The Esenin Museum of Moscow opened in 1995. The event was timed to coincide with the poet’s 100th birth anniversary. The main exhibition, covering the life and career of the most-read Russian poet worldwide (according to UNESCO), was created by a group of volunteers and then presented to Moscow — Esenin’s beloved city.

Bolshoy Strochenovsky pereulok 24, in Zamoskvorechye, Esenin’s only official address in Moscow, was where the poet lived and was registered from 1911 to 1918. The building became the official state museum in 1996, when it opened its doors to all Esenin devotees.

In 2010 the museum acquired another building, at Chernishevsky per. 4/2, where Sergey Esenin had been a frequent guest. Since 1912, he had participated in the Surikovsky literary and musical circle, whose members often gathered in the building. The Esenin Museum of Moscow has initiated design and restoration work to preserve the historic mansion’s unique exterior, while remaking the interior into a museum exhibition space.

The new museum building, located at Klyazminskaya street, 21, bldg. 2, in the long run will be open Yesenin cultural and educational center. All the inhabitants of the Northern District of Moscow in the immediate vicinity will be able to spend their leisure time in an atmosphere of Yesenin’s poetry. It is planned to conduct various activities with the children, concerts, artistic evenings, as well as showing the unique museum exhibitions.

History:
House number 24 on the Great Strochenovsky lane in Zamoskvorechye was Yesenin’s only official address in Moscow – the poet lived and was registered in it from 1911 to 1918.

For many years the father of the poet, Alexander Nikitich, who worked as a senior clerk in a butcher’s shop at the merchant NV Krylov, lived in the house that stood on this place. It was “Dormitory of lone shop assistants in the possession of merchant N. V. Krylov” . Yesenin-father occupied 3 rooms in the hostel – in apartment No. 6 on the 1 st floor.

In 1911, just here, to his father, who lived separately from his family, young Esenin came from the Ryazan village of Konstantinovo. The poet quickly quarreled with his father and fled from him, but a year later he registered in this house until 1918.

“Yesenin came here, in Strochenovsky lane, and worked as a postman in the printing house of Sytin, then rose to the corrector. According to Anna Izryadnova, the mother of his first son, he was very simple then, with pleasure, played the goat with other artisans who lived right there. However, in the second year of his short stay in this house, he began to go to Shanyavsky University for a lecture on literature, but still it was a young master from the village, behind him was a school in Spas-Klepik and children’s poems about nature. A year later, at 15, he is already in St. Petersburg in the form of Lelia, pink with cheeks on the high-society living rooms “.

Collection:
Unique artwork recreates the atmosphere in which Yesenin’s Poetry was born. The poet’s Moscow life and oeuvre are the main focus of this exhibition, which also surveys his creative career as a whole. The exhibition ends with the ‘Yesenin as a part of world culture’ collection, where the poet’s pieces are presented alongside those of the most eminent figures in world culture.

The memorial room is furnished with authentic objects of the beginning of the XX century – alas, from the things belonging to Yesenin himself, only a generic icon of the Kazan Mother of God. The creative and life path of the poet is illustrated by wall-mounted display cases with photographs, manuscripts, and letters. Here you can see, for example, Esenin’s passport or a note requesting a meeting, which the novice poet wrote to Alexander Blok.

The literature and memorial part of the exhibition offers a look at Yesenin’s personal belongings, manuscripts and publications, personal papers, photos of the poet and his friends and family.

Critic Gregory Revzin in 2010 sardonically reacted to the exposition: “The designer concept of all this was composed by the gentleman of the Order” For Services to the Fatherland “Avet Tavridov. (…) A bed, a table, a buffet, a samovar, a chest, an icon in the corner – cozy. One wall of the room is made of glass, and you need to inspect the interior from the neighboring hall of worship to Sergei Yesenin. There the altar, on the sides two altar icons, the apostles Simon and Jacob, and in the center instead of the image – the manuscript of Yesenin and his graphic portrait. It looks sharp for my taste “.

Building
The wooden house was built in 1891 by architect MD Medvedev. The house was in an emergency condition in the 1980s, in 1992-1994. several times burned (according to some instructions – arson). In 1994, it was demolished, and to the poet’s 100th birthday, in 1995 he was “recreated” – in his place was built a new building made of bricks with planking .

