It is hard to tell the age of the Russian language drama theater of Grozny: depends on what is to be taken for its birthday. A stage director who would do credit to the Russian theater, Yevgeny Vakhtangov, and his semi-professional company made their first stage productions in Grozny, in 1904. The people's commissar of education Anatoly Lunacharsky visited Grozny in the 20's, to see a stage version of his play "The poison." Grozny started growing rapidly in the 20's, due to the moves to upgrade oil production. Its population grew, from 1920 to 1925, from 45,000 to 60,000. The city felt a dire need for cultural facilities. Architect Larionov designed a cultural center that combined a school, a theater, and a convention hall. The city government passed a decision on the construction of a big movie theater. The groundworks for the new building were laid back in 1914. They were meant for an apartment house which would have belonged to oil producer Skhirtladze. The first theater of Grozny opened under the roof of that building at the end of 1928. The "Groznensky rabochy" newspaper announced its first production on January 29, 1929. The theater staged "The end of Krivorymsk," by playwright Romashev. The Russian language drama theater of Grozny opened under a decision of the council of people's commissars of the Chechen-Ingush Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, in 1938. In November, 1938, it came out with its first production, "The man with a shotgun," after a play by Nikolai Pogodin. "The chime of the Kremlin clock," also by Nikolai Pogodin, was chosen for its second production. Talented stage directors - M.Trofimovsky, I.Gurevich, V.Ignatov, V.Belov, Ye.Krasnitsky, A.Isayev, V.Gubin and N.Detsik - ran the theater. The theater was named after 19th century poet Mikhail Lermontov in 1941. It turned more than once to plays by that author: "The Spaniards" and "The Masquerade," to name but a few of them. The repertory of the Grozny drama theater ranged from classical to modern writings, from dramas to comedies and, of course, to plays for children. It reflected the most important landmarks in the history of Chechnya and the Soviet Union: "They woke up in the morning," after a play by Vasily Shukshin, "Three minutes of Martin Grow," after a play by Genrikh Borovik, and "All ages succumb to love," by G.Ryabkin. The theater staged many plays by Chechen authors: N.Murzayev, A.Bokov ("We'll be back, Nani,") A.Malsagov ("The payment.") It won the highest awards and diplomas of several all-Union and all-Russian drama competitions. In the years of World War II, concert teams of Grozny's Russian language theater paid many visits to the frontlines. The actors raised money for the construction of combat planes and got, for its contribution to the war effort, a letter of gratitude from the supreme commander-in-chief. Such celebrities as the people's artist of the Russian Federation V.Ogloblin, the merited artists of the Russian Federation and people's artists of the Chechen-Ingush Autonomy M.Slutskaya and I.Zhirnov, the merited artist of the Chechen-Ingush and North Ossetian Autonomies V.Panov, N.Chipizhenko, A.Mikhailushkin, S.Kholmsky, A.Tretyakov were members of the Russian language drama company of Grozny. The artistic careers of highly popular film and theater actors I.Smoktunovsky, S.Bondarchuk and L.Bronevoi began in that theater.The theater company and the city of Grozny as a whole are looking forward to peace and to a new chance to see the footlights glowing, the curtain rising and the stage coming back to life. (more...)

Famous Chechens
Public figures
Tashtemir Eldzhurkayevich Eldarkhanov (1870 -- 1934)

