The painting “The Church of St. Athanasius"was created by a native of Pogar, local historian and artist Feodosy Rudoy.
Feodosy Rudoy is a representative of an old Pogar bourgeois family. He was born on February 5, 1903. His father worked in the court, worked with the archives and was elected as a member of the city council.
He studied at the Pogar four-years town high school and from 1918 — in a unified labor school. That was the name given to the new educational institutions after the 1918 education reform. According to it, boys and girls studied together, theology and old languages were no longer taught, and social and political disciplines were added to the usual curriculum. After school, Rudoy graduated from the teacher training courses at the workers’ faculty (an educational establishment set up to prepare peasants and workers for higher education) of the Smolensk Institute. Then he taught at an elementary school in the village of Rogovichi, Pogarsky District. In 1930, he became the head of the Pogar school and seven years later — the head of the Local Education Authority. From the fronts of the Great Patriotic War, Rudoy returned with medals “For the Capture of Koenigsberg”, “For the Defense of Moscow” and “For Victory over Japan”.
Feodosy Rudoy was fond of painting and organized an art club in his native city. In the mid-1980s, Rudoy created a set of paintings called “Old Pogar”. In his works the artist showed old streets, architectural monuments, and the nature of the village. The painting “The Church of St. Athanasius” was included in this set as well.
Rudoy worked with oil paints on a thin wooden board — fiberboard. In the center, there is a wooden church of St. Athanasius. This church was built back in the 17th century with the funds of the joint craftsmen of Pogar, who were called “shavtsy” (shoemakers) and “kravtsy” (tailors). There was an alms-house for the sick and the poor, as well as a school and a fraternal house for craftsmen meetings, where they celebrated the saint’s days of those who patronized their crafts — Cosmas, Damian, and St. Athanasius. The church was closed in the 1930s. The choir singers and priests who did not renounce their faith were repressed. A library was organized in the church building. During the Great Patriotic War, Nazi troops kept Soviet prisoners of war in the Church of St. Athanasius, and during the retreat burned it down. Feodosy Rudoy’s painting is one of the few surviving images of this church.
Feodosy Rudoy is a representative of an old Pogar bourgeois family. He was born on February 5, 1903. His father worked in the court, worked with the archives and was elected as a member of the city council.
He studied at the Pogar four-years town high school and from 1918 — in a unified labor school. That was the name given to the new educational institutions after the 1918 education reform. According to it, boys and girls studied together, theology and old languages were no longer taught, and social and political disciplines were added to the usual curriculum. After school, Rudoy graduated from the teacher training courses at the workers’ faculty (an educational establishment set up to prepare peasants and workers for higher education) of the Smolensk Institute. Then he taught at an elementary school in the village of Rogovichi, Pogarsky District. In 1930, he became the head of the Pogar school and seven years later — the head of the Local Education Authority. From the fronts of the Great Patriotic War, Rudoy returned with medals “For the Capture of Koenigsberg”, “For the Defense of Moscow” and “For Victory over Japan”.
Feodosy Rudoy was fond of painting and organized an art club in his native city. In the mid-1980s, Rudoy created a set of paintings called “Old Pogar”. In his works the artist showed old streets, architectural monuments, and the nature of the village. The painting “The Church of St. Athanasius” was included in this set as well.
Rudoy worked with oil paints on a thin wooden board — fiberboard. In the center, there is a wooden church of St. Athanasius. This church was built back in the 17th century with the funds of the joint craftsmen of Pogar, who were called “shavtsy” (shoemakers) and “kravtsy” (tailors). There was an alms-house for the sick and the poor, as well as a school and a fraternal house for craftsmen meetings, where they celebrated the saint’s days of those who patronized their crafts — Cosmas, Damian, and St. Athanasius. The church was closed in the 1930s. The choir singers and priests who did not renounce their faith were repressed. A library was organized in the church building. During the Great Patriotic War, Nazi troops kept Soviet prisoners of war in the Church of St. Athanasius, and during the retreat burned it down. Feodosy Rudoy’s painting is one of the few surviving images of this church.
