Vyatka hero of the 19th century Grigory Koshcheev. SFW - jokes, humor, girls, accidents, cars, celebrity photos and much more

Nikolai Polikarpov, Alexander Veprikov and Dmitry Sennikov are united by
much. All of them were born, lived, worked and still work on the Vyatka land,
devoted their work to her, became experienced professionals, received the title of "Honored Artist of Russia" and pass on the secrets of their skills to young people.

All three of them have recently passed over sixty-five, and, apparently, they are connected not only by a shop partnership, but also by simple human friendship. 25 years ago they already had a joint exhibition. And now, after a quarter of a century, they show the audience their works created over the past ten years.

First, I must say that all three are excellent landscape painters.

Nikolai Polikarpov is faithful to the theme of the Russian village with its difficult fate, he loves to paint the work and life of ordinary people, paints their portraits. For the last five years he has been working in his small homeland, in the Vyatka hinterland - the village of Ozhiganovy, Orlovsky district, and created many new works there. Many of his works (“My Motherland”, “Istobensk”, “The Village of Polom on Vyatka”) can be called monumental epic canvases, although his studies are no less interesting and exciting.

Alexander Veprikov also paid tribute to his small homeland - the city of Urzhum. Veprikov is a master of the lyrical landscape, a romantic at heart, he often creates landscape paintings, whether it is a city or a village. In his work, as well as in the work of Sennikov, Vasnetsov's places occupy a special place. Both of them are laureates of the prize of the government of the Kirov region named after br. Vasnetsov. By the way, Sennikov has been a participant in all Vasnetsov plein airs since 2006.

Dmitry Sennikov, as you know, has already entered the history of Vyatka painting as an artist who created a holistic image of the old Vyatka, first of all, he is a master of the urban landscape. For a long time there are no in reality those houses, streets and alleys that he forever captured with his brush.

But, of course, each of them has other favorite topics. So Sennikov can be called an animal painter: he likes to depict animals, birds and other living creatures. At the same time, he shows not only observation, but also humor, and sometimes, as it were, humanizes animals. Not so long ago, his personal exhibition was dedicated to the world of animals.

Alexander Veprikov can surprise the audience with a "nudity", made very tactfully and elegantly, or with an original female portrait. His still lifes are remembered, in which one feels the love of life and the joy of being. His still lifes can exist not only in the house on the table, but also in the garden, in the clearing or on the edge of the forest.

All three artists work within the framework of traditional art, but they also try to master new techniques. So Alexander Veprikov, for example, presented a picture-collage "In Memory of Relatives" for the exhibition, which uses small picturesque landscapes, photographs, poems, real household items and natural materials.

In the photo from left to right: N. Polikarpov, D. Sennikov, A. Veprikov.

In Russia in the middle of the 19th century, in the tsar's office, there was the position of "Chief Supervisor of the physical development of the population." The representatives of the Russian population, who developed under such supervision, still surprise us with this very development. For example, in weightlifting, those who “pulled” less than 100 kilograms had nothing to do in the Strong Club.

1. Sergei Eliseev (1876 - 1938). Light Weightlifter

The world record holder, a hereditary hero of small stature, he became famous by chance at a city festival in Ufa - he won a belt wrestling tournament against a multiple champion. The next day, three rams were brought to Eliseev's house as a generous act of recognition from the defeated ex-champion.

Trick. He took a kettlebell weighing 62 kg in his right hand, lifted it up, then slowly lowered it to the side on a straight arm and held the arm with the kettlebell in a horizontal position for several seconds. Three times in a row he pulled out two unbound two-pound weights with one hand. In the bench press with two hands, he lifted 145 kg and pushed 160.2 kg.

