How a modern hermit lives (34 photos). Modern hermits

What do you associate with the word “hermit”? Probably with medieval riddles, mysterious monks, schema-monks or wandering lone knights. You'd be surprised how many people voluntarily decide to withdraw from the world these days. So who are these modern hermits?

Hermits Lykovs. Voluntary departure

The achievements of civilization, the ability to use modern communications or useful technology, are certainly an advantage for many. But not for everyone: even in the 20th century there were people who made a conscious decision to leave the world. One of the most famous families hermits - Lykovs. Their surname has become almost a household name: most often, when talking about people hidden somewhere in a remote village, they remember precisely this family.

The Lykovs moved away from civilization back in the 1930s: they were Old Believers, and it was especially difficult for such people to come to terms with collectivization and other signs of the Soviet era. The Lykovs lived in Khakassia, and in this harsh region it is quite easy to find a corner where people will not look for many years. The family had no contact with the outside world until the late 1970s, when their house was accidentally discovered by geologists. Unfortunately, this meeting turned out to be fatal for the Lykovs: quite quickly after the Khakass hermits were “declassified,” three family members died. Doctors believe that they did not have immunity to the bacteria brought in by visitors, and the cause of the Lykovs’ death was pneumonia. Today, only one representative of the family remains alive, Agafya, who continues to live in the same house, but is already quite actively in contact with the outside world, without hiding from people.

The example of the Lykovs partly inspired another hermit, Viktor Antipin. But if the Lykovs went further into the forests mainly protecting their religion, then Victor simply decided to return to Nature, to live natural life. In fact, he set up an experiment on himself and his family: Victor himself, his wife Anna and four children lived in the taiga from 1983 to 2002. Then Anna, realizing that she couldn’t survive in the taiga and was waiting for her children unenviable fate, went to people. The head of the family, Victor, died, left alone.

Closer to God

Hermitage is often associated with religious beliefs: wanting to renounce the world, people deprive themselves of society. The Georgian monk Maxim Kavtaradze became such an ascetic of the faith. For more than 20 years he has been living on the pillar - a secluded rock where an old monastic monastery is located. He became a monk in 1993, although before that Maxim’s life included drugs and time in prison. Today, Kavtaradze is restoring the monastic monastery and quite rarely descends from the top of the pillar: the way down can be done quickly enough, but getting back up is more difficult.

The best way to spend your old age

You can retire in different ways: you can devote yourself to your favorite hobby, you can continue to work, someone goes to the village, and the Japanese Mafasumi Nagasaki left everything and went to a tropical island. Don’t think that he strived for this all his life: in his youth, Mafasumi worked as a photographer, took pictures for fashion magazines and entertainment publications. But for about 30 years now he has been living alone on Sotobanari Island, sometimes going to “ mainland"to replenish water supplies and get some food. Life is not easy for him: only the typhoons that sometimes cover the island are worth it! But Mafasumi believes that the opportunity to be free from conventions and follow the laws of Nature compensates for everything.

Traveling alone

There are also “hermits” who leave our busy world for a while. They prefer to travel without companions, conquering mountains and oceans. Probably one of the most famous representatives of this group is Fedor Konyukhov. A unique person who made his first big trip at the age of 15 continues to set records. Alone in a rowing boat he crossed Pacific Ocean from continent to continent, accomplished trip around the world on hot-air balloon(by the way, the record for climbing also belongs to Fedor), he crossed the Atlantic Ocean. What motivates him? “They tell me: you, Fedor, are fate’s favorite, risky, but successful - fate simply misses when Once again wants to sweep you away with an avalanche or push you into an abyss. But I believe that fate has nothing to do with it. God has allowed me to live for so many years, given me a beloved wife, family, home, children and grandchildren. Maybe I travel so that I can always return to them, my loved ones?