Educator, writer, member of the 1st and the 2nd State Dumas (1906-07) T.E.Eldarkhanov was a very prominent Chechen figure around last century's turn. Significantly, he felt responsible for entire Russia and Russian democracy as well as his mother people, the Chechens. His speeches in the legislature and articles in the press portray him as backer of political and economic unity with Russia of all ethnic and geographical entities in the North Caucasus. He believed all ethnic groups within the Russian Empire shared common problems, including how to adopt civilization, education and humane approach to fellow humans. T.Eldarkhanov was born on January 1st 1870 into a mid-holder peasant family in the village of Gekhi in Chechnya. He finished a Russian school in Grozny, a vocational school in Vladikavkaz and a teachers college in Tiphlis (Georgia). In Tiphlis, he experienced the formative influence of progressive-minded Russian and Georgian instructors and lecturers. Eldarkhanov saw his mission in bringing enlightenment and education to people. During his student years in Vladikavkaz and Tiphlis, he combed libraries and archives for samples of Chechen folklore. He translated several Chechen legends into Russian and published them in a collection of ethnographic articles about the Caucasus (out in 1900). In the 1890s, Eldarkhanov taught at schools in Maikop and Grozny. He compiled the first Chechen ABC book, publishing it in Tiphlis in 1911. Eldarkhanov's work as educator won him wide acclaim in the North Caucasus and a seat in the 1st State Duma in national elections in 1906. His speeches there castigated the Tzarist policy towards the Caucasus and stimulated the growth of ethnic self-awareness among highland peoples. "Honorable Deputies, -- he told the opening session -- I represent the small highland peoples of the Terek Region, the Ingushes, the Kabardins, the Osetians, the Chechens and the Kumyks. It's half a century now since we submitted to rule by Russia. Unfortunately, our hopes of finding rest, peace, prosperity and happiness under the aegis of this great empire have gone disastrously wrong. ... No wonder, there is plunder, robbery, murder and mayhem everywhere in the Caucasus, taking their toll on the highlanders themselves as well as Russians in neighbouring areas. ... The root cause of all this is a disastrous lack of education and unbearable economic hardship." In a speech at a Duma sitting on the 23rd of June 1906, Eldarkhanov showed great concern for ethnic peace between the highlanders and the Russians. He told the deputies the people in his constituency were strongly opposed to proposals to raise armed units in their areas for quelling anti-government protests in Russia. Eldarkhanov's vision and thinking showed their greatest in his speeches to the 2nd State Duma. Remarkably, he spoke about glaring inequalities in the land and wealth distribution across Russia as well as in the highland areas in the North Caucasus. Following the dissolution of the 2nd State Duma in 1907, Eldarkhanov went back to Grozny only to discover he was under an official ban to hold teaching positions in the Terek Region. He moved to Baku in Azerbaijan and taught at schools and colleges there up to the February Revolution in 1917. After the end of the Civil War in the North Caucasus in 1920, he was elected to head the Revolutionary Committee of Chechnya and then the Regional Executive Committee. Later on, he briefly worked with the North Caucasus provincial government in Rostov-on-Don (as curator of ethnic affairs) and then returned to Grozny in 1929 to take up a senior job with the state oil company GROZNEFT. Throughout his career, Tashtemir Eldarkhanov spared no effort to put into practice the noble ideas he preached.
(more about famous chechens...)

Issue 24
10.09.02

Chechen diary

10 September 2002  The Ethics of Sworn Brotherhood Relations by Edi Isaev

Famous Chechen writer and a historian Dr. Edi Isaev has completed the work on his monograph The Ethics of Sworn Brotherhood Relations. The book shows that this tradition existed among Vainakhs in ancient times. Edi Isaev has collected materials for the book for ten years. He referred to more than one thousand sources, including the documents in the state archives of Russian Federation and Chechnya. He used the documents on Russian-Chechen relations between the 17th and 19th centuries and works by Alexander Pushkin, Mikhail Lermontov and Lev Tolstoi. He also quotes statements by prominent Chechens, experts in traditions and culture of their people, political scientist, A. Avtorkhanov, dancer M. Esambaev, writer and A, Aidamirov. Edi Isaev believes that the book is interesting for Russian readers, mainly for residents in the North Caucasus and young Chechens. It gives useful information and covers centuries-long relations between Russians and on what the current relations are now based. The book contains no assessments by the author. It focuses on documents and sources in literature. It contains several parts that cover different historical periods. Concerning the last ten years the author says that various nationalities in Russia have helped residents in Chechnya and documents show that Russians and Chechen people desire to live in peace and harmony, and the latest events are only in the hands of terrorists and extremist groups. The book will be printed in two or three months. (more from Chechen diary)