2. Ivan Zaikin (1880 - 1949). Chaliapin Russian Muscles

World wrestling champion, weight lifting champion, circus artist, one of the first Russian aviators. Foreign newspapers called him "Chaliapin of Russian muscles." His athletic numbers caused a sensation. In 1908 Zaikin toured in Paris. After the athlete’s performance, the chains torn by Zaikin, an iron beam bent on his shoulders, “bracelets” and “ties” tied by him from strip iron were exhibited in front of the circus. Some of these exhibits were acquired by the Parisian Cabinet of Curiosities and were displayed along with other curiosities.
Trick. Zaikin carried a 25-pound anchor on his shoulders, lifted a long barbell onto his shoulders, on which ten people sat, and began to rotate it (“live carousel”).

3. Georg Hackenschmidt (1878 - 1968). Russian lion

World wrestling champion and world record holder in weightlifting. From childhood, Gaak trained: he jumped 4 m 90 cm in length, 1 m 40 cm in height from a place, ran 180 m in 26 s. To strengthen his legs, he practiced climbing a spiral staircase to the spire of the Olivest church with two-pound weights. Haak got into sports by accident: Dr. Kraevsky, “the father of Russian athletics,” convinced him that “he could easily become the strongest man in the world.” In 1897, Haak broke into St. Petersburg, where he smashed the capital's heavyweights to smithereens. Training with Kraevsky, Gaak quickly takes all the first places in Russia (by the way, he ate everything he wanted, but drank only milk), and goes to Vienna. Next - Paris, London, Australia, Canada, America - and the title of Russian Lion and the Strongest Man of the late XIX - early XX century.

Trick. With one hand, he squeezed a barbell weighing 122 kg. He took 41 kg dumbbells in each hand and spread his straight arms horizontally to the sides. I squeezed a barbell weighing 145 kg on the wrestling bridge. With his arms crossed on his back, Gaak lifted 86 kg from a deep squat. With a 50-kilogram barbell, I squatted 50 times. Today, the trick is called “gaak-exercise” or simply “gaak”.

4. Grigory Kashcheev (real - Kosinsky, 1863 - 1914). Giant Downshifter

A hero from the village with an advantage in height - 2.18 m. At the village fair, he defeated the visiting circus performer Besov, who immediately convinced him to go with him - "show strength."
“We are coming with Grisha to a deaf, deaf town. They didn't see people like us there... Kashcheev (Kosinsky's pseudonym) is shaggy like a beast, and my surname is Besov... We don't have a human appearance. They decided that we were werewolves ... Without saying a bad word, they lassoed us, took us out of the city and said: “If you don’t leave our city with good, then blame yourself.”

In 1906, Grigory Kashcheev met world-class wrestlers for the first time and became friends with Zaikin, who helped him enter the big arena. Soon Kashcheev put all eminent strongmen on the shoulder blades, and in 1908, together with Poddubny and Zaikin, he went to Paris for the World Championship, from where they brought victory.

Trick. It would seem that now the real wrestling career of Kashcheev has begun, but, having refused the most profitable engagements, he abandoned everything and went to his village to plow the land.

“I had to fully see the original people in my time as the director of the wrestling, but nevertheless, the most interesting in terms of character, I must imagine the giant Grigory Kashcheev. In fact, it is hard to imagine that a gentleman who has made a European name for himself within 3-4 years, voluntarily leaves the arena back to his village, and again takes up the plow and harrow. That gentleman was of enormous strength. Almost a sazhen in height, Kashcheev, if he were a foreigner, would earn big capital, because he surpassed all foreign giants in strength. (Journal "Hercules", No. 2, 1915).

5. Peter Krylov (1871 - 1933). Kettlebell King

A Muscovite who, having changed his profession as a navigator of the merchant fleet to the profession of an athlete, went all the way from fairs and "booths of living miracles" to major circuses and French wrestling championships. He is attention! - was the permanent winner of competitions for the best athletic figure, taking as a child an example from the athlete Emil Foss, who entered the arena in silk tights and leopard skin. He began his first workouts at home with irons that he tied to a broom.