Unfortunately, not everyone is as lucky as Konyukhov. American Christopher Johnson McCandless, who took the name Alexander Supertramp, was dissatisfied with the structure of society and tried to escape from it by traveling alone across America. The inspiration for Supertramp included the books of Jack London. He liked to overcome difficulties, often he had neither supplies nor money, but he continued on his way. In April 1992, he began to realize his long-time dream - a trip to Alaska, where he could find true solitude and test himself in the fight against the forces of nature. In August he died, apparently from exhaustion (according to another version, he was poisoned by eating poisonous plant). Christopher refused to use the map and compass, could not find the right road, which could also provoke the tragedy. A film was made about the fate of Supertramp wild conditions».

Whatever the reasons that push people into voluntary solitude, if they want to get away from the world, they find such opportunities even in the 21st century. Sometimes it seems that we are all captives of technology, we are all “hooked” by gadgets. However, even in our dynamic and high-tech age, there are loopholes for those who are looking for silence and privacy. Singles. Hermits. Running away from the world or searching for themselves - sometimes they are very close.

Sometimes the heaviness of life can be unbearable. The rapid development of technology, political unrest, and tense personal relationships often cause dreams of escaping from difficulties. modern life into the bosom of nature.

For most, this desire is transformed into hiking trips or banal picnics in the open air, but there are also people who make their dreams come true.

Here are the stories of seven desperate daredevils who went to live far from civilization in the wild.

1. Christopher McCandless

The most famous hermit, the hero of the book “Into the Wild” by Jon Krakauer, as well as the film by American director Sean Penn, Christopher McCandless (who renamed himself “Alexander Supertramp” (Supertramp)) dreamed of living far from civilized society in the vastness of Alaska.

Despite a good education, job prospects and belonging to the upper middle class of America, Christopher was disillusioned with the ideology of the consumer society.

Unfortunately, after traveling for 113 days across the Alaskan lands, McCandless died in August 1992 in the thicket of the forest from berry poisoning and starvation.

2. Timothy Treadwell

Tim Treadwell is an environmentalist, amateur naturalist, eco-warrior and documentary filmmaker who has lived among grizzly bears in national park Katmai in Alaska.

He lived among bears without any protection for 13 years. But at the end of last summer, the brave ecologist's luck ran out - and he and his friend Amy Hugunard were killed and eaten by a bear.

Although Treadwell is considered by some to be a naive idealist, his environmental activism produced significant results. Timothy's life story is immortalized in documentary film"Grizzly Man"

3. Henry David Thoreau

Thoreau is a famous American writer, naturalist, philosopher and critic. In his most famous book, Walden, he describes a period of seclusion when he lived in a remote cabin near Walden Lake, Massachusetts.

Thoreau later returned to society. According to him, he needed to live in isolation from society in order to get an objective picture of it.

4. Ted Kaczynski

Also infamous as the Unabomber. Kaczynski was an extremely radical critic of civilization and modern technology.

A talented mathematician with a promising academic career, he eventually left his teaching position at the University of California at Berkeley to live in the wilderness, without running water or electricity, in the wilds of Montana.

There, Kaczynski began his terrorist campaign, mailing 16 bombs to various targets, including universities and airlines, killing three people and injuring 23.

He described his actions and views in a manifesto entitled " Industrial society and his future." The Unabomber is serving a non-parole sentence in federal prison.

5. Noah John Rondo

Noah Rondeau is a well-known hermit who took refuge from civilization in the Adirondack Mountains of New York. Before retiring into the desert at the age of 46, Rondo declared that he was "not satisfied with the world and the emerging trends."

Despite the relative remoteness and isolation, Rondo received visitors and even played the violin for them. Unfortunately, after some time the hermit was forced to move from his home in the mountains and eventually died in 1967.

6. Paul Gauguin

Paul Gauguin was a leading figure of Post-Impressionism, writer and artist, known for his primitivist style and philosophy.

