The museum’s collection features an original photograph of Maya and Pyotr Golikov, the half-siblings of Arkady Petrovich Gaidar. Pyotr and Maya were born from the second marriage of Pyotr Isidorovich Golikov to Lidia Pavlovna Troitskaya. The photo, taken by an unknown photographer, is a black-and-white, matte portrait in a passe-partout.
Maya Petrovna Golikova was born on January 27, 1926 in Arzamas. She completed seven grades at secondary school No. 4. In 1944, she took a Red Cross nursing course. After graduation, she worked as a nurse in Arzamas hospitals until 1951. Around this time, she gave birth to a son named Arkady, in honor of her half-brother, Arkady Petrovich Gaidar. In 1953, she enrolled in the two-year nursing courses of the Union of Red Cross and Crescent Societies, graduating in August 1955, after which she began working in the therapeutic department. From 1973 to 1987, she worked in the children’s infectious diseases department. After retiring in 1981, she continued working until her death in 1987.
Pyotr Petrovich Golikov was born in Arzamas on April 25, 1927, a few days after the death of his father, Pyotr Isidorovich. In 1942, he graduated from the Kirov seven-year school. After graduating, he entered a mechanization technical school. In December 1945, he completed his studies and was drafted into the army. He soon entered the Gorky Communications School, from which he graduated and was sent to Moscow. In the capital, he was appointed head of a telephone station. During his service in Moscow, he married and had a son, whom he also named Arkady, in honor of his older half-brother. In 1955, Pyotr Petrovich was assigned to the Transbaikal Military District. In 1960, he resigned from the army and moved to Moscow, where he lived until his death in 1985.
After the death of their father, Arkady Petrovich Gaidar did not forget about his family. He always visited his half-siblings, Pyotr and Maya, when he was in Arzamas, supported them financially, and gave them his books personally or sent them.
Maya Petrovna Golikova recalled,