Trick. Krylov set several world records. In the “wrestling bridge” position, he squeezed 134 kg with both hands, and 114.6 kg with his left hand. Press in the "soldier's stance": with his left hand he lifted a two-pound weight 86 times in a row. The ancestor of spectacular tricks that other athletes then repeated, and today paratroopers: bending a rail on their shoulders, driving a car over the body, raising a platform with a horse and a rider. Showing athletic numbers, Krylov commented on them cheerfully. And his remarks were always convincing ... For example, when he broke stones with his fist, he invariably addressed the audience with the following words: “Gentlemen, if you think that there is falsehood in this number, then I can break this stone with my fist on the head of any interested person from the public ". From practice, he could easily switch to theory ... and give a lecture on physical culture.

6. Alexander Zass (1888 - 1962). Russian Samson

The father of Alexander Zass was just the kind of person who could go out in the circus against a visiting strongman and win the fight. It is not surprising that Alexander got into the circus and took up everything at once: aerial gymnastics, horse riding, wrestling. In 1914, a world war broke out and Alexander was drafted into the army in the 180th Vindava Cavalry Regiment. Once he was returning from reconnaissance and suddenly, already close to the Russian positions, the enemy noticed him and opened fire. The bullet went through the horse's leg. The Austrian soldiers, seeing that the horse with the rider had fallen, did not pursue the cavalryman and turned back. And Alexander, making sure that the danger had passed, did not want to leave the wounded horse in no man's land. True, there was still half a kilometer to the location of the regiment, but this did not bother him. Throwing a horse on his shoulders, Alexander brought it to his camp. In the future, Alexander will include in his repertoire wearing on the shoulders of a horse. Once in Austrian captivity, the strongman escapes on the third attempt, since unbending bars and breaking chains is his profession. Once in Europe, he defeated all the strong men of Europe and became the Russian Samson.

Trick. For several decades, his name, or rather his pseudonym, Samson, did not leave the circus posters in many countries. The repertoire of his power numbers was amazing: he carried a horse or a piano around the arena with a pianist and dancer located on the lid; caught with his hands a 90-kilogram cannonball, which was fired from a circus cannon from a distance of 8 meters; tore off the floor and held in his teeth a metal beam with assistants sitting at its ends; passing the shin of one leg through a loop of rope fixed under the very dome, he held in his teeth a platform with a piano and a pianist; lying with his bare back on a board studded with nails, he held a stone weighing 500 kilograms on his chest, which was beaten by those who wished from the public with sledgehammers; in the famous attraction Man-Projectile, he caught with his hands an assistant flying out of the muzzle of a circus cannon and describing a 12-meter trajectory above the arena. In 1938, in Sheffield, in front of an assembled crowd, he was run over by a truck loaded with coal. Samson stood up and, smiling, bowed to the audience.

7. Frederick Müller (1867-1925) Eugene Sandow

Few people know that the weightlifting record holder and the "magician of posture" Eugene Sandow is actually Frederik Muller. Not only the strongest athlete, but also a savvy businessman, Mueller realized that a career in strength sports would go faster if he took a Russian name. The newly minted Sandow differed from the frail Muller in his outstanding strength, achieved through training and physical education.

Trick. With a weight of no more than 80 kg, he set a world record by squeezing 101.5 kg with one hand. He did a back flip, holding 1.5 pounds in each hand. Within four minutes, he could do 200 push-ups on his hands.

Business trick. In 1930 under his Russian name, he published the book "Bodybuilding", giving the name to this sport in all English-speaking countries and also giving reason to believe that the Russians came up with bodybuilding.

