Ostap Bender was born?

[Pecheneg]

"At half past eleven in the north-west of the village Chmarovki in Stargorod came a young man of twenty-eight. Behind him ran homeless ..."
So begins the novel by Ilf and Petrov's "12 Chairs" .. but nobody knows for sure where the "born" praobraz immortal Ostap Bender ...
Ostap Bender was born in StarobelskeOstap Bender was born in Starobelsk:

Autumn day in 1926 from the northeast of the village in Chmyrovka Starobelsk drove the green car of unknown manufacture (perhaps it was, and Lauren Dietrich), two young passengers. For admirers of famous Ilya Ilf and Yevgeny Petrov would seem that something like they've already read. And they will be right. Among residents Starobelsk) there is a legend that in those years it was their county town became the prototype of the provincial center Stargorod. And the truth of such propositions evidence found here can be quite a few since, even with geographical names: Chmyrevka-Chmarovka, Stargorod - Starobelsk, Luchansk - Lugansk ...

Starobelsk "wildebeest" was designed for VIP guests

It all started almost six weeks trip to Starobelsk gremevshego journalists in those days, the publication of the Central Committee of Trade Union of Railway workers of the USSR "Beep" by Ilya Arnol'dovich Fainzil'berg (Ilf) and Evgeny Petrovich Kataev (Simpson). In autumn 1926 the future of the legendary satirical sent to Starobelsk county to prepare a series of materials. What were the topics of articles produced by them after the trip history is silent, but this is the result of this trip turned into a satirical novel writing, through which its authors have become classics for good satirical prose.
[SPOILER]
- In 1954, at harvest time, me and my friend, professional school students, sent as porters to help carry in the corn on the current Starobelsk - says local historian Ivan Miroshnichenko Starobelsk. - To the road was not bored, I took a book "12 chairs". When the truck driver, whose name was Roman Denisovich (name I can not remember), I saw in my hands the piece, then jumped as much: "Wow! So I did these writers know well. In 1927 I worked as a driver in the executive committee Starobelsk and took them by county. Interesting guys were. All joking. And mostly about the car, which had to shake local "road", gathering material for a newspaper about a local "sloppiness."

Judging from the stories of local residents, cars really were, even in those days, rare and existed in a state of local authoritative garage up to the war. Old-timers claim that the car was green (as was intended for the military) and was called the stealth "Lauren Dietrich." (Well, just "Antelope" Kozlevich). Maybe this accuracy is the name in memory of people connected rather with the book, but would still like this car really was. It appeared in Starobelsk after joining the county in the state prison in 1918 Hetman Skoropadsky. Following that came here a whole column of vehicles carrying ammunition and military equipment belonging to the Austro-German army. They stayed here until December of that year. After the mess started with the authorities replaced the red white and vice versa. He liked to hang out here and Nestor Makhno and his army. So no less by some miracle, the car remained on track. And when he came for some boss or other important guests, certainly recovered the car. What to do, the car in those days was a rarity here, and, of course, its movement through the city was always accompanied by a crowd of boys, or just interested in technology or conventional beggars, begging as was the case with a combinator: "Uncle, give me ten kopecks." During one of his visits, Ilf and Petrov visited the regional center Markovka, but on the way back to Starobelsk visited another village Bondarovka. Here, to this day there is only one in the area was still a collective, and now private horticultural farming enterprise, specializing mainly in the cultivation of apples. So stretched homeless "sun-warmed apple" could well be. By the way, the persecution of writers begging passing cars still used, however, already on the Georgian Military Highway, when the experiment was replicated with the homeless to earn themselves already legendary Osei and Kisoy: "The money Come on, let's money!"

It is not known whether satirists say in response to street children anything about the key from some apartments, which can contain the finances, is unknown. Although the key was they did, though not from the apartment, and from a hotel room. Lived Ilya Ilf and Yevgeny Petrov in the so-called rooming house (a kind of goodies) And the thing is that they were furnished with everything that was requisitioned by the local gentry and merchants. Including furniture, known in those days, Master Gambs. Starobelchane say that in the room, where they lived writers, was an already pretty beat-up chair, which finally collapsed from his insides gave a box labeled with the nominal master and the message that this chair is part of the headset from the same twelve brothers. Where are other eleven nobody and did not know. It was said that the entire suite came here from a shelter for old ladies ....

The room was a chair satirists, made the master Gumbs

- Even before the Revolution, the Russian army Gen. Nikolai Stoyanov, going into retirement he settled in Starobelsk, - says Ivan Miroshnichenko. - He has built for his money in Starobelsk and subsequently contained a shelter for old men, elderly women and orphaned children. Charitable institution for the elderly women in general built of local girls' school, so that young girls could take care of the elderly ladies. There was on full board from twenty to thirty ladies lay age. By the way, and to this day there is a building, but now there is a pharmacy. In 1919 Stoyanov was accused of organizing anti-Soviet groups and killed in a building of the district Cheka. However, a shelter for elderly women existed until the early 20's mainly on the enthusiasm of workers and charity of local people .. Therefore, when we could see the shelter Ilf and Petrov, then there really was very unattractive, but it was not the fault of a "blue thief." In this role, favored the Soviet state itself, which decided to save for old women public money ... so no steward of the 2nd house Starsobesa Alhen with his relatives here and was not.

