Taiga Lolita: The story of a hermit with many children who, 20 years later, decided to return from the forest to people

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Modern mankind is very accustomed to everything that we call "the benefits of civilization." But there are so many people in the world who do not consider civilization a good at all - on the contrary, they are sure that it is a terrible evil. Some of these people try to avoid the harmful influence of this evil and go somewhere to deserted, remote places - they become hermits. Quite often these are just obscurantists and sectarians, but it also happens that quite intelligent educated people are carried away by such utopian ideas. It was with such a person that this amazing, sometimes eerie story happened, which is similar to a dramatic novel more than to real life.

The idea that we should be closer to Mother Nature and use only her natural gifts is far from new. At different times, people decided to move away from civilization, to return to the origins, so to speak. Now, for example, there are many such ecovillages where people are engaged in subsistence farming, do not use anything that is harmful to the environment. They are trying to show that you can lead a healthy, fulfilling life without killing our long-suffering planet.

But we are not talking about settlements, but about hermits. Since childhood, Viktor Martsinkevich dreamed of complete merging with nature, achieving absolute harmony with plants and animals. He received an excellent education, graduated with honors from two universities. Parents could not get enough of the promising son. But Victor himself wanted only one thing: to escape from this vain, depraved world to the country of Factory, invented by him, where he would live in complete unity with nature.

Martsinkevich was inspired by the extraordinary story of the hermits-Old Believers, the Lykovs, who lived in the taiga for more than forty years, in complete isolation from civilization. Only Victor's ideology was different. He himself formulated for himself three laws of being: "The happiness of life is in its simplicity", "Man, strive for nature - you will be healthy", "Disease is a signal to change the way of life." After that, he packed the essentials in a backpack and left his native Smolensk in an unknown direction, without saying a word to anyone.

Viktor's goal was Siberia. It was there, in the endless taiga, where you can get lost in deep forests, that Martsinkevich decided to create his own Factory. A couple of warm clothes and a small supply of canned food fit into his backpack. Victor also kept a diary where he wrote down all his ideas. He was firmly convinced that the rejection of all the benefits of civilization would give humanity the opportunity to defeat disease, crime and many other vices.

To implement his postulates, Victor settled in the Irkutsk region, far from human settlements. There, in the forest, he built a hut and began his reclusive existence. The banal need for clothes and shoes shattered the idea of complete isolation from the world. In order to provide himself with all this, Martsinkevich went to the nearest settlement and exchanged furs there for the necessary industrial goods. He also stocked up on provisions. Thus, over and over again Victor had to return to the very civilization that he hated so much.

In the fall of 1982, Viktor had to once again go out to people. The harsh Siberian winter was approaching, how to survive it far from people, Martsinkevich did not know. He settled in the village of Korotkovo, where he managed to get a job at the local timber industry enterprise. There, local lonely ladies immediately began to look at him. After all, he was handsome, educated, did not take alcohol in his mouth - just a dream! He was even given a funny affectionate nickname "Scarlet".

Having such a chic choice, Martsinkevich modestly focuses on a widow with many children, much older than him in age. He not only married her, but also took her last name. So he turned into Viktor Antipin. Victor was convinced that the surname with the protest prefix "anti" would be more suitable for him.

The children of my stepfather immediately fell in love. He was very kind, knew a lot and always told such amazing stories! Martsinkevich's wife, now Antipin, had four children. The oldest girl became very attached to her stepfather. She listened to his stories about human life in harmony with nature just by opening her mouth. By the age of fifteen, the girl had grown, developed physically, and was so imbued with the ideas of Victor and his mythical trading post that she became not only his like-minded person. It so happened that the girl, her name was Anya, became pregnant. The stepfather and his stepdaughter fled to the taiga. Either to embody dreams of a bright future far from civilization, or to hide a sin … Now this is history. Ani's mother, of course, found out about everything, but did not interfere with her daughter's building her happiness. I just gathered the children, simple belongings and left for the Far East. After all, after this, life in a small village would become a real hell for a woman.

Hermits settled in an abandoned hunting lodge in the middle of the taiga. The nearest settlement was more than two hundred kilometers of impassable wilderness. In this forest hut, Anna gave birth to her first child. The boy was named Severyan. Surprisingly, the birth was easy and the baby was born healthy. But the harsh winter and the house without amenities did their job - the baby died of an elementary cold. Victor believed that this is natural selection and there is no need to grieve too much. Anna was literally crushed with grief, but as a strong woman, she finally resigned herself to this loss. The girl really hoped that she would still have children and they would be able to survive.