I
This tale is not a fairy tale, it is a true story,
About the fact that in one thousand nine hundred and eight,
A hero came to the city of Vyatka,
So that with any daring in a duel,
Check if there is one that will overpower.
And on this day, everything is decided by fate!
After all, there lives who can master Besov.
The fight was in the circus, for courage, in front of the crowd,
There Fedor Besov breaks the chains!
Then horseshoes easily breaks.
The audience rejoices, as much as the heart stops!
How formidable he is and it scares everyone.
Suddenly this fighter, the people expounds -
"Who can compete with me?"
For the prize, which is twenty-five rubles,
In the fight, I myself, I can easily defeat anyone!
And in the circus there is no such mess.
In the hanging silence - they said: "Yes!"
Squeezing through the crowd, a stern man,
He said: “I will fight for Vyatka here!”
There was a noise and a whistle, and a thrill in the heart.
Koshcheev slowly ascends the platform.
And look around the Vyatka circus.
With a smile, he approaches the wrestler from St. Petersburg,
And in a hot fight, both walk.
Everyone sees - the fight is coming to an end,
Weighing insolence descends from Besov,
A short moment and he lies, the weight of the circus is noisy with joy!
The trumpeter blows Koshcheev! Vivat! Ringing under the dome!

II
The wrestler Kraevsky was no longer there at that time.
Ivan Lebedev was his student.
Who began to carry his students around the world,
And for the first time the prize was given to others.
After the fight, the wrestlers embraced at that hour,
And they fraternized on the heavy lists!
Everyone in the hall gasped, surprised at this!
And Fedor and Grisha went backstage.
Ivan - Koshcheeva congratulates on the victory,
Then join your team convinces.
After that, Gregory begins another life.
For Petersburg, he wins many arenas.
At full gallop, possesses incredible strength,
In a team, three horses, enough for a wheel.
For foreigners, this causes wild horror,
When she freezes at the same second!
Koshcheev raises a forty pood deck,
And like a fluff, it plays with such weight!
Jokingly, those who want to fight with themselves, beckons.
There were no equals, neither in Russia, nor in Europe,
With a hero like him, you will not be lost!
You will go around the whole world with Russian glory!
Gregory is more expensive than takeoff and fun,
Native land and fields, yes grass!
And those who thought otherwise, you are wrong!
But still it is a sin to condemn you for these morals!
Three more years have passed and at the peak of fame,
Suddenly, a daring fighter stopped performing!
Like a roar, among the mountains, running lava,
He left, in his native land, the work to invest is not small!
Those who live by work do not need rewards!
They are already happy with their native spaces.
They have a Russian spirit and obstacles are not terrible,
And there will be in the future, on life, such views!

Ilya Tsyplyaev
https://vk.com/public64626019?w=wall-64626019_1765
Grigory Ilyich Kosinsky (pseudonym Kashcheev 11/12/1873 - 05/25/1914), wrestler
, a strongman from a plow.
Grigory Kashcheev Not much is known about the life and sports career of Grigory Kosinsky, who performed under the stage name "Grishka Kashcheev". In this article, we will try to put together the fragmentary information that we know.

Grigory Kashcheev was born on November 12, 1873 in the village of Saltyki, Vyatka province, in the family of an ordinary peasant. The family had many children, but all the children, except Grisha, were of normal height and normal strength. Grigory, at the age of 12, equaled in strength with the strongest men Saltykov. This is not surprising - by the age of 20, Kashcheev was a sazhen (212 centimeters) tall and weighed 10 pounds (160 kilograms). Gregory made clothes and shoes for himself - huge bast shoes in summer and felt boots in winter. Kashcheev needed 10 pounds of wool to make felt boots, while other peasants had enough for felt boots and 5 pounds. The father could not get enough of his strength and become a son: "A good helper is growing!", - he used to say to his friends with undisguised pride.

Trying his strength, Grigory Kashcheev performed many strength exercises that the strongest men in their village could not perform. So, he easily raised a log above him, at the ends of which several people hung and rotated along with this projectile, thereby repeating the famous "living carousel" of his future teacher, the King of Iron and Air Captain Ivan Zaikin. Fellow villagers recalled the case when Grishka Kosinsky threw a horse over the fence, which got stuck between the pickets of the fence, trying to climb to the other side. On another occasion, Kosinsky pulled a cow out of a ravine by the horns, however, he did not calculate with efforts and twisted her neck, almost tearing off her head. For the sake of testing his strength, as a teenager, Grigory Kashcheev dragged a cart loaded with sacks of grain. The weight of such a wagon reached a little over 400 kilograms. In addition to monstrous physical strength, Kashcheev also possessed amazing stamina - he plowed in the field from morning to evening, and after a hard day's work he went to parties in a neighboring village. The presence of a miracle hero disciplined the guys from the neighboring village, and Grishka Kashcheev served as a kind of guarantor of order at the village parties.