- Starobelsk generally unique city - said Ivan Miroshnichenko. - Founded in the late 16th centuries the city lay along major transport routes from Moscow to the Caucasus. Annually held on the four major trade fairs, turnover exceeded 10 million rubles. Hence the development of such a powerful merchant class here. Perhaps, therefore, had the status of Starobelsk, having a population of just over ... seventeen hundred people. And this is when a nearby village, by the way, part of the Starobelsk was already four thousand people. Before the revolution there were about 120 noble families. They were mostly retired military and their families. So the question for future members of Bender's "Union of the sword and shouted," 'in which the regiment served? "- Was for these edges is not empty.

According to biographers of Ilf and Petrov on one of versions, initially creating the book, the authors planned to call this city N Stargorod. But then we decided that a single letter only. So the inverse image of N is very visible and Starobelsk terms of the time. Of a major shopping center merchant, which hosted the fair nationwide scale, the city at that time turned into a living out his days a remote provincial town. Enterprises were not there, severe wind cooperatives here no one dared. That opened the office without a serious investment, not brandishing the serious biznesperspektivy and focused on the needs of today. And it's mostly been hairdressing and even funeral parlors.

- In those days in the county was already Starobelsk 78 temples, which served as a priest 834, - says Ivan Miroshnichenko. - And despite the fact that the population of the county was just over 300 thousand people. Such a density of priests do not exist in any district of the Russian Empire (except, perhaps, that the capital cities). Plus, here in the city was located and the local diocese. By the way, the main structure of modern Orthodox Luhansk region and to this day is called "Lugano and Starobelsk." And during the stay of Ilf and Petrov diocesan church stood within a hundred meters away from the rooming house where they lived, it was demolished in the late 20's (not enough bricks to build the station). So, the appearance of Father Fyodor area can be considered coincidental.

TREASURES

In Starobelsk SEEK

And to this day

Legend has it that here in Starobelsk sister lived and died the last Russian tsar Xenia. Although, according to local historians - it was just a crook. German by nationality, but of Russian descent, she pretended to be a person of royal blood. Whether it is in fact, that with such a pedigree it is unlikely to have been able to live here until 1947 at best would have been it somewhere in Kazakhstan, as it was with his wife and daughter of Nestor Makhno. So no less than it was some kind of local landmark. According to the recollections of old residents, it was apparently a very pleasant lady (even when he was aged), plump and always dreaming of getting married. One word - "sultry women - the poet's dream." Stories about how she had to appear that one, the other gentlemen (mostly newcomers), but then suddenly disappeared because of excessive sexual demands, has retold an anecdote. (Among these applicants could be friend and Bender.) Perhaps his constant stories of his royal origin of the "Gritsatsuyeva" just drove away prospective husbands. Who was hunting ring out at least to the Urals because wife fancies himself the heir of the Russian Tsars?

- But most local residents in particular took tales and then search for treasures, which ostensibly could be hidden. - Membership of the mythical attributed clades, ranging from the treasury of the kingdom of rebels Russian Ivan Bolotnikov and Kondrati Bulavin, stationed at one time in the modern Starobelschiny and ending with savings of Nestor Makhno. Especially because the latter still remembered by local residents. Because of this "gold-diamonds" Batko seemed more realistic. The first time Makhno appeared in Starobelsk (all three times he was in Starobelsk County) when he went to the Don. But this trip was for him a failure. So he was on his way back to negotiate with the entrance of Frunze's army in the Red as a rebel divisions. And just a month after he was knocked out of Starobelsk Reds, he came here in the capacity as it were his own. Frunze sent here by two professors of medicine who were treated with Makhno. After recovery, Nestor loved to walk around town and sing with an accordion, which he played a song written in his poems. But after refusing to go to the Crimea, and then in Kiev as the Red Army and liberate it from the Poles, Makhno became already destroyed. Then he fled to the Walk Field, which he tried to create a new army with which he was the third time he returned to Starobelsk. True, the army was only one name - only about three hundred. (Whereas his first army consisted of seven to twelve thousand). Constant circulation in this region and led to conversations among people that, they say, not without reason he so often appeared here. But these are just baseless legend. It has long been proven that the treasury was buried in Makhno Walk Field, which is in the Zaporozhye region in 1923 found. But this does not stop hunters and to this day. However, these efforts cause starobelchan rather smile than a relationship as serious scientific research.

In favor of the version of the origin of Starobelsk "12 chairs" and says that if you follow the chronology, then Ilf and Petrov started to work on their child around the time when they returned from a trip just to Starobelsk. Provincial city with a turbulent history, search for treasures, colorful personality - all this could form the basis for future novel, which was released in 1928.


A few photos of the old Starobelsk, and a monument to Ostap Bender in Starobelsk.