Maraeva Anna Vasilyevna
Anna Vasilyevna is a well—known activist of the Old Believers, a collector of ancient Russian art, a factory owner, and at the same time a simple Russian woman with peasant roots and a strong faith in God.
She was the owner of two factories, a paper mill and a cotton mill, and the head of a large family that gave birth to 8 children.
Anna Vasilyevna Marayeva was born on January 21, 1845 in the village of Toporino, Medinsky district, Kaluga province. Her parents– Vasily and Makrina Volkov, were engaged in artisanal canvas production. According to archival data, the family belonged to the official church, but since 1855 Anna Volkova stopped taking communion and converted to the Old Believers. She received a traditional home education and in 1869, at the age of 24, she married the son of the Serpukhov merchant Methodius (Nefeda) Vasilyevich Maraev (1830-1882).
Vasily Maraev died in 1881, and in 1882, at the age of 52, Methodius Vasilyevich Maraev died suddenly. The "manufacturing business" and the care of a large family fell on the shoulders of 37-year-old Anna Vasilyevna. In difficult conditions, this woman's extraordinary strength of character manifested itself.
In 1884, Anna Vasilyevna became the Serpukhov merchant of the 1st guild, her business flourished, and the "Maraevsky" chintzes were in great demand on the Russian market, especially in the Central Asian region. Thanks to her efforts, wholesale trade at the Nizhny Novgorod and Uryupinsk fairs developed strongly, new production facilities, barracks for workers, and a hospital were built.
The production owned by A.V. Marayeva and her family was an essential part of Serpukhov's socio-economic life. Thanks to the activities of her factories, many residents of the city and county had the opportunity to earn permanent income.
Marayeva spent a significant part of her income from the factory business and the cloth trade on supporting the Serpukhov community of Old Believers, the Fedoseyevites. Anna Vasilyevna also maintained an Old Believers prayer house in Moscow, at her own home in Nastasinsky Lane.
A.V.Marayeva also had a large collection of secular paintings, graphics, sculptures and books, based on the collection of Yuri Vsevolodovich Merlin, which she acquired in 1886. All these treasures were housed in the Maraev manor house, built in 1895-1896 by architect Roman Ivanovich Klein.
Thanks to the efforts of Anna Vasilyevna, Serpukhov today has a museum that can rightfully be called one of the largest provincial museums in Russia. Russian Russian antiquities and a collection of Russian and Western European paintings formed the basis of the Serpukhov Museum of History and Art.
The museum staff honors the memory of this outstanding woman. For example, in 2021, in honor of Anna Vasilyevna's 175th birthday, the museum held a lot of events to preserve and promote her personality.:
— the temporary exhibition "Anna Marayeva. Life and Faith", which became the winner of the All-Russian Historical and Literary Prize "Alexander Nevsky";
— A 3D tour was filmed for this exhibition. It is now available around the clock on the museum's website.;
— I wrote the album "Anna Marayeva. Life and Faith" (https://serpuhov-museum.ru/105-let-sihm/izdatelskaya-deyatelnost-brendirovannye-suveniry/). This is the first such work dedicated to merchant Marayeva.;
— a creative competition was held for professional craftsmen for the best sculpture by A.V. Marayeva, the best sketch was selected, and a monument to Anna Vasilyevna was made and installed at the facade of her house, now the Serpukhov Museum;
— the cookbook "Merchant's Taste" was published based on recipes from the cookbook by Anna Marayeva herself (https://serpuhov-museum.ru/izdeksjaya_deyatelno/kupecheskij-vkus-nbsp-nauch-red-nbsp-i-nbsp-sost-alejnikova-zh-s-medvedeva-e-b-erentsova-o-a-mdash-nbsp-m-sitiprint-2021-mdash-nbsp-s-120-ill-isbn-978-5-6044347-8-9/);
— there were many thematic excursions, literary and musical evenings, memorial evenings and much more.
No tour in the Serpukhov Museum of History and Art begins without mentioning the name of Anna Vasilyevna. Her portrait greets the guests at the main entrance.
The name of Anna Vasilyevna Marayeva will forever remain in the history of the city of Serpukhov!