In 1891, frustrated by the lack of recognition in his homeland and having financial problems, Gauguin decided to leave for the tropics. Thus, he wanted to avoid the “artificial conventions” of civilization.

Last years he spent his life in Tahiti and the Marquesas Islands. Works from this period are dedicated to the inhabitants of these islands.

7. Hermit Fathers

For many centuries, monks and devotees of various faiths, in search of truth and God, in order to gain spiritual purity, left the “unholy civilization” and went into the wasteland.

One example was the order of the “Desert Fathers,” Christian hermits who left the cities of the “pagan world” and settled in the Egyptian desert.

The most famous among the desert fathers was Anthony the Great, who became the first known ascetic who went to live directly in the desert.

Help: Mother Nature Network is a site that specializes in environmental news and socially responsible information. The platform was launched in 2009 and since then has been considered an authoritative source of information for everyone who seriously cares about environment. MNN creates content for sections such as Planet Earth, Transport, Business, Technology, Food, Home, Lifestyle, Family.

In Russia, hundreds, or even thousands of people leave the world to live in the forest. As a rule, hermits build their Utopia there. Three stories of such hermits - a former special forces soldier, seven Gordinko-Kuleshaite, the Antipin family, as well as a photo gallery of hermits made by photographer Danila Tkachenko.

The most famous hermits in Russia are considered to be the Lykov family of Old Believers, who fled to the taiga from Soviet power, which they considered the incarnation of the Antichrist. Today only Agafya Lykova is alive; she still lives in the forest, although she accepts help from people.

But hundreds, if not thousands, of Russians still go to live in the forest. Each has its own story of exodus, but, as a rule, all have an ideological or ethical motive. Today, to most of them, the Antichrist seems to be not just or not so much Russian authorities, as much as the City and the people (who, they believe, are also the product of an anti-human system).

The Interpreter's blog selected three stories of Russian hermits who were described by the press in the 2000s. Photographer Danila Tkachenko, in turn, made a gallery of Russians who went to live in the forest. This photo gallery is featured on lensculture.com. These photos are below in the text.

Hermit Special Forces

A former special forces soldier settled in a forest in the Amur region, tired of working in law enforcement agencies. The hermit has been living in the taiga for 10 years.

Local mushroom pickers accidentally stumbled upon the dugout of a special forces hermit. They reported to the police that in the taiga 110 kilometers from the nearest settlement a person lives alone.

The former military man has no intention of returning to the people. According to Victor F., he likes life in the deep forest. Meanwhile, he has a special forces school and many years of service behind him.

— There are no problems with food — military training still makes itself felt. Well, I developed a passion for hunting back in school,” says Victor. — Sometimes, of course, I go down to the village for bread, salt and clothes. The residents still remember me and exchange everything I need for fresh meat.

Victor F. never dreamed of living in the taiga. In his native village in the Magdagachinsky district, everyone knew and loved the ex-military man. But one day, having gone hunting, the man realized that he could no longer part with the silence of the forest.

“I replaced the usual bustle of life with a light heart. He left his home and went into the forest as a hermit,” recalls Victor.

Victor chose a place a hundred kilometers from the nearest village. He built a dugout so that it would not be cold in winter and hot in summer. In the cold weather, the owner of a modest home is warmed by a stone stove. For lunch there is always fresh game and ice-cold spring water on the table.

Hermits - the Gordienko-Kulešitej family

The nearest village is 120 km away. Alexander Gordienko and Regina Kuleshaite have been living in the wild forest for more than 10 years, and, apparently, have no intention of returning to the big world.

Get there to an ordinary person to the place where a strange family lives is already a test of strength. We easily covered half the distance in a minibus, and when the foreign car got stuck in a rut broken by timber trucks, we had to transfer to a KrAZ. Despite its super cross-country ability, it kept settling in the snow. I had to pick up a shovel and rake out meter-long snowdrifts. And so on off-road - half a day. As a result, kilometer after kilometer we reached the place where a narrow path leads from the half-broken road into unknown wilds. Two kilometers on foot - and in a crevice between two hills we come across a small hut.

