About the history of these photographs, Mira Emilbakova, the head of the library, told Turmush. “The photo taken inside a yurt dates back to the 1970s. It features the Hero of Socialist Labor, chairman of the collective farm 'Kenesh' Isak Kochkorbaev; the classics of Kyrgyz literature Aaly Tokombaev and Joomart Bokonbaev; my mother-in-law Tokush Saltykova, who at that time was in charge of the House of Culture, and the villagers. The writers came to the village to meet their readers from the collective farm. Back then, the villagers enthusiastically visited the library and kept up with every issue of newspapers and magazines.
The second photograph was taken in 1948. At that time, the collective farm 'Kenesh' was renowned for breeding thoroughbred horses and its successes in agriculture, holding the status of a millionaire collective farm. It was then that Marshal of the USSR Semyon Budyonny arrived in the village, accompanied by Ishak Razakov. In this photo, my mother-in-law Tokush Saltykova (who was a librarian at that time) stands behind a horse. My father-in-law Temir Osmonov (a three-time recipient of the Order of the Red Banner of Labor) stands to the left behind Ishak Razakov — a man with a mustache in a white cap.
Since the collective farm was famous for its breeding work, they decided to present Budyonny with a thoroughbred horse along with a silver saddle and harness on behalf of the farm. However, the marshal said that such horses were needed for the Red Army and did not take the horse — he only took the silver harness. According to my father-in-law's memories, they also searched the entire village for a silk chapan to present as a gift to the honored guest. My father-in-law often recalled: 'He had spurs on his boots that made a ringing sound with every step... And he poured vodka into a large glass and drank it in one gulp,' — he recounted this with a sense of admiration and a kind smile.
The third painting was hand-painted by the artist Dichenko. It depicts the moment of Semyon Budyonny's meeting with the villagers in Kenesh in 1948 and the scene of the horse being gifted. For a while, this painting was unjustly forgotten and collected dust somewhere, but we took it from the ayil okmotu and hung it in the library,” she shared.
Semyon Mikhailovich Budyonny (1883–1973) was a legendary Soviet military leader, one of the first Marshals of the Soviet Union, and a three-time Hero of the Soviet Union.
The ceremonial portrait of Marshal S. Budyonny / 1950
