August 29, 2017

The Last Hero


The Last Hero
A Bashirian sunflower field {Photo: Paul E. Richardson}

We take a day train from Samara to Ufa and revel in the changing landscape from the Volga basin to the wide horizons of the steppe. We are nearing the foothills of the Urals, and as we enter Bashkiria, there are rolling hills and mesa-like formations with light sprinklings of vegetation.

Ufa, our destination and the capital of Bashkortostan, is an oil-rich city that, when compared to gritty Samara, is very clean and well-kept. There are not many old, wooden buildings, but plenty of gleaming new skyscrapers and broad avenues. This is a town that west-Siberian oil and gas has rebuilt.

Sunset from the last car on the train to Ufa. {Photo: Paul E. Richardson}

Our Bashkir “hero”, Sabiryan Asfandiyarov, lives about 50 kilometers south of the capital, in the village of Sakhayevo. To get there, we drive over well-paved roads through rolling hills under active cultivation. In several places wide sunflower fields stretch to an aquamarine horizon. Every few kilometers there are pull outs for cars that offer covered picnic tables and views of fertile hills and fields.

A retired local journalist, Rashid, is driving us to Sakhayevo. Rashid’s presence is vital. This, our first male centenarian on this leg of the expedition, is not only completely deaf, but, we are told, speaks no Russian, only Tatar. So we have printed out our questions in Russian for Rashid to translate on the fly into Tatar.

Nadya, Paul and Rashid (second from right), work through some Tatar language source materials about Sabiryan with his daughter, Guzel, center. {Photo: Mikhail Mordasov}

But the first obstacle we must overcome is not linguistic but gastronomic. We are greeted by a table groaning with food. A bowl of homemade pelmeni is set down in front of each of us. “That’s how we do it here, 15 per person,” says Rishat, Sabiryan’s son-in-law. The pelmeni are incredible, but clearly we should not have eaten breakfast.

* * *

It turns out that Sabiryan can read Russian just fine with his one good eye, and even speak it, though in a very thick Tatar accent. So Rashid shows him the printed questions on an iPad and he offers long, fascinating stories in reply.

Sabiryan Asfandiyarov. {Photo: Mikhail Mordasov}

Wounded three times in the war, Sabiryan served eight years in the military, having been called up to serve in 1938, and ready to be mustered out when the war began. He drove tanks, including an American-made one, and lost his right eye under fire in Hungary in 1945. He at first refused to have the eye removed, thinking a one-eyed man would never find a wife, but eventually was convinced by a doctor it was the only way to save his other eye. Three days after finally mustering out, he was at work as a cashier on the kolkhoz.

A neighbor comes by and recounts how 360 men left the village for the war and only 120 came back, and now Sabiryan is the last one alive.

“He is our last hero,” the friend says.

That may be, but Sabiryan can’t seem to understand what all this fuss is about.

When we are done with all our questions, he says we are here asking him all these things about 100 years ago, but he has a question for us. All these journalists come around visiting, he says, but none of them can tell him what is going on in Loch Ness, and what it is that lives there.

We try to convince him it is just a myth, but none of us have any real facts to offer in our defense, and so it seems that Loch Ness will continue to bother Sakhayevo’s last hero for the foreseeable future.

Sabiryan and his immediate family, in the garden where he likes to sit in his greenhouse. {Photo: Mikhail Mordasov}
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of Our Books

Murder at the Dacha

Murder at the Dacha

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin has a problem. Several, actually. Not the least of them is the fact that a powerful Soviet boss has been murdered, and Matyushkin's surly commander has given him an unreasonably short time frame to close the case.
Maria's War: A Soldier's Autobiography

Maria's War: A Soldier's Autobiography

This astonishingly gripping autobiography by the founder of the Russian Women’s Death Battallion in World War I is an eye-opening documentary of life before, during and after the Bolshevik Revolution.
Okudzhava Bilingual

Okudzhava Bilingual

Poems, songs and autobiographical sketches by Bulat Okudzhava, the king of the Russian bards. 
The Latchkey Murders

