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Vladimir Gilyarovsky – the king of reporters
23.04.2013 10:35
http://english.ruvr.ru/ The Voice of Russia
17 September 2012
Vladimir Gilyarovsky is one of the legendary Moscow figures famous for his reports on city life. He was a pioneer of city life reports and investigative journalism in Russia. Being an excellent story teller and having an excellent intuition, Gilyarovsky became the most distinguished reporter covering events in Moscow. He had perfect knowledge of the city, its history and architecture. Gilyarovsky was acquainted with creme de la creme as well as the homeless, beggars, and thieves, says Dr. Boris Esin, Professor of the faculty of journalism of the Lomonosov Moscow State University.
Vladimir Gilyarovsky was the recognized king of reporters in the late 19th century. He knew a lot of other reporters, writers, actors and locals, so his reminiscences of Moscow life were trustworthy. Gilyarovsky’s trademark book, Moscow and Muscovites, describes experiences of life in the pre-revolutionary Moscow.
Young Gilyarovsky ran away from his hometown of Vologda in northern Russia and tried all kinds of odd jobs before settling down in Moscow at the age of 26. In 1882, Nikolay Pastukhov, editor-in-chief of the most popular Moscow newspaper, Moskovsky Listok, took the young reporter under his wing. Gilyarovsky took his new job with enthusiasm and kept it till his last days.
Gilyarovsky began his reporter career in the pre-telephone and cars era. So, reporters mainly relied on their legs and wit. Gilyarovsky had a team of private informants of all classes –from powers that be to criminals. Rumor had it that Gilyarovsky was even linked to some police informants but these are only rumors.
However, the reporter openly spoke about his ties with Moscow firefighters. The pre-revolutionary Moscow was mostly wooden and often saw fires. It was the peak of professionalism among reporters to be the first and cover a blaze - the more vividly the better. Gilyarovsky was super keen on this. He even tried to combat a fire himself, much to the surprise of his fellow reporters...
He got famous after a report on the Khodynka tragedy when hundreds died in a stampede marking the coronation of Nicholas the Second, the last Russian Emperor. Although he risked his life, Gilyarovsky didn’t hesitate a minute and was one of the first in the “hot report” genre.
This athletically built, strong man wearing a Cossack wool hat was lovingly dubbed “Uncle Gilyai” by the Muscovites. He earned the love of the people by hard everyday work, talent and admiration of the city and its dwellers.
Gilyarovsky knew a lot of foreigners, including Americans whom he met in Moscow. Once, the-then US Ambassador to Moscow told Gilyarovsky about US Navy Lieutenants Harber and Schuetze who escorted a funeral train with the remains of the participants in the Jeannette Arctic Expedition led by George DeLong, says Boris Esin.
Gilyarovsky spent a few days with the officers. They were impressed with his profound knowledge of everyday life in Moscow and asked him to send in materials for the American press. Then Gilyarovsky’s reports began to appear in The New York Herald. Unfortunately, we have no further information about the kind of reports they were but we know for sure that these American contacts existed.
Professor Esin believes that Gilayrovsky could have been sending reports about Moscow life to the United States, as well as political news since he was perfectly aware of what was going on in the world at that time.
Olga Troshina, Alina Azarova
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