A small photo of the writer’s parents, Aleksander Mikhailovich and Mariya Nikolayevna, is displayed in a beautiful brown wooden frame. The image captures them as young and full of hope. The future spouses met at an Orthodox church during an Easter service and married a few months later in the same church. A year after their wedding, they welcomed their first child, the future writer Vitaly Zakrutkin.
Vitaly Zakrutkin recalled how, thanks to his family, he cultivated an enthusiastic and respectful attitude towards his elders, his homeland, work, national history, science, and culture. He always regarded his father, Aleksander Mikhailovich, as his primary and most demanding teacher.
Aleksander Zakrutkin was educated as a mathematician, but he also had a deep passion for music and literature, often attempting to write poetry and songs. “He was full of energy and never sat idle. An excellent gardener and skilled in beekeeping, he planted trees and flowers, established apiaries, and built carpentry and metalworking workshops in every school where he worked, engaging both teachers and students,” wrote Vitaly Zakrutkin in his essay “From Earth to Earth”.
Mariya Nikolayevna, the writer’s mother, was a musician who taught all the children in the family to play the piano, sing, and recite poetry. Poetry and music were integral to the atmosphere of the Zakrutkin home.
Zakrutkin’s deep love for folklore and Russian epics originated in his early childhood. It was during this time that he first encountered the images he would consistently reflect in his writings: warrior defenders, hardworking farmers, and mother earth.
Vitaly Zakrutkin recalled that both his grandfather and father knew many
Russian epics by heart, often quoting them during conversations. The writer
also left memories of his grandfather, stating,