To earn extra money, Grigory Kashcheev gets a job as a loader at a distillery.
Grigory Kashcheev plant in the neighboring village of Sosnovka. Three of the men - four of them tossed huge barrels of alcohol, dragging them around the plant. Grisha carried such barrels alone, causing the fair admiration of colleagues in the shop. To consolidate success in the development of muscular strength, he could be baptized twenty times with a two-pound weight. Once, on a dare, he walked around the warehouse, carrying 12 two-pound weights and one pound weight - a total of 208 kilograms. Leaving this place of work due to a quarrel with the storekeeper, he tied all the weights that were in the warehouse to the beam under the ceiling. The next day, all the work stopped - the peasants had to spend several hours to remove the multi-centner "garland".

The next place of work of Grigory Kosinsky-Kashcheev was the railway depot in
neighboring Zuevka. However, he came across a roguish boss and each time tried to cheat the giant. Having lost patience, one day Kashcheev put a 40-pood piece of rail in his boss's cart. He wondered for a long time - why the horse can't budge?

In 1905, Grigory was lucky enough to grapple with the famous circus strongman Fyodor Besov. He offered 25 rubles to someone who could beat him in a fair wrestling match. Kashcheev responded to his call and in the first fight he managed to achieve a draw, and in the second he effectively put his shoulder blades on the floor of Besov, winning the coveted prize.

Ivan Zaikin and Grigory Kashcheev Circus, seeing extraordinary potential in Kashcheev, rushed to persuade him to perform in the arena and succeeded - the next day Grigory Kashcheev gave his horse to his fellow villagers and began his wrestling career. For a whole year, Grigory performed with Besov, and in 1906 fate brought him together with Ivan Zaikin, an intelligent and strong wrestler who was able to reveal the full potential of Kashcheev. Months of training were not in vain - already in 1907, Grigory Kashcheev became the brightest wrestler in the Russian Empire, having won several prestigious awards, and in 1908 he won a prize at the World Championships in Paris, losing only to his teacher Ivan Zaikin and Champion of Champions Ivan Poddubny. The fight with Poddubny lasted more than six hours, and only great experience helped Poddubny defeat the Vyatka giant.

Upon his return to Moscow, Kashcheev was met with a triumphant reception, he was inundated with offers to perform in the best circuses in the city. However, tired of the intrigues and envy of rivals, Kashcheev decided to return to his native land, and became a landowner, in which he remained until his death in 1914.

He turned out to be a sazhen in height - more than two meters, his shoulders could hardly crawl through the door. It was Grigory Kosinsky, a strong man-peasant from the village of Saltyki, known throughout the province. There were legends about him. Grisha could, for example, tie twelve two-pound weights, put them on his shoulders and walk around with this colossal load. They say that once he put in a sledge in which a contractor who was short-cutting workers rode, a forty-pound woman for driving piles.

The famous strongman Fyodor Besov arrived in the town of Slobodskoy, in the Vyatka province. He demonstrated mind-blowing tricks: he tore chains, juggled blindfolded three-pound weights, tore a pack of cards, bent copper nickels with his fingers, bent a metal beam on his shoulders, smashed a cobblestone with his fist ... And in general, plunged the locals into indescribable delight. At the end of the performance, Besov, as he always practiced, turned to the audience: "Maybe someone wants to compete with me on the belts?" The hall is silent. There were no applicants. Then the athlete called an assistant and took ten rubles from him, raised his hand up, and again turned to the audience with a smile: "And this is for the one who can hold out against me for ten minutes!" And again silence in the room. And suddenly, from somewhere in the gallery, someone's bass rumbled: "Let's try." To the delight of the audience, a bearded man in bast shoes and a canvas shirt entered the arena. He turned out to be a sazhen in height - more than two meters, his shoulders could hardly crawl through the door. It was Grigory Kosinsky, a strong man-peasant from the village of Saltyki, known throughout the province. There were legends about him. Grisha could, for example, tie twelve two-pound weights, put them on his shoulders and walk around with this colossal load. They say that once he put in a sledge in which a contractor who was short-cutting workers rode, a forty-pound woman for driving piles.

