All That Remains

Tracing own family lineage back to 1667

- Yevgenia Volunkova

Seventy-eight-year-old Alexander Razeyev spent five years in the archives, piecing together the history of his native village, Maloye Ishutkino. He traced his own family lineage back to 1667 and then explored the family histories of the rest of the village’s current residents.

The retiree organized his findings into chapters and told the story of Maloye Ishutkino in the best literary language he knew. And then, at the end of 2019, he published The Village of Maloye Ishutkino and its Residents. He thought people would welcome his work. They did not.

Apparently, not everyone likes to reflect on the past, and many would simply prefer to close their eyes to their family history.

The Collective Farmer

Maloye Ishutkino, population 217, is a tiny Chuvash village in Samara Oblast. Before Alexander Lukich Razeyev* became interested in its history, there was basically no easily available information about it.

Alexander Lukich and his wife Irina live in a small home across the street from the ancient Church of the Archangel Michael. A long chapter in Razeyev’s book is devoted to the church.

Snow white hens bandy about the Razeyevs’ irreproachably tidy yard. The home has well-scrubbed floors, and the mirror and television have been covered with white tablecloths. Two weeks ago in Moscow, for reasons as yet unknown, their son Alexander passed away. Irina’s eyes are swollen shut from crying, but Alexander is holding it together.