Kirovograd Machine-Building College. But he did not run for positions. All his life he was an electrician in a zhek, a trust of canteens and restaurants. Work was not the main thing for him. From his father, he adopted many secrets of casting, chasing, the secrets of working with metal, knew chemistry and physics very well, mastered bookbinding and book restoration from old textbooks. Drew. Was fond of art. The meaning of his life were books, collections. He lived with her all his life: without a wife, without children.

The youngest daughter of Boris Nikolaevich, Tatyana, managed to graduate from the Moscow Institute of Chemical Technology. There she met and married Ivan Efimovich Podtelkov, who, after being wounded, was sent to the Moscow Military Law Academy. He graduated with a gold medal. He served in Germany, in the Far East. He occupied high positions, he could have taken the highest positions in the department, but, they say, there were breakdowns ...

Demobilized. Worked in court, advocacy, prosecutor's office. Tatyana Borisovna asked her husband to be on the waiting list for housing, but he refused. He was then an assistant prosecutor of our region for investigation. Gathering is a contagious disease. Tatyana Borisovna bought books, figurines, vases, silver things.

Third generation. grandchildren.

Irina and Andrey continued collecting.

The family of Tatyana Borisovna and her brother Alexander Borisovich Ilyin lived in their father's house together for 40 years. Irina and Andrei buried their parents, looked after their uncle Alexander Borisovich until his death on October 20, 1993. He, as indicated in the death certificate, died of atherosclerosis of cerebral vessels.

On December 31, 1993, the judge of the Kirov People's Court, Vladimir Ivanovich Yaroshenko, decided to seize and seize ownerless property, what is called the Ilyin collection and is tentatively estimated at several million dollars.

On February 21, 1994, the city prosecutor Vyacheslav Pavlovich Pilipenko recommended that Andrei Ivanovich write a statement that he did not object to the exhumation of Ilyin's body and an examination to establish the cause of death.

According to Andrey Ivanovich, the seizing party suspects him and his sister of killing the old man. Nephews, they say, cannot claim the property of the deceased, since they are not his direct relatives. But the prosecutor cannot dig up Ilyin's grave without their consent, as relatives. Even if someone suspects them of his death. They say it's the law.

The opinions expressed in the publications are the personal opinion of the author. (Editor's note "Ukraine Center").