ST.PETERSBURG (Sputnik) — The Leningrad Region authorities will finance the renovation of the estate museum of artist and architect Nicholas Roerich, who established cultural centers in America and India and initiated a document now known as the Roerich Pact that aims to protect artistic and scientific institutions and historic monuments, the press service of the regional administration reported.
Roerich’s most notable achievement was the Roerich Pact, which was signed between the United States and the other American republics on April 15, 1935, in Washington, D.C.
Roerich is also known for his ethnologic research and his idea to create several cultural centers in America and a unique research institution – the Urusvati Institute of Himalayan Studies – in India.
“Over 12.6 million rubles (US $214,190) have been allocated from the regional budget for the renovation of Nicholas Roerich’s estate. The project should be completed by December 5 and includes interior repair and restoration,” the statement says.
Alexander Drozdenko, acting head of the Leningrad Region, said the authorities are willing to take over ownership and to renovate all federally owned estates in the region.
The Nicholas Roerich Estate Museum in Izvara, a village in the Leningrad Region, opened in 1984. It is the first and only Roerich museum in Russia located in his estate. The museum has 11,000 exhibits, including documents, Roerich’s paintings and items from his expeditions.
