On October 5, 1955, Helena Roerich, a writer, brave traveler and life companion of the mystic and artist Nicholas Roerich, passed away in the Indian Kalimpong. We recall interesting facts from the life of an amazing woman.
Helena Roerich was called the "Mother of Agni Yoga", an erudite and talented woman who knew no fear. Her husband Nicholas Roerich admitted that they "worked together", that his "works should have two names - female and male."
Years later, their son Svyatoslav noted that it was the mother who was the “leading” in the Roerich pair.
“In all travels, in all endeavors, Elena Ivanovna always played the main, leading role, and we can say that he (father - approx.), As it were, personified her in his painting“Leading”, where a woman leads a man through the spurs of rocks to the top of a mountain , - he wrote.
A beautiful woman, a unique personality, she inscribed her name in the history of Russia and India. When in 1955 her body was burnt, a stupa was erected on the site of the lama's cremation, on which they wrote: "Helena Roerich, wife of Nicholas Roerich, thinker and writer, longtime friend of India."
On the anniversary of Roerich's death, SPB. AIF. RU recalls interesting facts from her life.
Of the kind of field marshal
Promotional video:
Elena's father was the famous St. Petersburg architect Ivan Shaposhnikov, one of whose striking projects is the building of the Great Choral Synagogue. According to legend, his grandfather was burgomaster in Riga. Once, during the trip of Peter I across the Baltic region, he presented him with the cap of Monomakh. The tsar liked this reception, and he suggested that the burgomaster move to Russia and gave the surname Shaposhnikov, which he used.
Elena's father was the famous St. Petersburg architect Ivan Shaposhnikov
Photo: Public Domain
Elena's mother was Ekaterina Vasilievna, a great-uncle of the commander Mikhail Kutuzov. According to the recollections of relatives, she and her daughter had a warm relationship. “They both loved each other very much, and the mother, a very good-natured sweet old woman, who retained her former beauty, could not stop looking at her Lyalya, as everyone called her then,” wrote a family friend Natalia Shishkina in her memoirs.
The family also had two children. Elena had a brother, Illarion, and a sister, Anna, but they died at the age of five.
Mother and father threw out all their care on their Lyalechka, who since childhood was fond of music, painting and philosophy.
Acquaintance with Nicholas Roerich
The meeting that changed Elena's life took place in the Novgorod province on the estate of her aunt Evdokia Putyatina. In 1899, she rested in Bologoye with her numerous relatives. According to legend, once, returning from the bath, she noticed a young man whom she took for a land surveyor. Later, she learned that he was a famous artist, archaeologist who had come here to excavate burial mounds.
Nicholas Roerich was struck by the beauty of the young person, who, according to the memoirs of contemporaries, attracted the eyes of her with her inner charm and femininity.
Nicholas Roerich was 27 years old when he married Helena
Photo: Public Domain
When young people began to communicate, it turned out that they have a lot in common: both are well versed in art, love music and philosophy. Their meetings continued in St. Petersburg.
Once Roerich left a note in his diary: “Today E. I. was in the studio. I'm afraid for myself - there is a lot of good in her, again I start to want to see her as often as possible, to be where she is."
They got married in 1901. The wedding took place in the church of the Imperial Academy of Arts on Vasilievsky Island.
Helena Roerich impressed the artist with her beauty and erudition
Photo: Public Domain
The nature of their love is indicated by the letter that Nikolai wrote to his fiancee during separation:
“… Know, Ladushka, if You turn aside, if You deceive me, then there will be no place for me on a good road. I love you only as a person, as a person, and if I feel that such love is impossible, then I don’t know where the border of the bad is, to which I will reach. You hold me in your hands, and You, only You order me to be an ideal egoist or the most nasty egoist - Your will!"
And Ladushka didn't turn. They have lived together for over 40 years.
“Forty years is a long time. On such a long voyage, many storms and thunderstorms can be encountered. We passed all sorts of obstacles amicably. And obstacles turned into opportunities. I dedicated my books to Elena, my wife, friend, companion, inspirer. Each of these concepts was tested in the fire of life,”Roerich confessed.
They had two sons. The firstborn - Yuri - was born in 1902. He became a renowned orientalist with a worldwide reputation, a specialist in the language and culture of Tibet. The youngest son Svyatoslav was born in 1904. He followed in the footsteps of his father, whose first portrait he painted at the age of 13. Nikolai himself described his son's artistic skills as follows: “It is wonderful if this lofty gift is given in life, with which everything dark, everything disastrous turns into joy of spirit. And how joyfully we must greet those who, by the will of fate, can bring beauty into life."
Spiritualism and clairvoyance
At the beginning of the century, a passion for spiritualistic seances reigned in society, and it did not bypass the life of the Roerichs. According to eyewitness testimony and surviving letters, it can be judged that during the seances, the Roerichs "summoned the souls of dead people." Since 1920, such meetings have been held in their circle quite regularly.