There is no lock on the door due to its complete uselessness. There is no one to protect yourself from here except from predators.

After knocking, we immediately go inside. Naturally, no guests were expected. The owner Alexander was doing something shamanic on a dilapidated stove. Two kids were frolicking on the floor. Seeing the strangers, the children immediately, like wolf cubs, dived under the bed.

Both Alexander and Regina have lived in this wilderness for more than twenty years. At first they fought alone. The couple met already in the taiga. Alexander is 12 years older than Regina. She is 27, he is almost 40. Each has their own path to this jungle.

A girl was born in Latvia. When she was not even a month old, her mother came to the Kuytunsky district.

Our father left us, and my mother decided to move to Siberia,” she recalls. - We settled in the village of Moloi, not far from Kuitun.

When Regina was 12 years old, her mother died. In order to somehow feed herself, the girl got a job at a local state farm picking berries. Finding another job in these parts is almost impossible. She began to live in a small state farm hut. While the enterprise was staying afloat, I shared it with the same collectors forest gifts. But then the state farm collapsed, and in the mid-90s the girl was left alone. Everyone left the village, and all that was left of the houses was the foundations.

Regina did not dare to go to the city and settled in a hut deep in the taiga.

Alexander was also born far from Irkutsk region. For more than twenty years he lived in the Moscow region. After the army he worked as a driver. But one day I read an advertisement that a cooperative in Siberia needed workers to pick berries and nuts.

They promised good money, so I went,” he says.

The cooperative did not last long - it went bankrupt. As a result, after working there for several years, Alexander was left in the taiga without money and any opportunity to return back. Perhaps he would have perished in the endless expanses of the Siberian wilderness, but he met Regina completely by accident. His base was not far from her hut. Without a wedding and registration in the registry office, they began to live together.

The newlyweds did not go back to the people.

They say it wasn't very difficult. There were, of course, lean years, but supplies and hunting saved the day. There are a lot of goats and hares in the area. There are wapiti and, of course, bears.

And look how they live there in the village,” says Sasha. - No better than us, only there is light in the houses, and then they turn it off all the time.

About what's going on in big world, the hermits find out with the help of a small transistor. They haven’t seen TV for several years, and they don’t remember what program they watched last.

“What’s there to see,” Alexander waves his hand resignedly. - One by one. To be honest, I don’t really care what happens there. There is no war - and okay.

Of all the benefits of civilization in the house, there are only a bed and stools. All this remains from state farm times. Iron plates, spoons and mugs.

The children have neither toys nor books. Clothes, apparently, are also scarce. When we entered the house, the youngest Seryozhka was running naked.

Hermits - the Antipin family

Anna is now 36 years old. She fell in love with Victor when she was 16 and he was just over thirty. In 1982, a wanderer came to the village of Korotenkaya from the Lena River. Wade through wild forests without weapons, alone. The man's name was Viktor Granitovich. I asked to spend the night at Anya’s mother’s house. Yes, he stayed there. And then suddenly he took a closer look at her wife’s young daughter. She listened with wide eyes to the tale about the Factory. And when she became pregnant from “dad,” he invited her to go into the forest together. Forever.

The Antipins began their search for the Factory in 1983. They went two hundred kilometers deep into the Evenki taiga and settled in a hut. In those wilds, Anna gave birth to her first child. The baby died.

- And the second child too. Only the third survived. My father always took birth himself. He cut the umbilical cord, he did it deftly.

The girl was given a hedgehog name - Olenya.

“We named her in honor of the deer who saved all of our lives.” Winter was ending and supplies were running out. But my father did not acquire a gun in order to go hunting. He said: “You only need to take what nature itself gives. But a person can only sometimes use traps and sticks.” Because of hunger, my milk began to disappear. And suddenly a herd of deer passed right next to our hut. The father managed to kill one deer. All spring I fed my daughter chewed meat.

