"... I must remain a nun until i die": Elena Shamonina's Letters to Aunt N.N. Platonova (1924-1927).

Abstract

Attracting new archival materials of the epistolary genre, the examination of the life and spiritual quest of the author – a novice, then a cassock nun Euphemia, in the world of Elena – a representative of the noble family of the Shamonins of the Nizhny Novgorod branch, the beloved niece of Nadezhda Nikolaevna Platonova continues. The published letters in many ways for the first time allow us to restore the chronology of the main events of the life of the Golovinsky monastery after its closure, the hard struggle of the nuns for the preservation of their organized life. At the center of these events was Elena, who was elected chairman of the council of the agricultural artel, which was soon liquidated. Numerous court decisions, sometimes contradictory, cassation appeals, decisions of the prosecutor's office, the case even reached the VTSIK – all these are important events of this confrontation, which have not been known until now, options for the resettlement of former residents of the monastery, including organized resettlement to a nationalized estate or eviction, are presented.

Of absolute interest are concise information about Elena's relatives, first of all, her mother – Sophia Nikolaevna, brothers and sisters, information about which is sketchy and scarce. N.N. Platonova's love and care for her niece and her family members is fully revealed. According to the letters, one can judge the life of the state, the political processes that took place in it. Having made the decision to move to the village of Zelenino, Elena and her two monastic sisters establish their way of life, arrange a household, gradually join the residents, while maintaining their spiritual foundations and continuing to serve God. Unfortunately, the correspondence was brought only to the end of 1927, and this is where the information about its further fate ends.