10 February is a sad date in Russian history. On this day in 1837, the great Russian poet Alexander Pushkin died of a wound received during a duel with Dantes.

Even during his lifetime, Alexander Pushkin was hailed as a genius and the first Russian poet. On Alexander Pushkin's Memorial Day, conferences, poetry evenings, performances, theatre festivals are held all over Russia and far beyond its borders - the poet is remembered not only by philologists, artists, musicians, but also by poetry lovers and admirers of his talent.

On 9 February, the museum "Lopasnya-Zachatievskoye Estate" hosted the second day of the regional art word contest "On the Bank of Lopasnya". On this day, poems and prose were read by students of secondary and higher educational institutions of the southern region of the Moscow region and schoolchildren from the urban districts of Chekhov and Serpukhov and guests from Kazan, Republic of Tatarstan.

By tradition, the day began with laying flowers at the graves of A.S. Pushkin's descendants and a minute of silence.

All participants tried very hard, choosing the most interesting works.

The contestants' performances were judged by:

- Khabarova Alla Viktorovna - teacher of Russian language and literature at Lyubuchanskaya secondary school, Honoured Worker of General Education of the Russian Federation

- Rakhmatulina Alfiya Bakhitzhanovna - author of creative projects related to the history and culture of Russia, honoured cultural worker of the Republic of Tatarstan

- Zhuchkina Zhanna Vladimirovna - leading researcher of the department of popularisation and study of the life and work of A.P. Chekhov at the A.P. Chekhov Melikhovo Museum-Reserve

- Gubanova Marina Nikolaevna - leading methodologist of the museum, honoured worker of general education of the Russian Federation

The year of the 225th anniversary of A.S. Pushkin's birth, the museum started with the Poet's Remembrance Day. The guests and participants of the competition were schoolchildren and teachers from the Republic of Tatarstan, Kazan. In addition, pupils and teachers of the private educational institution "N.I. Lobachevsky Lyceum" gave special prizes to all participants of the competition.

A.B. Rakhmatulina, a great friend of the museum, a not indifferent person who does a lot to preserve the cultural heritage of Russia and Tatarstan, presented our museum with the book "Pushkin's Calendar" Leningrad: SOCSEKGIZ 1937. The Lopasnya-Zachatievskoye estate received a bust of A.S. Pushkin from the Lobachevsky Lyceum. N.I. Lobachevsky Lyceum in Kazan. Updated labelling and an antique tablecloth were donated by Viktor Shkvarin and Elena Nenakhova, members of the Public Chamber of the Taldomskiy Urban District.

Twenty students and high school students participated in this stage of the competition.

The prize winners were:

- Anton Butko, pupil of SOSH GAPOU MO "Gubern College"

- Victoria Parfyonova, pupil of SOSH GAPOU MO Gubernsky College

- Radosveta Plyakina, student of GAPOU MO Gubernsky College

- Detchenkova Sofya, college student of the Chekhov branch of the MFJI

- Elvira Orgiyan, student of Chekhov Technical College, SP-2

- Alisa Mironova, student of Chekhov Technical College, SP-4

Winners:

- Basov Svyatoslav, student of Chekhov Technical College, SP-2

- Kadushkina Anna, student of the Lobachevsky Lyceum. N.I. Lobachevsky Lyceum, Kazan. Kazan

- Ter-Ovanesyan Georgiy, student of Chekhov Technical College, SP-4

- Pyanov Egor, student of Chekhov Technical College, SP-3

We hope to increase the number of participants in our competition next year!