There are four children in the family - twelve-year-old brother Vitya, eight-year-old Misha and three-year-old Alesya. Olenya knows how to catch hazel grouse with a boomerang, carves utensils from wood and is an excellent tanner of skins. Deer fur is a great specialist. With their mother, they sewed hats from moles, badgers, hares, and squirrels. Among the dogs - kanchi (fur socks) and shaggy (mittens with the fur facing out).
The taiga girl believes that the souls of dead people inhabit blades of grass, birds, and animals.

“Our kitten understood thoughts.” Just when I think: “Go away, you can’t sit here!” - He will get up and leave. It was someone's soul that moved into him.

In 1987, Victor convinced his wife that they needed to go to Yakutia: the coveted corner would definitely be found there.

- Almost died then. On the Bolshoy Sekochambi rapids our boat was covered huge wave. “We somehow swam out,” Anna recalls. “But everything that was with us was drowned.” We climbed out of the water, in which ice floes were still floating. I remember the snow was so fluffy. We climbed a steep hill. We rested. Strange, they didn’t even catch a cold.

And in Yakutia, the restless Victor did not find his Factory. The Antipins lived for two years in a Yakut village, among people. Then they fled again to the taiga, to the Taishet district of the Irkutsk region. Here Victor had to briefly sacrifice his principles and work with “these creatures” side by side. He got a job at Khimleshoz to harvest timber and resin. The family was allocated a plot of land in the Biryusinskaya taiga. But a year later the company collapsed.

The forestry enterprise began to remove workers from the taiga. Only Antipin refused to evacuate: “I found my Factory!”

1. The happiness of life is in its simplicity.

2. Man, strive for nature and you will be healthy.

3. Illness is a signal to change your lifestyle.

Viktor Granitovich carved these main commandments of his life above the entrance to his taiga dwelling. And he persistently repeated them to the children. His family huddled in a tiny old balka (hunting temporary hut). Total living space - eight square meters.

— Why didn’t Victor build a house? There are so many forests around.

“Father said: we had to be content with little.”

They slept like this: on the right side of the bunk was a mother with small children, on the left was a father. The eldest son was swinging in a hammock, and Olena’s bed was replaced by a bear skin at the entrance. The table was a rusty bathtub, which was brought out of the entryway when they sat down to dinner.

— Fried hazel grouse, stewed capercaillie, hare meat. Mushrooms, berries, wild garlic. It's just hard in winter. They went hungry often. I even had to fry burdock roots. No alcohol, no tea, no coffee. To feel good, I just need to eat bread.

Viktor Granitovich believed that they were finally living ideally. Anna, by the way, too.

Victor called his escape from civilization “separation.” However, it was not possible to completely break away from civilization. Still, sometimes I had to go out to people in the nearest village - for flour, clothes, newspapers.

“And he told the children this: “Only I can go to people, I’m strong, I can endure anything.”

Ultimately, wife Anna could not stand it and, leaving her husband alone, went out with four children to the people in the village of Serebrovo, Taishet district.

“The first time I went out into the village, among the people, it seemed like they were going to send me alone in a rocket into space—I was so worried, so afraid of people. Of the events, two things struck me most: the collapse Soviet Union and the terrorist attack in New York on September 11. It was so scary to read.

Their father Victor did not want to return to civilization. A year after his family abandoned him, he died of hunger.

More in the Interpreter’s Blog about the life of hermits:

69-year-old Australian David Glashen has been living as a hermit for the past 25 years. desert island. In 1987, he lost his entire fortune gambling on the stock market. Now he doesn’t need money - nature gives him food without effort. Glashen is missing only a woman, instead there is a mannequin on the island.

In several countries Western Europe growth has begun in the last 2-3 years rural population. The crisis forces many Europeans to go to the countryside to “graze.” Among them there are naturists who literally merge with nature.