About the book: 2018 / The author of the memoirs is Ilya Evgrafovich Bondarenko (1870–1947) - a prominent Moscow architect, a native of the provinces, the creator of several Old Believer churches in Moscow and the Moscow region , who contributed to the formation of the neo-Russian style. Most of his memoirs are devoted to life in pre-revolutionary Russia: the life and customs of merchant Ufa and Moscow are described, his studies at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture and the Zurich Polytechnic; separate chapters are devoted to theatrical, museum, musical and exhibition activities in Russia at the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th centuries, the life of Moscow patrons of the arts, collectors, bibliophiles, Old Believers, and issues of Moscow architecture. A significant part of the text contains notes from the author about travel to European countries. The architect devoted only one - the last chapter - to the Soviet period of his life. Thanks to his brilliant literary talent, I. E. Bondarenko created an image of his time, rich in many reliable details, which makes his work a valuable historical source on the history and culture of Russia in the 1870s–1920s. The memoirs consist of 30 chapters, each of which has an author’s title; The publication is supplemented by a preface and an introductory analytical article, notes and a detailed index. The text of the memoirs is accompanied by numerous illustrations from the collections of the Russian State Archive of Literature and the collection of postcards by M. V. Nashchokina.