The life of the young was very difficult, full of dangers and hardships. Severe winters with snowstorms, wild animals, insect infestations in summer, spring floods, forest fires - this was a daily battle. Despite all the difficulties, the couple was happy - it seemed to them that they had found their Factory and did not depend on this vicious human society. A year after the death of Severyan, Anna gave birth to a daughter. It was winter and there was no food. The young woman lost her milk from hunger. Antipin basically did not hunt game - he believed that one could take from nature only what he got himself with his own hands.

Everything could have ended very badly, if not for a fluke. A deer nailed to the hut, which lagged behind the herd. Thanks to him, Anna and her husband and daughter were able to survive the winter, which almost became their last. The woman chewed boiled deer meat and fed her daughter with this puree. In honor of the deer, the girl was named - Deer. After such a difficult winter, the Antipins decided to move to places richer in the gifts of nature. In addition, there was a village nearby, and Victor began to earn money at the local Khimleskhoz. But this did not last long - the enterprise was disbanded and the family was again left without a livelihood.

The authorities offered the Antipin family to move to another village, but Victor flatly refused. They went back to their taiga wilderness. They ate game caught by snares, fish, picked berries and mushrooms. Children were born one by one. Victor delivered the birth himself. This is how Vanya, Vitya, Misha and Alesya were born. From an early age they mastered the difficult science of survival in the taiga. Victor himself taught children all sciences. Unlike the Lykovs, they were not illiterate. He also brought them books and newspapers from nearby settlements.

Of course, not everything was so rosy: at the age of six, their son Vanya dies from tick-borne encephalitis. Most likely, the child could have been saved, but Antipin was relentless - they did not need any medical help, if the boy dies, then so be it. Natural selection.

The death of her second son broke Anna. As the veil flew from her eyes and for the first time she looked soberly at life in the taiga. Yes, all their lives, Victor convinced Anna that a civilized society is imperfect, anger and depravity reign there. Antipin called them nothing other than "nonhumans." While she was young, she was ready for heaven in a hut, if only the dear one was there. But now she was a mature woman, a mother. Anna thought more and more about children, about their future. And such a fate as hers, she did not want for them. In addition, Victor was almost twice her age and that rainy day is not so far away when he will not be able to provide them with food.

In the late autumn of 2002, the woman, having gathered the children, took a desperate step - she decided to go to those whom her husband called "inhumans." Victor did not want to let them go, he shouted after Anna that she would destroy the children. A thirty-six-year-old woman already saw the world differently than at fifteen. She had to provide her children with a decent life. To this end, the mother bravely overcame the taiga off-road, went through blizzards and frosts, and brought the children out to the people.

Anna Antipina applied to the administration of the Taishet district. They were received very warmly and hospitably, they were allocated a house in the village of Serebrovo. Everything was new to the family: ordinary household amenities, appliances, heating in the house! To Anna it all seemed like a princely mansion after her and Viktor's taiga shack. The husband refused even to build a more comfortable and large house, although he could, because he was a jack of all trades. Antipin simply believed that they must be content with the smallest.

The story of an unusual family caught the attention of the press. Overnight Anna became famous, the whole country started talking about her. All was good. The children have perfectly adapted to their new life. But Olenya really missed her father. She was simply attracted by the taiga. The girl often went to her dad, overcoming a long and dangerous path on her own. Once Olenya discovered the already cold body of Victor. He could not survive the long harsh winter and died of hunger. After that, the last thread that connected Anna and the children with the taiga was cut off. Antipina married again. She gave birth to her new husband two daughters. Anna lives to this day in the village of Serebrovo. The Antipin's eldest daughter, Olenya, also got married and is raising a daughter. She says that her husband won her heart not with the help of bouquets and sweets, but with what he took with him on a hunt in the taiga. Anna's sons studied, served in the army, got married and moved to live in the city. Vitya's relationship with his mother went wrong and they do not communicate, and Misha calls her very often.

Life goes on as usual, and only sometimes journalists come to Anna to once again hear firsthand the amazing story of her hermit life in the taiga. After spending almost twenty years in the forest, in the wilderness, she admits that sometimes she really wants forest peace and quiet. Taiga did not completely let go of Anna.

There are a lot of people who decide to live far from civilization, in harmony with nature. Read our article on an unusual hermit whose life is in full view: 26 years of solitude on the top of a cliff.