Above all, Dmitry Sergeyevich Likhachyov bequeathed to those who study ancient Russian heritage. To everyone else without exception, he left letters on how to live a life that you won’t be ashamed of and that you won’t regret wasting time on. He also left behind memories illustrating such a life. An amazing memory preserved many episodes from everyday life in pre-revolutionary St. Petersburg, vivid images of besieged Leningrad, the topography of Petersburg suburban dacha areas, and Solovki, as well as the routines of the Solovetsky camp. And there are countless names and characters.
“Should one write memoirs?” the author asks. And here’s how he answers: “It’s worth it—so the events and the atmosphere of the previous years don’t get forgotten, and most of all so that the trace remains of people whom, perhaps, no one will ever remember again—about whom documents lie.”