State Museum-Reserve M.Yu. Lermontov

M. Yu. Lermontov for the last time arrived in Pyatigorsk on May 14 (26), 1841. Together with his friend and relative A. Stolypin, he rented a small house in the territory of Usmanov's estate. A small house (bleached wattle and daub) with a terrace for renting was built by retired maj-major Vasily Chilayev after buying part of the estate. Even before Lermontov, in 1839, Russian poet and translator Dmitry Oznobishin stayed in this house, creating the Caucasian Cycle here ^[1] .

In May 1841, an entry appeared in Chilaev’s house book: “From captain Alexei Arkadyevich Stolypin and lieutenant Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov from St. Petersburg for the entire average house received 100 rubles. silver " ^[1] . Lermontov occupied two rooms in the house with windows to the garden ^[2] . From this house the poet's body was taken to the place of his first burial at the old Pyatigorsk cemetery.

In 1873, the estate was inherited by N. V. Chilaev.

In 1884, A.N. Ostrovsky initiated the appearance of a memorial plaque on the house.

The owner of the house at the time of 1912 was Pavel Semenovich Georgievsky. On the initiative of the Academy of Sciences, the house was bought by the Pyatigorsk City Council. The members of the Caucasian Mining Society created a museum in it, which opened on the anniversary of the poet's death: July 15 (27), 1912 .

The first authentic exhibits in the museum collection were handed over to Evgeny Shan-Girey, M. Y. Lermontov's second cousin - a desk and a chair brought from St. Petersburg ^[1] . Many works of the poet were created at this desk ^[2] .

In 1922 the museum was nationalized ^[3] . In 1946, the House of the Verzilins was joined to the museum - the house where M. Yu. Lermontov often visited and where he was called up to a duel N. Martynov ^[4] . In 1964–1967, a restoration was carried out in the house-museum, during which the “Lermontov's house” was restored to its original form.

Since 1973, the museum has the status of the State Museum-Reserve and occupies a whole block of Pyatigorsk.

The permanent exhibition of the museum is divided into four sections:

• The Lermontov House is the house where the atmosphere of the last days of the poet’s life is recreated;
• “Lermontov and the Caucasus” - the literary exposition is located in the house of General P. S. Verzilin ;
• department "M. Y. Lermontov in the visual arts ”(the former home of I. V. Umanov), the department was opened in 1979;
• "House Alyabyev" - estate Karabutova, where in 1823 there was a medical-surgical laboratory of A. I. Nelyubin , and in 1832 rented rooms A. Alyabyev , author of the songs "Nightingale" and "Evening Bells" ^{[1] [5]} . The estate hosts temporary exhibitions, as well as a music salon.

The museum has 58,500 storage units. Among the most valuable exhibits are the “M. Y. Lermontov in music ", sculptural images of the poet, postcards of the XIX century, the collection" M. Y. Lermontov in the visual arts ", illustrations to the works, as well as the archive of the Lermontov Encyclopedia and the unique library on the Caucasus ^[5] .