September 05, 2017

Marfa's Three Lives


Marfa's Three Lives
Marfa's hands. {Photo: Mikhail Mordasov}

The 800-km train ride from Novosibirsk to Krasnoyarsk may be long, but it least it is stuffy. It departs at one a.m. and in the early morning hours we wake in a more northern, hillier region of Siberia. The fir and pine trees are more numerous, and the forests seem denser, stretching well beyond the visible horizon. And of course there are miles and miles and miles of birch trees. And then more still on top of that.

Krasnoyarsk – Siberia’s third largest city, with over a million residents – sits on hills and lowlands astride a broad split in the Yenisei River. Chekhov called the city Siberia’s most beautiful, and it is certainly very notable for having a huge island – literally a massive island – of green space in the center of things, easily reached by a pleasant pedestrian bridge from the city center (where there is a statue to the remarkable explorer Nikolai Rezanov, he who was once governor of Russian America and who died here en route to seeking the tsar’s permission to marry Conchita, the beautiful young daughter of Spain’s commandante of San Francisco, Don José Darío Argüello). And there is no lack of nice restaurants and coffee shops.

Pedestrian bridge to island in Yenisey River, Krasnoyarsk. {Photo: Mikhail Mordasov}

In short, this bustling metropolis lies at the center of Siberia, but is rather far from the image of this realm that one conjures up from novels and history books: prisoners in chains plodding along an endless trakt; religious exiles hiding out in forests; hunters following the tracks of their prey through deep snow banks. In this Siberia there is Academia Kofe, welcoming Georgian restaurants, pleasant pedestrian zones, comfortable hotels, and cozy wine bars. Chekhov would be impressed, and would probably have lingered far longer than we did.

 * * *

At least three times Marfa Konechnikh cheated death. She jokes that it is because she changed her birth name at an early age and, since on all her official documents she was named as Maria, Death simply couldn’t find her. But likely it has more to do with her abundance of grit and determination.

 The first thing Marfa says to us when we enter her apartment is “I don’t want to die.” No centenarian has yet said this to us. They may have felt it, but Marfa was the first to come right out and say it.

Restless and spry, Marfa moves around her apartment like a 70-year-old, worrying about whether this or that should be attended to, for example if we have enough tea. She has small, narrow features and piercing blue eyes, yet her limbs and fingers are long and slender, with no sign of arthritis or other serious ailments, other than the loss of sight in one eye.

For over an hour, with no sign of tiring, she regales us with stories from the earliest days of her tragic childhood. Her father died on the day of her birth. He was a smuggler and trader and happened on that day to find a large fish (a taymen), but choked on a bone while eating it and died. When she was nine, her brother was playing with a hunting rifle and it went off accidentally, killing their mother.

Marfa with her daughter Tatyana, and son-in-law Nikolai. {Photo: Mikhail Mordasov}

From that point on, for several decades, Marfa’s life was one of incessant work. She was taken in by her sister’s family and compelled to be a nanny, yet her sister did not allow her to go to school, while her nieces and nephews did. “And so I remained a fool,” she said sadly.

She soon transitioned to work outside the home, and had a long working life of very physical labor. “I worked in the wood processing plant doing every job from A to Z,” she brags. “When I retired, I was in the first position on the board of honor at work.” (A place of recognition for those with the most impeccable work and attendance records.)

Except when Marfa “retired,” she didn’t, really. She kept working at different places, always distinguishing herself for her indefatigable persistence.

What, we ask her, as we do many of our centenarians, is the secret to her long life?

“Don’t eat fatty foods, don’t smoke or drink. Eat little and move a lot,” she replies.

* * *

If the first time Marfa cheated death was surviving against the odds of orphanhood and living into maturity, the second time she cheated death was when she licked kidney cancer when she was about 50.

The third time was when she overcame pneumonia a few years later, well into her retirement. The doctor was sure that Marfa was dying and stopped by their house to ask, “Why have you not come by to pick up a death certificate?”

“What death certificate?” her daughter Tatyana replied. “Mama is cleaning the windows.”

Then, 20 years ago, at 80, Marfa fell and broke her hip. The doctor said it would take a few months to heal, that for younger patients such a break usually heals in two months. But the ever restled Marfa insisted that they make an X-ray of her just a month after the break. The doctor reported a phenomenal outcome: her bone had already healed, and quite strongly at that.

Ducks from above, Krasnoyarsk. {Photo: Mikhail Mordasov}

 

Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of Our Books

Fearful Majesty

Fearful Majesty

This acclaimed biography of one of Russia’s most important and tyrannical rulers is not only a rich, readable biography, it is also surprisingly timely, revealing how many of the issues Russia faces today have their roots in Ivan’s reign.
Dostoyevsky Bilingual

Dostoyevsky Bilingual

Bilingual series of short, lesser known, but highly significant works that show the traditional view of Dostoyevsky as a dour, intense, philosophical writer to be unnecessarily one-sided. 
Russian Rules

Russian Rules

From the shores of the White Sea to Moscow and the Northern Caucasus, Russian Rules is a high-speed thriller based on actual events, terrifying possibilities, and some really stupid decisions.
Okudzhava Bilingual

Okudzhava Bilingual

Poems, songs and autobiographical sketches by Bulat Okudzhava, the king of the Russian bards. 
A Taste of Russia

A Taste of Russia

The definitive modern cookbook on Russian cuisine has been totally updated and redesigned in a 30th Anniversary Edition. Layering superbly researched recipes with informative essays on the dishes' rich historical and cultural context, A Taste of Russia includes over 200 recipes on everything from borshch to blini, from Salmon Coulibiac to Beef Stew with Rum, from Marinated Mushrooms to Walnut-honey Filled Pies. A Taste of Russia shows off the best that Russian cooking has to offer. Full of great quotes from Russian literature about Russian food and designed in a convenient wide format that stays open during use.
Moscow and Muscovites

Moscow and Muscovites

Vladimir Gilyarovsky's classic portrait of the Russian capital is one of Russians’ most beloved books. Yet it has never before been translated into English. Until now! It is a spectactular verbal pastiche: conversation, from gutter gibberish to the drawing room; oratory, from illiterates to aristocrats; prose, from boilerplate to Tolstoy; poetry, from earthy humor to Pushkin. 
Jews in Service to the Tsar

Jews in Service to the Tsar

Benjamin Disraeli advised, “Read no history: nothing but biography, for that is life without theory.” With Jews in Service to the Tsar, Lev Berdnikov offers us 28 biographies spanning five centuries of Russian Jewish history, and each portrait opens a new window onto the history of Eastern Europe’s Jews, illuminating dark corners and challenging widely-held conceptions about the role of Jews in Russian history.

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955