Agrafena Kryukova
Encyclopedia
Agrafena Matveyevna Kryukova ' onMouseout='HidePop("12277")' href="/topics/Chavanga">Chavanga
, Kolsky Uyezd
, Arkhangelsk Governorate
, currently Murmansk Oblast
, Russia — April 27, 1921, Verkhnyaya Zolotitsa, Arkhangelsky Uyezd, currently Primorsky District
, Arkhangelsk Governorate, Russia) was a Russia
n folklore
performer and a storyteller
. She was the mother of Marfa Kryukova
.
Agrafena Kryukova was born as Agrafena Kozhina in Chavanga, a Pomor village on the Tersky Coast
, in the south of the Kola Peninsula
. She learned bylina
s from her mother and her uncle, and subsequently from her father-in-law, but she remained illiterate. Agrafena Kryukova was married to a fisherman at the age of 18 and moved to the village of Nizhnyaya Zolotitsa, on the other side of the White Sea, currently in Arkhangelsk Oblast.
In 1899, at the peak of interest in Russia to the Northern folklore, Alexey Markov, then a student, visited Verkhnyaya Zolotitsa and recorded a number of bylinas from Agrafena and Marfa Kryukova, which he subsequently published. Markov visited the place once more in 1901. In total, Markov recorded from Agrafena Kryukova 64 bylinas and historic songs.
Agrafena Kryukova died in 1921 in poverty, without achieving prominence. Only later efforts, mostly by Anna Astakhova
in 1930s, and the interest to the poetry performed by her daughter Marfa Kryukova
, restored her name as one of the most prominent Russian folklore performers.
Chavanga
Chavanga is the rural locality in Tersky District of Murmansk Oblast, Russia. The village is located on the Kola Peninsula. Located at a height of 13 m above sea level....
, Kolsky Uyezd
Kolsky Uyezd
Kolsky Uyezd was an administrative division of the Tsardom of Russia and later of the Russian Empire.-16th–17th centuries:Russian expansion to the Kola Peninsula can be traced to the early 16th century when the Russian monk Trifon founded an Orthodox monastery at Pechenga...
, Arkhangelsk Governorate
Arkhangelsk Governorate
Archangelsk Governorate was an administrative division of the Russian Empire, which existed from 1796 until 1929. Its seat was in Arkhangelsk...
, currently Murmansk Oblast
Murmansk Oblast
Murmansk Oblast is a federal subject of Russia , located in the northwestern part of Russia. Its administrative center is the city of Murmansk.-Geography:...
, Russia — April 27, 1921, Verkhnyaya Zolotitsa, Arkhangelsky Uyezd, currently Primorsky District
Primorsky District, Arkhangelsk Oblast
Primorsky District is an administrative district , one of the twenty-one in Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia. Municipally, it is incorporated as Primorsky Municipal District...
, Arkhangelsk Governorate, Russia) was a Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n folklore
Folklore
Folklore consists of legends, music, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, fairy tales and customs that are the traditions of a culture, subculture, or group. It is also the set of practices through which those expressive genres are shared. The study of folklore is sometimes called...
performer and a storyteller
Storytelling
Storytelling is the conveying of events in words, images and sounds, often by improvisation or embellishment. Stories or narratives have been shared in every culture as a means of entertainment, education, cultural preservation and in order to instill moral values...
. She was the mother of Marfa Kryukova
Marfa Kryukova
Marfa Semyonovna Kryukova , Arkhangelsk Oblast|Primorsky District]], Arkhangelsk Governorate, Russia — January 7, 1954, Verkhnyaya Zolotitsa) was a Russian folklore performer and a storyteller....
.
Agrafena Kryukova was born as Agrafena Kozhina in Chavanga, a Pomor village on the Tersky Coast
Tersky Coast
The Tersky Coast is a coastal area in Murmansk Oblast in northwest Russia. It is located on the northern side of the White Sea, between mouth of Varzuga River and Cape Svyatoy Nos...
, in the south of the Kola Peninsula
Kola Peninsula
The Kola Peninsula is a peninsula in the far northwest of Russia. Constituting the bulk of the territory of Murmansk Oblast, it lies almost completely to the north of the Arctic Circle and is washed by the Barents Sea in the north and the White Sea in the east and southeast...
. She learned bylina
Bylina
Bylina or Bylyna is a traditional Russian oral epic narrative poem. Byliny singers loosely utilize historical fact greatly embellished with fantasy or hyperbole to create their songs...
s from her mother and her uncle, and subsequently from her father-in-law, but she remained illiterate. Agrafena Kryukova was married to a fisherman at the age of 18 and moved to the village of Nizhnyaya Zolotitsa, on the other side of the White Sea, currently in Arkhangelsk Oblast.
In 1899, at the peak of interest in Russia to the Northern folklore, Alexey Markov, then a student, visited Verkhnyaya Zolotitsa and recorded a number of bylinas from Agrafena and Marfa Kryukova, which he subsequently published. Markov visited the place once more in 1901. In total, Markov recorded from Agrafena Kryukova 64 bylinas and historic songs.
Agrafena Kryukova died in 1921 in poverty, without achieving prominence. Only later efforts, mostly by Anna Astakhova
Anna Astakhova
Anna Mikhaylovna Astakhova was a Russian scholar notable for her studies of the folklore of the Russian North.Astakhova was born in Kronstadt, close to Saint-Petersburg, in 1886, and graduated from the Women Pedagogical Institute in 1908. Until 1931, she worked as a schoolteacher, from 1931 as a...
in 1930s, and the interest to the poetry performed by her daughter Marfa Kryukova
Marfa Kryukova
Marfa Semyonovna Kryukova , Arkhangelsk Oblast|Primorsky District]], Arkhangelsk Governorate, Russia — January 7, 1954, Verkhnyaya Zolotitsa) was a Russian folklore performer and a storyteller....
, restored her name as one of the most prominent Russian folklore performers.