Marfa Semyonovna Kryukova (, born 1876, Verkhnyaya Zolotitsa,

Arkhangelsky Uyezd Arkhangelsky Uyezd (''Архангельский уезд'') was one of the subdivisions of the Arkhangelsk Governorate of the Russian Empire. It was situated in the central part of the governorate. Its administrative centre was Arkhangelsk. Demogr ...

Arkhangelsk Governorate Arkhangelsk Governorate () was an administrative-territorial unit (''guberniya'') of the Russian Empire and the Russian SFSR, which existed from 1796 until 1929. Its seat was in Arkhangelsk. The governorate was located in the north of the Russ ...

(currently

Primorsky District, Arkhangelsk Oblast Primorsky District () is an administrative district (raion), one of the twenty-one in Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia.Law #65-5-OZ As a municipal division, it is incorporated as Primorsky Municipal District,Law #258-vneoch.-OZ and also includes Solo ...

), Russia — 7 January 1954, Verkhnyaya Zolotitsa) was a Russian

folklore Folklore is the body of expressive culture shared by a particular group of people, culture or subculture. This includes oral traditions such as Narrative, tales, myths, legends, proverbs, Poetry, poems, jokes, and other oral traditions. This also ...

performer and a storyteller.

Early life

Marfa Kryukova was born in the

Pomor The Pomors (, ) are an ethnographic group traditionally thought to be descended from Russians, Russian settlers (primarily from Veliky Novgorod) living on the White Sea coasts and nearby regions, with their southern boundary marked by a waters ...

village of Verkhnyaya Zolotitsa on the

White Sea The White Sea (; Karelian language, Karelian and ; ) is a southern inlet of the Barents Sea located on the northwest coast of Russia. It is surrounded by Karelia to the west, the Kola Peninsula to the north, and the Kanin Peninsula to the nort ...

north-east of

Arkhangelsk Arkhangelsk (, ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia. It lies on both banks of the Northern Dvina near its mouth into the White Sea. The city spreads for over along the ...

. Her mother, Agrafena Kryukova, was known as a storyteller and a folklore performer. Kryukova never married; her lifelong interest in literature was apparently an obstacle to potential suitors. She lived most of her life in poverty. In 1899, as Russian interest in northern folklore was at its peak,

Alexey Markov Alexei Mikhailovich Markov (; born 26 May 1979 in Moscow) is a Russian former professional track and road bicycle racer. Major results Track ;1996 : 2nd Team pursuit, Summer Olympics ;1997 : UCI World Cup ::1st Individual pursuit, Cali ...

, then a student, visited Verkhnyaya Zolotitsa and recorded a number of tales and from Agrafena and Marfa Kryukova, which he subsequently published. After the initial publication of her work by Markov, interest in her stories declined.

Soviet era

In 1934, Vladislav Chuzhimov, a folklore collector, visited Verkhnyaya Zolotitsa. By that time, Agrafena Kryukova had already died, so Chuzimov worked with Marfa Kryukova. That same year, Chuzimov published two of the Kryukovas' tales.

Anna Astakhova Anna Mikhaylovna Astakhova (, – 30 April 1971) was a Soviet scholar notable for her studies of the folklore (primarily bylinas) of the Russian North. Astakhova was born in Kronstadt, close to Saint-Petersburg, in 1886, and graduated from the ...

, a folklorist and organizer of many folklore-collecting expeditions to Arkhangelsk Oblast, wrote an essay on the tales. In her essay, she noted the rich and fine details of the stories and the quality of improvisation that they employed. In 1937, Astakhova herself visited Nizhnaya Zolotitsa and collected a number of from Kryukova. In the same year, folklore collectors Borodina and Lipets started to work with Kryukova, and in 1939 they published a two-volume edition of narrated by Kryukova. In total, Kryukova recorded about 150 , which include most traditional folktales. The Soviet authorities wanted to establish a new genre of folklore to conform to the ideological paradigms of the time. As part of this effort, Kryukova was invited in 1937 to perform in

and

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

; she was also assigned a literary agent, Viktorin Popov. This trip was Kryukova's first occasion to leave her home village. Popov persuaded Kryukova to write a poem about

Vladimir Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov ( 187021 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin, was a Russian revolutionary, politician and political theorist. He was the first head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 until Death and state funeral of ...

and provided the necessary biographical details. The works she developed were given a new name, , to distinguish them from the traditional . This new form, rather than being based on folklore, was to be written on a topic related to the modern history of the Soviet Union. Until her death in 1954, Kryukova recorded many , and consequently earned high regard from Soviet officials and in Soviet culture. She was invited to travel across the country, and her books were widely publicized. In recognition of her contributions, Arkhangelsk authorities built a house for her in her native village. Kryukova was accepted into the

Union of Soviet Writers The Union of Soviet Writers, USSR Union of Writers, or Soviet Union of Writers () was a creative union of professional writers in the Soviet Union. It was founded in 1934 on the initiative of the Central Committee of the Communist Party (1932) a ...

. She was awarded the

Order of Lenin The Order of Lenin (, ) was an award named after Vladimir Lenin, the leader of the October Revolution. It was established by the Central Executive Committee on 6 April 1930. The order was the highest civilian decoration bestowed by the Soviet ...

and the

Order of the Red Banner of Labour The Order of the Red Banner of Labour () was an order of the Soviet Union established to honour great deeds and services to the Soviet state and society in the fields of production, science, culture, literature, the arts, education, sports ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kryukova, Marfa 1876 births 1954 deaths People from Arkhangelsky Uyezd Recipients of the Order of Lenin Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour Storytellers from the Russian Empire Soviet storytellers Women storytellers