A great artist and a good genius - Ivan Aivazovsky

Feodosia by mid of the XIX century was more like a small village, a small district town. On that place where the main street Gallery is now laid, in the past flowed a small mountain stream. During the rainy season it is rapidly swept with powerful flow directly to the sea, although in the summer it completely becomes petty and dry. Along the seacoast, on the place of modern seafront, was located grove of reeds, in which shoots, local residents arranged a hunt on ducks. 

So in this provincial town from the capital arrives the rich man and on the sea coast starts to actively build a luxurious mansion in Italian Renaissance style, with classical sculptures, mounted on the front of the house (much later Aivazovsky made annexe of a large building to his house ). You can do nothing there, rich people could well afford to architecturally excel, without worrying how organically and naturally looks their creation in the surrounding area. But at the same time...

In the Art Gallery of Aivazovsky there is the painting "The first train in Feodosia". Landscape depicted in the painting, is quite recognizable, if not counting the old steam locomotive, the area in the picture is exactly copied from the landscapes of local railroad, which was no at the time of drawing of this creation! A few years later, thanks to the efforts of Aivazovsky, the Feodosia сoast neighborhood have heard the whistle of the first steam locomotive.

That passion and energy with which Aivazovsky began upgrading and raising the cultural level of his native town are hardly placed in the mind. In addition to providing the railroad, he was able to organize the rebuilding and reconstruction of sea port, which is currently the largest on the Crimean coast. At his own expense Ivan Aivazovsky designed and rebuilt the Archaeological Museum. He was one of the main initiators of construction of the first public library. Taking care of the aesthetic and cultural face of native Feodosia, he was an author of the project of the Concert Hall's building and of many other buildings in the city. Namely Aivazovsky has truly ennobled Feodosia and gave it an appearance of real city.

The eternal and constant Crimean problem and to this day is the lack of drinking water. It is hard to imagine how acute this problem was felt in times of Aivazovsky. Namely  Aivazovsky has designed and constructed system of water supply of the city, which greatly facilitated the lives of local residents. With deep gratitude to the generous painter in Feodosia was placed a monument which is known, as "fountain behalf of Aivazovsky" with gratitude inscription: "For good genius".

This kind man was never a mayor, who would have had to deal with problems of Feodosia. But no one can call Aivazovsky - the rich man-slacker, he has been working a lot and hard, giving his work all the time and effort: he drew a wonderful pictures.

His first wife was Julia Grefs - englishwoman by origin. They raised four daughters, but this marriage was not destined to last a lifetime, they separated. Aivazovsky can not be accused of lack of attention to the already ex-wife: financially he secured Julia by transferring her the Crimean estate. Divorce was received from Echmiadzin Synod, and as it turned out, had no legal force. That's why when Aivazovsky has conceived to marry a second time, his ex-wife, Julia Yakovlevna, conceived litigation.
The second wife of Aivazovsky became beautiful widow Anna Nikitichna Sarkizova. At the time of marriage the groom was 65 and the bride was 30 years younger. Having lived in a happy marriage many years, after the death of the great artist his widow spent 25 years in the home seclusion without leaving home, as a sign of the deepest mourning.  Thus she went through the revolution, the first world and the civil wars. After the death of Anna Nikitichna, in 1914, she was buried beside her husband in the graveyard near the church of St. Sergius in Feodosia. Namely there, but 44 years earlier, after the sudden death, was buried Ivan Aivazovsky. He died from a brain haemorrhage at night, and did not finish started earlier painting "The explosion of the ship". Painter was buried with military honors, with the assumption of the admiral's sword on his coffin.