ROSTOV-ON-DON, May 24 (RIA Novosti correspondent Sofia Brykanova) - Today, citizens of the Rostov region (south of Russia) are marking the one hundredth anniversary of the birth of writer Mikhail Sholokhov, a Nobel Prize winner.
His novel "And Quiet Flows the Don," which glorifies the life of the Cossacks and shows the horrors of the Civil War after the 1917 revolution, is remembered today by the descendants of the prototypes of his heroes. The events, described in the novel, took place here, in the Rostov region.
Today, flowers will be laid at the monument to the writer on the Don embankment, a spokesman for the regional administration said.
The main part of celebrations has been scheduled for May 27. On that day, a congress of representatives of the Cossacks from the whole of Russia will hold a meeting in the town of Novocherkassk, the capital of the Don Cossacks, and the All-Russian Literary and Folklore Festival, Sholokhov Spring, will open in the writer's native stanitsa (village) of Veshenskaya. More than 100 folk companies from all over the country are expected to take part in this festival.
Well-known Russian politicians will arrive in Veshenskaya for celebrations.
Mikhail Sholokhov (1905-1984), born to a peasant family, became a writer thanks to self-education. His well-known novels include "Virgin Soil Upturned," "They Fought for Their Country" and "And Quiet Flows the Don" for which Mikhail Sholokhov received a Nobel Prize in 1965.
The Cossacks, an estate which existed in pre-revolutionary Russia (up to 1917), lived in the southern and eastern districts of Russia. They possessed land at advantageous terms for which they served in the army, bringing with them their uniform, cold weapons and horses.
In the years of the Second World War, Cossack cavalry units were formed again and made a great contribution to the victory over the enemy.
