Description of the attraction
Literary Memorial Museum of M. M. Zoshchenko is located in St. Petersburg, in a building on Malaya Konyushennaya Street, in an apartment where the writer lived from 1954 to 1958 (the last years of his life).
In general, the museum is legally called the St. Petersburg State Literary Museum "XX century", which appeared in the fall of 2007. However, it all started much earlier. The idea of creating a museum of Leningrad literature of the Soviet years arose from the initiative to preserve and pass on to the future generation the memory of the unique cultural heritage of Leningrad in the 20th century. Still not having its own premises, which could house the exposition, the museum is engaged in the formation of funds, the search for the keepers of the writer's archives, and the collection of a library of literature of the Soviet period.
The museum was formed on the basis of the memorial museum of M. M. Zoshchenko, after all, his fate seemed to reflect the fate of Soviet culture of the twentieth century with its persecution of free speech, the rigid framework of censorship, terror, and at the same time the ability to live a life according to conscience and preserve one's human dignity.
Museum M. M. Zoshchenko was formed in early December 1988. Initially, it acted as a branch of the F. M. Dostoevsky, and in April 1993 the museum became independent when the first exposition was opened. The museum is located in the last apartment of the writer in the famous writer's house on the former Griboyedov Canal. At different times, along with Mikhail Mikhailovich, N. Zabolotsky, B. Kornilov, E. Schwartz, O. Forsh, M. Slonimsky, B. Eikhenbaum, B. Tomashevsky and many other figures of art and literature lived in this house.
Zoshchenko moved to this house in 1934. Then he changed apartments more than once, and in the last years of his life he ended up in a small 2-room apartment. Currently, one of the rooms is a memorial, this is his office. In the second room, where once was the room of his wife Vera Vladimirovna, there is a literary exposition.
The uniqueness of the museum lies in the fact that all things in the writer's office are genuine, and the environment in which he lived from 1954 (in other sources - from 1955) to 1958 is reproduced with detailed accuracy. In the office you can see a table, on it - fragments of manuscripts, in a typewriter - an unfinished sheet, glasses carelessly thrown, a cozy green lamp, a bedside table, on it - a book about Gogol, on the desk - photos of parents. Looking at all these things, you get the feeling that you are entering the difficult world of the writer, into his broken life.
The modern literary exposition of the Zoshchenko Museum was opened in early 2004. It is the second permanent exhibition of the museum. The artistic solution is very interesting, which is represented by the presentation of the material on the transfer sheets. They can be flipped through like a book, which made the exposition as informative and interactive as possible. And here we are talking not only about the life and work of Zoshchenko, but also about the fate of Russian culture, about the Leningrad literature of the twentieth century, about the tragic stories of other inhabitants of the writer's house.
The emotional center of the exposition is represented by an installation made of water pipes, which, as if by a time machine, transports visitors into the atmosphere of the 1920s and 1930s. Here you can see an old coffee pot, a radio, a hand mill, a steelyard, a heavy cast iron, a kerosene lamp.
The museum is unique, as the furnishings of Zoshchenko's working room and his personal belongings are fully preserved here. It is also one of the few museums in St. Petersburg that reflects the bright history of literature of the 1920s and 1930s.
The museum organizes exhibition activities, carries out scientific work, work to replenish funds. Work with children has recently become one of the main activities of the museum.
