Headline

Alexander Eropunov, who is Russian, was born in 1929 in Kyzyl Asker, Kyrgyzstan. He is an alpinist. “I went on an expedition to Muztagh Ata, which is 7,450 meters tall, when I was 65 years old. I went there with Salamatin, my friend, and at the peak of the mountain, after three days, we celebrated our expedition by drinking vodka,” he said. Maksat Annamuradov interviewed him in Bishkek on March 13, 2009.

I was born on May 1, a date which is now honored in Kyrgyzstan with mountain climbing competitions. The region that I was born in is now called Kyzyl Asker, but it used to be called Chyllou Kasak, Pishpek. My mother worked as a cleaner; she had studied in the high school for only three years. My father had been was chief of railway cargo control at Pishpek Station. His agency was responsible for lifting of all types of cargo, since Pishpek [Bishkek], in those days, did not have any kind of mechanization.

My father died in 1941, during the battle for Moscow. He was an artillery soldier in the Panfilov Division, which included soldiers from Alma-Ata [Almaty] and Pishpek. His division saved the city of Moscow from the Nazis. The battle for Moscow was considered one of the cruelest of World War II. During that time I was a teenager and my family, which included three children, was experiencing its hardest days.

The war years were harsh. There was a starvation, all the businesses were closed, and it was hard to find anything to eat. However, we had special cards that permitted us to get 100 grams of sugar per month and 200 grams of oatmeal per month. But no butter and no meat were available during those times. On the other hand, the atmosphere was very friendly. Everybody was supporting each other and sharing with each other, and there weren’t different nationalities like Tatars, Kurds, Azeris, etc was no nationality as: Tatars, Kurds, Azerbaijanis, etc. – there were just people, just citizens. In the those days, I was involved in gymnastics, diving, and wrestling.

Since I came from a poor family, my mother encouraged me to get an education. I graduated from the Pedagogical Institute in Pishpek in 1951. I was sent to the city of Osh to work as a teacher in the Physical Education Department at the Institute of Physical Culture. I later became the head of the department.

Despite the war, I saw German people as nice, hardworking people. We had Germans living here with us, in Chui province, in the city of Talas, and in other small towns of Kyrgyzstan. My relations with them were always good. I do not judge people by their nationalities. But if I had a choice between Hitler and Stalin, I would choose Stalin, because he was continuing the politics of the great reformist Lenin.

Even after the war, life did not get better. The conditions were harsh. However Stalin’s death for me was not only the death of the chief of the Soviet Union, but also the lost of a leading figure, one that was important for the survival of our society.

Khrushchev, to me, was not a politician or a leader because he did not have an ideology. To me, he was just a specialist in agriculture, since as he previously was involved in the agricultural development of the country. He was good for Ukraine, where he was the leader of the [Central Committee of the Communist Party]. He should have stayed there.

I became an alpinist and I loved climbing mountains. I received various awards and certificates of achievement for my alpinism. I became an alpinist because I performed well in a climbing competition that was held in Kyrgyzstan and people noticed me. One of my best awards was third place in the Soviet Union in high altitude climbing, which I got when I climbed the Peak of Military Topographers, in the Tian Shan [in Kyrgyzstan], which is 6,958 [1] meters tall. I also received the rank of Master of Sports of the Soviet Union in alpinism. But the most beautiful peak that I have climbed was Kyzyl Agyn [in Kyrgyzstan], which is 6,950 [2] meters tall.

I went on an expedition to Muztagh Ata [in China], which is 7,450 [3] meters tall, when I was 65 years old. I went there with Salamatin, my friend, and at the peak of the mountain, after three days, we celebrated our expedition by drinking vodka. That is a tradition among alpinists. Also, my expedition to Peak Lenin, [4] which is 7,134 meters tall, was unique for me, since I organized it with the group of 70 people. I have one bad memory from my time as an alpinist: I almost died once; I was left under the snow and rescued later.

I am not an alpinist right now, but I am actively involved in the development of alpinism around the world. For instance, three months ago, I went to China to organize an expedition there. I was invited by a tour agency and the Chinese Embassy in Kyrgyzstan.

Through my mountain climbing, I have visited many countries: Austria, Czechoslovakia, China and others. Also, I was an assistant to the Minister of Sports and Culture of the Kyrgyz SSR from the 1960s until I became a pensioner. Also, I developed and built a school of boxing and wrestling in the 1970s.

I had a very little time left after all of my work and my athletic life. But the time I did have, I spent with my wife, visiting theaters and cinemas – even in Moscow. I loved ballet. I watched all the performances back then. Here in Bishkek, I went to Beishenaliyeva’s performances, [5] which were beautiful. In those times, however, the culture suffered from a lack of appreciation for the classics, like Chingis Aitmatov. [6] People were more concerned with going to bazaars to sell potatoes. Even now, I would be really glad to visit the theater and watch an opera, but I do not have the opportunity.

The woman that I was married to was my student at the Pedagogical Institute in Osh. She was studying in the philological department, majoring in literature. I was very happy to have that kind of wife –one that I loved. I fell in love with her the first time I saw her. Later, after our marriage, she worked here in Bishkek as the head of the Department of Languages and Literature at the Polytechnic Institute.

I lived with her for 50 years. We had a nice family, consisting of two children. One of them died two years ago and the other one graduated from Bauman University with a “candidate of sciences” degree. He is a good and intelligent person; now he has a wife and a daughter. The point here is love – love for each other, which holds a family together. Family is sacred. It is like alpinism: when you make a step backwards you fall.

I am not a religious person – I do not practice any religion. However, I trust in God inside of myself. But I consider this a feeling, an internal ingredient, a part of being a person, not a religion.