Before arriving in Rostov, in the summer of 1935, I visited the village of Ust-Medveditskaya on the Don, where my parents already lived. There I was lucky enough to meet A. S. Serafimovich, who had his own house in the village. I was surprised to see Alexander Serafimovich who came to the Summer Theater to listen to my lecture on Pushkin. Needless to say, it was with great excitement and enthusiasm that I spoke that evening about the great poet who became my destiny.

He came backstage, hugged me, invited me to his place, and suggested that one Sunday evening the two of us could tell the villagers about Gorky. Soon such an event took place. I started visiting Alexander Serafimovich often… Meetings with the great writer, which began with a lecture on Pushkin, played an important role in my life.

It was 1937. The whole country was going to celebrate the centenary of Pushkin’s death. The Rostov Pedagogical Institute always took part in the event. At my request, the regional authorities allocated a lot of money for the Pushkin celebrations. I was sent to Moscow and Leningrad, where I got hundreds of interesting engravings, portraits, photocopies, and manuscripts, and also commissioned Pushkin-related paintings. Throughout the city, in cultural centers, theaters, and open-air venues, lectures on Pushkin were delivered, a scientific conference was held, and ‘Scientific Notes’ dedicated to the poet were published…