09 September 2002  Chechen farmers provided republic with bread

Agriculture sector is among top performers in the Chechen economy. More than 35 thousand people are employed in the sector, which is 10 thousand more than last year. The branch is essential for the Chechens largely because more than 70 percent of the population is living in the countryside. Harvesting is winding up in the republic as some 350 thousand tons of grain have been already put in the barns, that is, 90 thousand tons more than in 2001. Such a reserve will provide the locals with amount of grain big enough to last through until the new harvest and keep the grain price at one of the lowest marks across Russia. All in all, the Chechen crop-growers have reaped a 153 thousand hectare total of grain. An average crop-yield across Chechnya has totaled 21,5 centner per hectare and even 39 centners in some districts. (more from Chechen diary)

09 September 2002  First steps of movie release in Chechnya

The Chechen state motion picture department has received 1 million rubles to purchase film and video production. Films copies have come from Russias Tula Region. The film Come Free with participation of Chechen famous actor Dogun Amaev was featured in Nadterek and Nozhai-Urt regions of the republic. Video cassettes rent center has opened in Shatoi region. Profits from renting will be included into the republics cinema budget. The funds will cover purchases of cinema and video equipment. Proper deals have been signed to deliver fixed video-complexes, armchairs for four cinema halls and 18 mobile cinema units. (more from Chechen diary)

08 September 2002  Chechen hospitals and clinics get new equipment

Chechen hospitals and clinics have received new equipment since January. Chechnya received more than 12 million rubles worth of three X-ray machines in June. This was an excellent prize for the doctors who marked the medical workers day. Russian Health Ministry gave Chechnya 20 million rubles to buy medicine in July. This money was used to buy 350 various kinds of essential medicine which are distributed among the hospitals and clinics. At present Chechnya has 103 ambulances and 42 intensive-care vehicles. This means that all hospitals have special vehicles to transport patients and give first aid. Chechnya has bought 90 million rubles worth of dressing, bedclothes and blankets for hospitals. According to Chechen Health Minister Uvais Magomadov, the republic has quite sufficient medical equipment and medicine to treat patients and carry out preventing measures. At present some hospitals in Chechnya are better equipped than that in several Russian regions. Truly, some of the equipment is still in stores owing to slow restoration work in hospitals and clinics. (more from Chechen diary)

Religion in Chechnya

Kunta-Khadzhi Kishiev the Chechen Mahatma Gandhi
(continuation)

The teaching of Kunta-Khadzhi Kishiev
* If you want to love Allah love justice.Wish your neighbour what you wish yourself.Never try to be richer, higher or stronger than others.Share with the poor everything God has sent you.Beware of the envious. Let them envy your knowledge, fairness and generosity.Pray to Allah that nothing earned with someone elses blood and sweat would get attached to you. This is an insurmountable obstacle towards tarikat.
* A war is preposterous. Distance yourselves from anything reminiscent of war, if the enemy has not come to take your faith and honour from you. Your power lies in your intelligence, patience and justice. The enemy will never stand up to this force and admit defeat sooner or later. No one can overpower you or your truth if you follow your faith with devotion.
* The Almighty wants murids to spend their time doing good, that is, repair roads and bridges, clean up springs, grow trees along the roads and build mosques.A murid has to visit bed-ridden people, show interest in the needs of the elderly, the orphans and all feeble and sickly and do all he can to help them. A murid has to do other things that God might approve of, such as reconcile spouses that have fallen out, return mothers to their children and restore families.
* Never respond to evil with evil, for it causes more evil. Any evil is against God. God alone has the power to punish the villains and pardon the benefactors. You will defeat the villains and violent by rejecting them, perfecting your souls and your Order. The clearer and more righteous the way you follow, the more difficult you will make it for villains and tyrants. They will succumb to the power of your truth, for they will feel that the Almighty is on your side. They will be defeated by God and your tarikat. Time is working for you, for it is working for justice.
* Dont carry weapons. Stay away from them. Weapons remind you of violence and take you off your path to God. The power of weapons is nothing as compared to the power of human beings that follow the path of God. Any weapons testify to lack of confidence that the Almighty will come to your rescue at the right moment. Besides, Eblis constantly sends your hand groping for the dagger or gun. You are becoming a victim of Eblis.
* Be hard-working. Dont shrink from the most difficult of work. He who doesnt earn his living lives at the expense of others. This is a sin, which equals to stealing. Learn to value and feel deep respect for every bread crumb, for this crumb is enough to feed a bird and an ant. You will save a soul made by God and none but Him is capable of creating even the smallest of being.Love the world created by its Great Maker and do all you can to preserve it. (in detail...) 

