"I am working to this day"

Autobiography of Archimandrite Aliay (Voronova), written by him in 1974

I, Voronov Ivan Mikhailovich, was born in 1914 in the village of Tarchikha Mikhnevsky district of the Moscow region, in the family of a poor peasant.

At the end of the rural school in 1926, he moved to live and study in Moscow with his older brother. At the end of the nine years, he lived in the village for two years, caring for a sick mother. In 1932, he began working on Metrostroy and prepare for admission to Isino institute.

In 1935, the construction of the metro was completed, and I was appointed to work on the operation of the metro. First he worked as a cashier, then a controller, and later an assistant to the station duty officer. In 1936, with the help of the All -Russian Central Executive Committee, an istudist was organized, where I went to study, being prepared in the evening studio under Mosha in the former workshop of Surikov.

In 1936, in October, I was drafted into the ranks of the Red Army. In order not to interrupt art classes, the decision of the draft commission was left to serve in the Red Army in Moscow.

For two years of service in the army, a lot had to work on the organization of Iskruzhki and studios at the military units of the Moscow Military District.

In November 1938, at the end of the service, he entered the factory No. 58. From November 1938 to November 1941 he worked at this plant as a dispatcher and forwarder. This work, which happened constantly at night, gave me the opportunity to study. In May 1941, classes were over; I received a diploma of the end of the studio, and in June the war began.

At first, our military plant was, as it were, the front, and no one left home. And when the enemy approached Moscow, I, like everyone else, went out with weapons in my hands to defend the capital. Leaving to the front, I grabbed a sketchbook. And so from Moscow to Berlin: on the right - a rifle, on the left is a sketchin with paints. I went through the whole war, was a member of many battles. For writing the story of the Special 4th Panzer Army, Generalissimus Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin, he was personally awarded a high combat award-the Order of the Red Star. He was also awarded medals “For Courage” and two medals “For Military Merit”; Over a dozen medals received for participation in the liberation of different cities.

As written in the personal file, together with the part with which he participated in the battles, received another 76 combat awards and rewards.

In the fall of 1945, returning from the front, I brought about a thousand different drawings, sketches and sketches and immediately organized an individual exhibition of his front -line works in the house of unions in Moscow. This exhibition helped me join the city committee of the partnership of Moscow artists and gave me the right to work as an artist. Every year I arranged one or two individual or group exhibitions, which showed my growth as an artist.

In 1948, working on the opener in the Trinity-Sergius Lavra near Moscow, I was subdued by the beauty and originality of this place, first as an artist, and then as a navel of a laurel, and decided to devote myself to the service of the laurel forever.

From March 12, 1949 to July 30, 1959 he worked on the restoration of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, applying all his specialties. On July 30, 1959, by decree of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church, he was sent to the Pskov land to restore the ancient Pskov-Pechersk monastery, which by this time, after many wars and long years of its existence, was almost completely ruined.

At the post of governor of this monastery (and this is my monastic obedience) I work to this day.

The governor of the Pskov-Pechersky Monastery Archimandrite Alipius (Voronov). December 15, 1974.

The autobiography of Archimandrite Alia is stored in the archive of the Pskov-Pechersky Monastery.