The Academy commemorated the 90th anniversary of Yu.A. Gagarin

On March 10, 2024, a round table held at the Elizabeth Hall of the Moscow theological Academy was dedicated to the 90th anniversary of Yu.A. Gagarin’s birth and the 60th anniversary of his visit to the Holy Trinity St. Sergius Lavra and the Moscow Theological Academy.

Archimandrite Simeon (Tomachinsky), Associate Professor at the Philology Department of the Moscow Theological Academy, opened the round table. He greeted guests on behalf of the Bishop of Sergiev Posad and Dmitrov Kirill, Rector of the Moscow Theological Academy and Abbot of the Holy Trinity St. Sergius Lavra. Archimandrite Simeon noted that the event dedicated to Russian cosmonaut Yu.A. Gagarin and is of particular importance for the Trinity Monastery and our theological school.

“Yuri Gagarin is a completely special example of the Russian spirit. He embodies both extraordinary grandeur and austerity. On the one hand, he was the first man in space. This task was fraught with incredible risk. After all, it is known that there were two messages prepared for the media. One of them was to be made public in the case of a tragic outcome of the flight, and another in a successful one. Moreover, Gagarin himself, preparing for a tragic outcome even signed a will. What a courage! What dedication did it take to say the legendary “Let's go!” before the start. On the other hand, Gagarin had an extraordinary austerity, which shined in his famous smile. He did not catch a star while travelling all around the world and meeting with famous people. He had this quality of a Russian man throughout his entire life, despite his worldwide fame”, said Archimandrite Simeon.

Then a word was given to ValentinVas. Petrov, a retired Air Force Colonel, Associate Professor of the Air Force Academy named by Yu.A. Gagarin, and a friend of Yuri Alekseevich. Sixty years ago, he suggested the first cosmonaut visiting the Holy Trinity St. Sergius Lavra and the Museum of the Moscow Theological Academy. After that he was once officially reprimanded for “trying to drag the first cosmonaut into religion.”

The trip to the monastery impressed Yu.A. Gagarin was much. On December 27, 1965 at the Kremlin VIII Plenum of the Komsomol Central Committee, Yuri Gagarin proposed to restore the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, which model he saw at the Museum. That model is still a part of the museum exhibition, and the transcript of his speech is in the Russian State Archive of Socio-Political History.

Other members of the round table were Honored Scientist of the Russian Federation, a full member of the Academy of Military Sciences of the Russian Federation, retired Lieutenant General Professor I.N. Naydenov; Pilot-cosmonaut of the Russian Federation, Hero of Russia S.N. Ryzhikov; a teacher of additional education of the first qualification category, PhD of Military Sciences, Colonel V.N. Tolkov; Head of the Central Museum of the Air Force, branch of the Federal State Budgetary Institution "Central Museum of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation" at the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation A.M. Zarubetsky; Deputy Chairman of the Veterans’ Council of the Air Force Academy named after. Yu.A. Gagarin Colonel in the reserve V.I. Kozlov. 

Colonel A.Yu. Yablonsky, Head of the historical and patriotic photo club “Obraz” and an honorary veteran of the Moscow region, presented a small photographic exhibition “The Life of Yuri Gagarin in Photographs.” After that, Alexander Yuryevich read the poem “Ode to the Museum,” which he dedicated to the Air Force Museum in Monino.

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MThA Press Office