Revizin describes: “The museum was supposed to occupy the whole house, but circumstances led to its second floor a small-scale commercial firm. The museum is located on the territory of some office, and it is necessary to pass through it through the entrance, and they took part of the museum territory under their parking lot. It looks all somehow dubious, not to say shameful. They say that under Luzhkov Moscow was ruled by concepts, but such concepts seem somewhat exotic “.

In 2008, the museum received another building at 4 Chernyshevsky Lane, Lane 2. In this house there were meetings of the Surikov Literary and Music Circle, with which the poet actively collaborated since 1912.

The house was built in 1905 by the architect M. K. Geppener in the territory of the estate of K. Meier. At the moment the building is closed for reconstruction.

In 2014 at the address Klyazminskaya street, 21, 2 was opened another building of the museum.

Projects:
Festival “Captain of the Earth” (March – December 2011) In 2011, the Moscow State Museum of S. Yesenin organized the International Festival “Captain of the Earth” , dedicated to the 50th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin’s flight into space. The events of the festival with the exhibiting of a specially prepared traveling exhibition “About Russia, Wing Wings! ..” (Past, Present and Future of Russian Cosmos) were held at many venues in Russia and in other countries (USA , China , India, Scotland , Great Britain, Belgium, Netherlands, Spain). After participating in one of the festival events taking place in Houston , the Russian cosmonaut Sergei Volkov took with him to the space flight the collection of poems of Sergei Esenin given to him by the museum . Yuri Gagarin in one of the interviews admitted that during the space flight he remembered several lines from the poem of his favorite poet – S. Yesenin – “Captain of the Earth”. After 50 years, thanks to Yesenin’s full namesake, Sergei Aleksandrovich Volkov, Poet’s poems were in space flight for more than six months .

The festival “World – Single Family” (March – April 2013) – will include the organization of a number of events dedicated to the year of cooperation between Russia and Germany, exhibiting a specially prepared for this event mobile exhibition exhibition “Poets of All Unified Blood …” (From .Esenin and G.Geine.Creative relationships) “in Russia and many cities in Germany.

The exhibition was presented at the 6th Assembly of the Russkiy Mir Foundation (Column Hall of the House of Unions, Moscow) – November 3-4, 2012 .

The international musical project “YeseninJazz”
The Yesenin Museum of Moscow and Ryazan’s own Feelin’s Creative Collective are announcing the start of a major international project – YeseninJazz.

For the first time in history, Yesenin’s poems are being performed by Russian and international musicians, in original arrangements with a jazz group from the poet’s birthplace.

YeseninJazz springs from joint international projects realized by the Museum and Feelin’s. Jazz compositions with Yesenin’s poems have been heard in many German, Belgian, and Russian cities. Feelin’s have been joined on stage by Frank Vaganee (Belgium; saxophone), Stafford Hunter (Duke Ellington Orchestra, New York; trumpet), Maya Azucena (New York; vocals), Benny Benack (New York; vocals and trumpet), Igor Butman (saxophone), and Bill Evans (saxophone).

February 14th, 2015 The YeseninJazz project had its premiere performance at the Yesenin Museum of Moscow, Bol’shoi Strochenovsky Pereulok, 24/2. Boris Savoldelli (Italy; vocals) joined Feelin’s onstage.

February 17th, 2015 — Concert in the International Fund for Slavic Literature and Culture.

Along with original jazz arrangements of Yesenin’s lyrics, the audience heard the standards of world jazz interwoven with the poet’s work, like the “Persian Motifs” set to Duke Elington’s “Caravan”.

Awards
Since 2008, the Moscow State Museum of SA Esenin, together with the Russian Consulate in India (Kerala), established the annual Prize. Yesenin, which is awarded to Indian citizens for their contribution to the popularization of Russian literature .

Nominees of the award: prof. Ottaplavukkal Kurup (2009); translator Puthuseri Ramachandran (2010); poet-translator Damodaran Vinayachandran (2011); poet and translator Rosemary (2012) . researcher of Russian literature Achala Maulik (2013); poet, writer, screenwriter K. Jayakumar (2014) .