The revenge of the primus
Telekanal Rossia - January 20, 2003
There's much opposition against the monument which is planned to honour The Master and Margarita at Patriarch's Ponds in Moscow. On December 6, 2002 the work was started to clean Patriarch's Ponds and to construct a big pumping station for the fountain, which would be part of the monument. On December 8, 2002 local residents loudly protested against the monument, and against the parking garage and the shopping mall which were planned too.
On January 20, 2003 some known Moscuvites and prominent people of the cultural scene gathered to show their disagreement with the plans. Everybody has his own reasons to oppose. Local residents fear that the outlook of the pond would be damaged forever, and orthodox priests say that the gigantic primus is a symbol for impure forces.
One of the most fanatic opponents of the monument is Alexander Morozov, who regards Bulgakov work as satanic. Morozov claims to live in an apartment on the second floor of Bolshaya Sadovaya number 10 and was the driving force of the December 2003 manifestations.
Three years later, on December 22, 2006, he broke into the archives and the childrens' theatre of the Bulgakov house and demanded the immediate removal of the museum. Then he threw many objects out of the window, including valuable illustrations of Bulgakov’s works, signed by great Russian artists, not to mention several computers. About half of the contents were damaged. The size of the damage is estimated at 100.000 USD.