The Latchkey Murders

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin is back on the case in this prequel to the popular mystery Murder at the Dacha, in which a serial killer is on the loose in Khrushchev’s Moscow...
Bears in the Caviar

Bears in the Caviar

Bears in the Caviar is a hilarious and insightful memoir by a diplomat who was “present at the creation” of US-Soviet relations. Charles Thayer headed off to Russia in 1933, calculating that if he could just learn Russian and be on the spot when the US and USSR established relations, he could make himself indispensable and start a career in the foreign service. Remarkably, he pulled it of.
Survival Russian

Survival Russian

Survival Russian is an intensely practical guide to conversational, colloquial and culture-rich Russian. It uses humor, current events and thematically-driven essays to deepen readers’ understanding of Russian language and culture. This enlarged Second Edition of Survival Russian includes over 90 essays and illuminates over 2000 invaluable Russian phrases and words.
The Samovar Murders

The Samovar Murders

The murder of a poet is always more than a murder. When a famous writer is brutally stabbed on the campus of Moscow’s Lumumba University, the son of a recently deposed African president confesses, and the case assumes political implications that no one wants any part of.
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.
Turgenev Bilingual

Turgenev Bilingual

A sampling of Ivan Turgenev's masterful short stories, plays, novellas and novels. Bilingual, with English and accented Russian texts running side by side on adjoining pages.
Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices

Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices

Stargorod is a mid-sized provincial city that exists only in Russian metaphorical space. It has its roots in Gogol, and Ilf and Petrov, and is a place far from Moscow, but close to Russian hearts. It is a place of mystery and normality, of provincial innocence and Black Earth wisdom. Strange, inexplicable things happen in Stargorod. So do good things. And bad things. A lot like life everywhere, one might say. Only with a heavy dose of vodka, longing and mystery.
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. 
A Taste of Russia
November 01, 2012

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.

The Little Humpbacked Horse
November 03, 2014

The Little Humpbacked Horse

A beloved Russian classic about a resourceful Russian peasant, Vanya, and his miracle-working horse, who together undergo various trials, exploits and adventures at the whim of a laughable tsar, told in rich, narrative poetry.

Driving Down Russia's Spine
June 01, 2016

Driving Down Russia's Spine

The story of the epic Spine of Russia trip, intertwining fascinating subject profiles with digressions into historical and cultural themes relevant to understanding modern Russia. 

Woe From Wit (bilingual)
June 20, 2017

Woe From Wit (bilingual)

One of the most famous works of Russian literature, the four-act comedy in verse Woe from Wit skewers staid, nineteenth century Russian society, and it positively teems with “winged phrases” that are essential colloquialisms for students of Russian and Russian culture.

The Samovar Murders
November 01, 2019

The Samovar Murders

The murder of a poet is always more than a murder. When a famous writer is brutally stabbed on the campus of Moscow’s Lumumba University, the son of a recently deposed African president confesses, and the case assumes political implications that no one wants any part of.

Bears in the Caviar
May 01, 2015

Bears in the Caviar

Bears in the Caviar is a hilarious and insightful memoir by a diplomat who was “present at the creation” of US-Soviet relations. Charles Thayer headed off to Russia in 1933, calculating that if he could just learn Russian and be on the spot when the US and USSR established relations, he could make himself indispensable and start a career in the foreign service. Remarkably, he pulled it of.

The Latchkey Murders
July 01, 2015

The Latchkey Murders

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin is back on the case in this prequel to the popular mystery Murder at the Dacha, in which a serial killer is on the loose in Khrushchev’s Moscow...

A Taste of Chekhov
December 24, 2022

A Taste of Chekhov

This compact volume is an introduction to the works of Chekhov the master storyteller, via nine stories spanning the last twenty years of his life.

Murder at the Dacha
July 01, 2013

Murder at the Dacha

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin has a problem. Several, actually. Not the least of them is the fact that a powerful Soviet boss has been murdered, and Matyushkin's surly commander has given him an unreasonably short time frame to close the case.

Jews in Service to the Tsar
October 09, 2011

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