Chechen history

From conflict to stability

Scientists sharing their views on ways to normalize the situation in Chechen republic
Prominent Russian and foreign scientists have published a collection of articles looking at the Chechen conflict and suggesting ways to resolve it. The collection, called Chechnya: From Conflict to Stability, bases on the materials of the international scientific conference Chechnya: From Conflict to Accord that took place in Moscow in November 2000. The book was published by the Russian Academy of Sciences, the N.Miklukho-Maklai Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology and the Foundation for Humanitarian Assistance to Chechen republic. Opinions on the problem, which has become the tragedy and pain of both Chechen and Russian people in the past 10 years, differ, - begins his article Economic and Social Consequences of Chechen Conflict: Ways out of the Crisis Malik Saidullaev, a prominent Chechen public leader and businessman. Dan Smith from the Institute of Peace in Oslo offers his opinion in an article about armed conflicts. Research on economic and social issues encompasses an article by Candidate of Philosophy Vakhit Akaev about the state of modern Islamic trends in Chechnya, including the conflict between followers of traditional Islam and wahhabism. An article by Professor Igor Kosikov is devoted to the activity of federal center and local authorities to restore the economy and create the state apparatus of the Chechen republic. The head of the department in charge of the restoration of the education system of Chechen republic of the Russian Education Ministry Vasily Mizherikov examines the current state of education system in Chechnya. Other authors comprise eminent Russian scientists and public leaders Valery Tishkov, Dzhabrail Gakaev, Ander Yandarov, Galina Zaurbekova, Mansur Magomadov, Yavus Akhmadov, Musa Ovkhadov, Khasan Musalatov, German Khaskhanov, Shamil Beno, Ruslan Nashkhoev, Baudin Umalatov, Mikhail Khripkov. The book ends with 23 recommendations summing up the experts opinion as to what to do next to normalize the situation in Chechnya. They run as follows:
1. There has to be an expert analysis on all aspects of work to restore the economic, social, cultural and legal spheres of Chechen republic. The scientists propose setting up an expert council under the Russian Academy of Sciences, the North-Caucasian department of the ethnological monitoring Network.
2. Government authorities should coordinate their work with public organizations that want peace and stability for Chechnya.
3. The scientists recommend that the Russian government set up a monthly bulletin telling about financing and restoration work and the situation in the republic.
4. The news media should pay special attention to the ideological aspects of struggle against armed separatism, encourage peaceful sentiments among Chechens, dismantle anti-Chechen sentiments in the Russian society and provide international community with unbiased information on the situation in Chechnya.
5. Federal authorities should assure the nation, including Chechnya, that there can be no return to rebel rule in the republic and that the current process of establishing federal control of the Chechen republic is irreversible.
6-8. With a view to draw a maximum number of residents in the restoration process local administrations have to be shored up and taken under protection. Local authorities are capable of standing up to the militants and are important partners to power and civil administrations on the federal and republican levels. Village administrations should be given the right to regulate financial and material resources and while doing so report to republican authorities directly bypassing district administrations. Civil rule in the republic will thereby be restored. District leaders should be appointed on agreement with local administration leaders and guarantee the work of district law enforcement departments, health protection etc.
9. Its important to support private businesses and free non-governmental enterprises from taxes.
10. With a view to change public climate in the post-war period former participants in the conflict should now be united doing studies, work and sports together. An Association has to be set up to see to it that all people who suffered the trauma of war be taken good care of.
(in detail...) 

Copyright © CHECHNYA FREE.RU