Erzya intelligent in Moksha frame

On January 31, 1864, in the village of Malye Karmaly in the Simbirsk governorate was born the future Finno-Ugric genius — Makar, son of Evseviy Kobaev. Despite his Erzya origins, he loved our Moksha nation to the depths of his soul, whose unique monuments of tangible and intangible heritage he personally collected in the Middle Volga region. Makar Evsevyev made a huge contribution to the development of both Erzya and Moksha writing, both languages, history and the preservation of culture.

His pedagogical experience and study of the living spoken language in the village Moksha and Erzya environment allowed him to begin creating the corresponding educational literature. In 1892, were published his first primers for Moksha and Erzya. Makar Yevsevyev's energy and talent did not go unnoticed, and by the fateful revolutionary events of 1917, he had risen to the rank of collegiate councilor and was awarded the Order of St. Stanislav and St. Anna, 3rd degree.

Throughout his life, the former peasant who became an urban intellectual in Kazan, where, by the way, he received a higher academic education, was actively engaged in collecting antiques for scientific purposes. Yevsevyev acquired rare decorative samples, applied and folk arts. He treated his collection of traditional costumes with particular seriousness and responsibility.

In folklore expeditions, Makar Yevsevyev collected rich material on oral poetry, as well as items of clothing, jewelry and everyday life of the Mokshas and Erzyas. His ascetic labor left its traces for a long time and seriously in almost all spheres of culture of the two neighboring nations. The intelligent managed to preserve for posterity the immeasurable spiritual wealth, which was almost lost in the thick of the turbulent events of the first half of the 20th century.

He grouped data by the following topics: general information about the settlement, type of housing; rituals and customs; features of traditional folk costume. Under the Soviet regime, Yevsevyev was allowed to edit the Erzya newspaper "Jakstere tešte" (The Red Star). In the 1920s, he became the organizer of the "Central Courses for Mordvin Teachers" in Moscow, the first 3-year courses in Kazan, short-term courses in Nizhny Novgorod, Samara, Saransk, Saratov, Simbirsk.

It is really gratifying to know that among his students there were many Moksha educators. Their names, if not erased in the abyss of the past, are mostly forgotten by the current generation. We think that everyone has to know our prominent ancestors: Iosif Cherapkin, Zakhar Dorofeyev, Maxim Beban, Vasily Ardeyev, Alexey Kochetkov etc.

[Makar Yevsevyev (the older man with hat in the middle of the photo) among Mokshan & Erzyan intelligentsia in Moscow, summer 1925]