Dementy Shmarinov

Managing a large group of creative individuals is no mean task. Artists are a touchy bunch, each and every one a "complex personality”! Dementy Alexeievich Shmarinov was thrice elected chairman of the Moscow Union of Artists. Following his third election, as art studios all over the capital buzzed with heated discussion of the new Union board and chairperson, my neighbour, the monumental artist Boris Miliukov summed up the situation perfectly: "There's no one else who could do it - only Shmarinov!” "Shmarinov could really be Minister for Culture,” someone added. Artists believed in Dementy Shmarinov - clear-headed, yet profoundly human, he was both a practical and sensitive organiser.