What Bricks Told

Does the past disappear without a trace? Never.

It was in a little village near Kropyvnytskyi. One man repaired the old brick stove and found several branded bricks. We could see the branded letter 'R'. So the local legends about brick plants of Rizanov were confirmed.

The Rizanovs were an extraordinary family. Andrew Rizanov was the grandson of Hryhoriy Butobych, the regimental judge [полковий суддя] of Sloboda Cossack Regiment [Слобідський козацький полк] (1754-1764).  Local legends describe Mr. Rizanov as an innovator and a creator of a mystical garden-park complex on the banks of the river Lozuvatka. There were sculptured fountains near the manor, alleys lined with oaks in the park and laughing moon-light mermaids in the park pond.

...laughing moon-light mermaids in the park pond...

I suppose one of the mermaids became Andrew's wife :). Frankly speaking we never knew how Hanna Kasinova met Andrew. So in Yelysavethrad (now Kropyvnytskyi) in the 19th century Mrs. Rizanova was well-known as a patron of the Society of Literacy and Crafts Enlightment [Товариство поширення грамотності і ремесел], first Craft and Grammar School [Ремісничо-грамотне училище] for poor Ukrainian children in the Russian Empire.

Mrs. Rizanova also took pains to create a cultural environment where the Kropyvnytskyi amateur theatre started its professional way. Maybe Hanna Rizanova was watching the premiere of "Vechornytsi" by Nischynskyi in 1785. Maybe she was one of those who inspired Kropyvnytskyi to establish the first Ukrainian Professional Dramma Theatre [перший український професійний театр].

Ukrainian National Drama Theatre in Kropyvnytskyi

Now there is Rizanova street in the village of Hayivka and a city of Kropyvnytskyi to commemorate outstanding people of the Central Ukraine.

Thus this branded brick tells us a lot.