The fight began. Neither knowledge of techniques nor extensive experience could save Besov from defeat. The audience gasped with delight when the bearded giant pinned a visiting athlete to the carpet.

Besov realized that he had met a nugget. After the performance, he took Grisha backstage and for a long time persuaded him to go with him - "to show strength." Besov enthusiastically told about Grisha's future career, about what glory awaits him. He finally agreed. A new life began, but, of course, not as sweet as Besov had painted for him. Performances were held in the provinces, most of all in the open air, with great physical exertion. There were also curious cases in these tour wanderings. Here is what Besov told about one of the cases that happened to them. “We’re coming with Grisha to a deaf, deaf town. We didn’t see people like us there ... Kashcheev (Kosinsky’s pseudonym) is shaggy like a beast, and my last name is Besov ... We don’t have a human appearance. We decided that we - werewolves... Without saying a bad word, they lassoed us, took us out of the city and said: "If you don't leave our city in a good way, then blame yourself." So Grisha and I - God bless us...

Kashcheev's performances were a huge success, but more and more often he said: "No, I will leave the circus. I will return home, I will plow the land." In 1906, he first met world-class wrestlers.

He made friends with Ivan Zaikin, who helped him enter the big arena. Soon Kashcheev puts many eminent strongmen on the shoulder blades, and in 1908, together with Ivan Poddubny and Ivan Zaikin, he goes to the world championship in Paris. Our heroes returned home with victory. Kashcheev took a prize. It would seem that now the real wrestling career of Kashcheev began, but he nevertheless left everything and went to his village to plow the land. The best description of the Russian hero-giant Grigory Kashcheev is the words of the famous organizer of the French wrestling championships, editor-in-chief of the sports magazine "Hercules" Ivan Vladimirovich Lebedev: I must consider the giant Grigory Kashcheev. In fact, it is difficult to imagine that a person who has made a European name for himself in the course of 3-4 years, voluntarily left the arena back to his village, again took up the plow and harrow. This man was of enormous strength. Almost a sazhen in height, Kashcheev, if he were a foreigner, would earn a lot of money, because he surpassed all foreign giants in strength. (Journal "Hercules", No. 2, 1915).

Kashcheev died in 1914. There were many legends about his death, but this is what is reported in the obituary published in the June issue of the Hercules magazine for 1914: in his native village of Saltyki. The name of Kashcheev not so long ago thundered not only in Russia, but also abroad. If there had been another person in his place, more greedy for money and fame, he could have made himself a world career. But Grisha was a Russian peasant farmer at heart, and he was irresistibly drawn from the most profitable engagements - home, to the land. The great was a hero. But how many now know about it?

Isn't this son of the Sloboda land the next candidate for posthumous recognition and glorification throughout Russia (in the same vein as it happens today with the merchant Anfilatov, the Standard-bearer Bulatov and the gunner of the Varyag cruiser Semyon Kataev)?

City Library website named after Green, the 28-page "Calendar of significant dates of the city of Slobodsky for 2018" is available for download. (The download link is in the news feed of the library website, in the post of December 5, 2017).

Among other things, the calendar reminds to the reader that the coming 2018 is the year of the 145th anniversary of the birth of Grisha Kosinsky. This legendary peasant from the village of Saltyki, by chance, became a famous wrestler - first with Russian, and then with European fame. However, at the peak of his wrestling career, he left the arena and returned to be a peasant in his native village (where his days ended in 1914).