The Roerichs practiced spiritualism with the whole family
Photo: Public Domain
Vladimir Shibarev, Nikolai Konstantinovich's secretary, recalled his first visit to such an event, which took place in June 1920:
“The room was full of light, and I clearly saw that any possibility of deception was excluded. The table nervously shook and jumped, and when they asked him who it was (there was a conventional knock: one - yes; two times - no; three times - amplified yes), whether it was the Teacher, - then the table jumped up and hit once. Then there was a sequential message of letters. Namely, one of those present called the alphabet in a continuous order, and when the letter was pronounced, a knock followed. So several phrases were collected."
During such sessions, the participants, among whom were the Roerichs' children, mastered the method of “automatic writing”, which, presumably, was the result of the unconscious activity of the writer based on messages from otherworldly sources.
Helena Roerich with her sons
Photo: Public Domain
Helena Roerich herself, according to her, wanted to learn spirit communication, believing that in this way true messages from the "Masters" could be received. Over time, when she formed the teaching of Living Ethics (Agni Yoga), her attitude towards spiritualism changed.
In 1935, in one of her letters, she wrote: “From the books of the Teaching, you can see how Vladyka M. warns against all magic and in what strong expressions Vladyka speaks against mediumship and any violent mechanical methods for opening centers recommended by irresponsible pseudo-occult schools. Where Vladyka M. is, there are no mechanical devices or magic signs."
In 1920 the Roerichs approached the Theosophical Society founded by Helena Blavatsky. Brilliant command of foreign languages allowed Roerich to translate into Russian her "Secret Doctrine" and selected letters of the Mahatmas ("Bowl of the East").
It is believed that on the basis of the "Secret Doctrine" the Roerichs created the Living Ethics teaching, which included the esotericism of the East and occult-philosophical traditions.
Helena Roerich claimed that she managed to establish contact with the "Vladyka" - Mahatma Moriah, whose existence is still debated by historians. Elena's diaries contain records in which she describes that their communication took place using automatic writing. Over time, she mastered the techniques of clairaudience and clairvoyance. The result of such “conversations” with the Teacher was her 14 books.
It is worth noting that some biographers describe these "experiences" as hallucinations and neurotic sensations. They rely on the notes of the Roerich family doctor in India, Yalovenko, who wrote that "she is sick with a nervous disease called an epileptic aura."
Elena Ivanovna herself answered the following question about the teaching of Living Ethics: “It contains all life, all its areas, means all improvements, therefore, in addition to constant moral improvement, each person must study and have at least one skill and craft”.
In search of truth
Passion for Eastern culture and teachings led the Roerichs to India. In 1924 they set off on the Central Asian expedition, which lasted four years. During this time, Elena and her husband visited little-explored areas of India, China, Mongolia and Tibet.
The trip took place in difficult conditions, which were difficult for men to endure. As Nikolai Konstantinovich recalled, Elena, with her example of perseverance and courage, could inspire many.
In 1924 the Roerichs set off for the Central Asian expedition
Photo: Public Domain
“On horseback with us, Elena Ivanovna traveled all over Asia, froze and starved in Tibet, but she was always the first to give an example of cheerfulness to the whole caravan. And the greater the danger, the more cheerful, ready and joyful she was. She herself had a pulse of 140, but she still tried to personally participate in the arrangement of the caravan and in settling all the travel concerns. No one has ever seen discouragement or despair, and there have been many reasons for this of a very different nature,”he wrote.
It should be noted that after the expedition the Roerichs settled in India. In the region of the Western Himalayas in the Kullu Valley, they founded the Urusvati Institute, which opened its doors in 1928.
Helena Roerich supported her husband in all endeavors
Photo: Public Domain
Elena's dream was to turn this place into an international scientific center.
“We wish to give a synthesis of achievements in this City, therefore, all fields of science should subsequently be represented in it. And since Knowledge has as its source the entire Cosmos, then the participants of the station must belong to the whole world, that is, to all nationalities …”- she said.
Several laboratories (medical, zoological, botanical, biochemical, etc.) operated at this institute; research was carried out in the field of linguistics and philology of the East.
Over time, he gained worldwide fame. Such personalities as Albert Einstein, Louis de Broglie, Robert Milliken, Sven Gedin and others collaborated with him.
Funeral pyre
In 1947 Nicholas Roerich passed away. On the site of his funeral pyre in the Kulu valley, a stone was installed on which it was carved: “The body of Maharishi Nicholas Roerich, a great friend of India, was burnt on this place on 30 Maghar 2004 of the Vikram era, corresponding to December 15, 1947. OM RAM (Let there be peace).
Elena survived him by seven years. She died on October 5, 1955, and was cremated at Kalimpong in the Western Himalayas.
