Leontievka Estate -

This large estate was the country home of Nadhezda and Vladimir Vladimirovitch Mouravieff-Apostol-Korobyine. It was occupied by the family in the summer months. Their last time at this home was October 1st, 1913. Bolshevik sympathisers set the house on fire in 1919 as part of the general uprising and reprisals against the landowners. Today, the property is a park.

MAP of LEONTIEVKA AREA

Pen and Ink Sketch - Liudmyla Kapitonenko '07

Leontievka Estate of Mouravieff-Apostol-Korobyine family c. 1912

Oil on Canvas (30cm x 40cm)

Liudmyla Kapitonenko '07

In September 2012, Nicholas Mouravieff-Apostol, the grandson of Nadehzda and Vladimir Mouravieff-Apostol, visited the park and found the original foundation stones of the estate house as well as the underground brick cellar where food and wine was stored.

The local SUMY newspaper article recorded the visit:

“It is so nice to be back in the motherland…”

No matter how far one’s destiny may take one, one inevitably feels the enchanting call of the motherland and the craving to return to our roots and see the places from where we came.

Things were no different for Nicholas Mouraviev Apostol, a descendent of the distinguished Russian dynasties of the Mouraviev Apostols and Terestchenkos, who now resides in the USA and came to the land of Burynia last week.

 Nicholas is famous worldwide as a founder of several plastic waste recycling companies, a pioneer in the area of computer development and aviation technology as well as the creator of several US projects for social development .

 The history of the Mouraviev Apostol dynasty has its roots deep in Burynia. The guest from the United States is a grandson of Nadezhda Fedorovna Terestchenko and a Russian diplomat, Count Vladimir Vladimirovich Mouraviev Apostol Korobin who, after his resignation from the diplomatic corps, settled on the estate of Leontievka together with his family (represented today as a community in Sloboda Village Council in the district of Burynia).

 The family built a church, a school, and laid out a landscaped park with cascading ponds in the area. In 1913, when the tercentennial anniversary of the Romanovs was celebrated, the village of Popovaya Sloboda (nowadays known as the village of Sloboda), adjacent to Leontievka, was the site for the construction of a new, brick church, built with the assistance of the Mouraviev Apostols.

 After the revolution, this family emmigrated to western europe and later to the United States as most celebrated families of that time did.

 During his visit to Burynia, the American guest met with the head of the Davyd Burliuk foundation and Burynia Community activist, Aleksander Kapitenko; the head of he Burynia District Council, Hryhorii Nikitchenko and his deputy, Leonid Bilyk. Nicholas Mouraviev Apostol also visited the regional natural history club “Burynika” named after P. Popov as well as the village of Sloboda where the American visitor was presented a picture of the scenery of his native land.

 By Lina Tkach

 Sumy newspaper "Your chance" No. 42 - 17.10.2012