About that fateful event who brought him to fame, you can read the following on the Internet:

- The popular strongman Fyodor Besov arrived in the city of Slobodskoy. He demonstrated mind-blowing tricks: he tore chains, juggled blindfolded three-pound weights, tore a pack of cards, bent copper nickels with his fingers, bent a metal beam on his shoulders, smashed a cobblestone with his fist ...

At the end of the performance, Besov, as he constantly practiced, turned to the audience: “Maybe someone wants to compete with me on belts?” The hall is silent. There were no applicants. Then the athlete called an assistant and, taking ten rubles from him, raised his hand up, and again turned to the audience with a smile: “And this is for the one who can hold out against me for ten minutes!” And once again silence in the room. And like a devil from a snuffbox, from somewhere in the gallery, someone's bass rumbled: "Let's try."

To the delight of the audience, a bearded man in bast shoes and a canvas shirt entered the arena. He turned out to be a sazhen tall - more than two meters, his shoulders would hardly fit through the gate. It was Grigory Kosinsky, a strong man-peasant from the village of Saltyki, eminent throughout the province. There were legends about him. Grisha could, in particular, tie twelve two-pound weights, put them on his shoulders and walk around with this colossal load. They say that once he put in a sledge, in which a contractor who was calculating workers, a forty-pound "woman" for driving piles rode.

The battle has begun. Neither knowledge of techniques, nor tremendous skill could save Besov from defeat. The audience gasped with delight when the bearded giant pinned a visiting athlete to the carpet.

Besov realized that he had met a nugget. After the performance, he took Grisha backstage and for a long time urged him to go with him - "show strength." Besov enthusiastically told about Grisha's future career, about what glory awaits him. He eventually agreed...

Kashcheev's speeches(wrestling pseudonym of Kosinsky) were a huge success. In 1906, he first met world-class wrestlers and became friends with Ivan Zaikin, who helped him enter the big arena. Soon Kashcheev put all eminent strongmen on the shoulder blades, and in 1908, together with Poddubny and Zaikin, he went to Paris for the World Championship, from where he returned with a victory.

However, more and more often Grigory expressed a desire to give up his career and fame: “No, I will leave the circus. I will return home, I will plow the land. So he did, being at the peak of popularity.

He was gone in 1914, and the June issue of Hercules for that year reported:

- On May 25, in his fifth decade, the eminent giant wrestler Grigory Kashcheev, who left the circus arena and was engaged in agriculture in his close village of Saltyki, died of a heart attack. The name of Kashcheev not so long ago thundered not only in Russia, but also abroad. If there had been another, more greedy for money and fame uncle in his place, then he could have made himself a worldwide career. But Grisha was a Russian farmer at heart, and he was irresistibly drawn to the most profitable engagements - home, to the land ...

In the tour everyday life of Fedor Besov and his partner Grisha Kashcheev, anecdotal situations also happened. Here is how Besov himself recalled one of them:

- We arrive with Grisha in a deaf, deaf town. We never saw people like us there ... Kashcheev (Kosinsky's pseudonym) is shaggy like a beast, and my surname is Besov ... We have no human appearance. They decided that we were werewolves ... Without saying a bad word, they lassoed us, took us out of the city and said: “If you don’t leave our city with good, then blame yourself.”

So Grisha and I - God bless your legs ...

One of the characteristics of Grigory Kashcheev was given by Ivan Lebedev (wrestler, organizer of French wrestling championships and editor-in-chief of the Hercules sports magazine):

- I had to fully see the original people in my time as the director of the wrestling, but still the most interesting in terms of character, I must imagine the giant Grigory Kashcheev. In fact, it is hard to imagine that a gentleman who has made a European name for himself within 3-4 years, voluntarily leaves the arena back to his village, and again takes up the plow and harrow. That same gentleman was of enormous strength ... Kashcheev, if he were a foreigner, would have earned large capitals, because he surpassed all foreign giants in strength.

(Journal "Hercules", No. 2, 1915).

Publication preparation – Vladislav Nikonov