CITY BLOCKS CEMETARY FOR CRITIC
By Kevin O’Flynn

The Moscow Times, Russia
Jan 15 2010

The Moscow city government deliberately blocked the funeral of an
important cultural figure and outspoken critic of their building policy
in a prestigious cemetery, organizers of the funeral alleged Thursday.

David Sarkisyan, head of the Shchusev Architecture Museum and a
figurehead for the preservationist movement in Moscow, died at the
age of 62 on Jan. 7.

Funeral organizers wanted to bury Sarkisyan — born in Yerevan,
Armenia — in the Armenian Cemetery, part of the Vagankovskoye
Cemetery, not far from Belorusskaya metro station.

"He did so much for the city and made the museum famous around the
world," said Natalya Samover from preservation movement Archnadzor,
"The city did not consider that worthy enough."

The cemetery is full, but burials can take place there with the
permission of the city or if the owner of a plot sells one. Georgy
Garanyan, a famous Armenian jazz musician, was buried Thursday in
the Armenian Cemetery.

Organizers, who include Deputy Culture Minister Pavel Khoroshilov,
asked Deputy Mayor Vladimir Resin, acting mayor while Yury Luzhkov is
on vacation, to give permission for the burial, but they were refused,
despite the request being backed by the Armenian Church. Resin ranted
about how Sarkisyan had held up progress in the city, one organizer
alleged.

Sarkisyan was a vocal critic of the city’s construction policies,
accusing them of barbarianism that put greed ahead of the city’s
heritage.

Luzhkov was consulted about the decision, organizers alleged Resin
said, and the burial was refused.

An appeal was made by the city’s chief architect, but the decision
remained unchanged.

"He defended historical heritage, and Luzhkov was against David even
after his death," one of the organizers said. "He did not want to
forgive him."

They then raised more than $100,000 to buy a plot in the cemetery,
but the city then specifically contacted the cemetery, ordering them
not to allow the burial to take place.

"The director of the cemetery said that he got a very direct order
not to allow the funeral to take place," one organizer said.

Organizers spoke off the record because they feared that if their
names were published they would face problems in the future.

A third organizer, architect Yury Grigoryan, confirmed that Sarkisyan
would not be buried in the Armenian Cemetery but did not go into
details, saying: "It is not a big issue. The important thing had been
to save his life."

Sarkisyan instead will now be buried Friday in the Troyekurovskoye
Cemetery, where a number of Moscow’s most famous citizens, such as
writer Vasily Grossman, are buried and which is located on the edge
of the city.

Resin’s press service said the matter concerned his work as acting
mayor rather than his work as head of the construction department and
directed questions to the Moscow mayor’s press office. A secretary
who answered the phone at the Moscow city press service said the press
spokesman was on holiday and refused to connect or give a number for
his deputy. She then hung up.

The Culture Ministry is helping organize the funeral, said Natalya
Uvarova, a spokeswoman for the ministry, but she would not comment
on whether or not the city had blocked the funeral. The ministry has
arranged for the Kultura television channel to repeat an interview
with Sarkisyan at 7 p.m. on the day of his funeral. Khoroshilov could
not be contacted Thursday.

It was not lost on organizers that Sarkisyan, who made the museum
a base for the grass-roots movement for preservation during his 10
years in charge, would have enjoyed the fact that city leaders were
still dealing with him.

"He would be quite happy because even when he is dead they are still
afraid of him," an organizer said.

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