On 2 September, Fyodor Konyukhov, a famous traveller, paid a visit to VSU. He came to Voronezh to open his exhibition “A lifelong journey” in the Kramskoy Art Museum. The exhibition is open for visitors till 9 October.
At the university, Fyodor Konyukhov answered the questions of students and university staff. Dmitry Endovitsky, the Rector of VSU, stated that the traveller is his role model:
“I admire your travels! Ten years ago, my family and I made two trips around the world. We would be drowning in a swamp on the border near Bolivia, living with savages in the Amazonia, or flying in a hot air balloon, and we would always think: what would Fyodor Konyukhov say about that?”
“It is a real pleasure to meet you. I was told that you are dreamers, and if you are dreamers, I must visit you,” said Fyodor Konyukhov.
As Fyodor Konyukhov told us, he has been dreaming of travelling from the age of 8:
“It was really easy for me: from my childhood I knew that I would travel the world. My grandfather, Mikhail Alexeevich, participated in the expedition of the polar explorer Georgy Sedov to Novaya Zemlya in 1901. Georgy Sedov explored bays and my grandfather rowed together with fishermen. They slept in tents... My grandfather wanted me to be like Georgy Sedov. He would say: “When you grow up, you have to make it to the North Pole.” When I first reached the North Pole, I was 32 years old. Then, I did it for the second, the third, and the fourth time…”
Now Fyodor Konyukhov is preparing for new expeditions: on 6 September, he is flying to Mongolia, and after that he is going to spend 2.5 months in Antarctica on a polar station which is located on Smith Island. In Antarctica, the traveller is dreaming to open a private polar station for scientists.
“You have no idea how many scientists dream of visiting Antarctica! They queue to do so. However, there are only seven stations, which means 130 scientists per season! And if there is a private polar station, it will definitely make it easier.”
Also, the traveller told us about another dream of his: to create a “Trees of Russia” park. The first step to make this dream come true was made just today: representatives of VSU and Fyodor Konyukhov plated 28 thujas. Fyodor Konyukhov’s alley is situated within the territory of the main university building, behind the Faculty of Geology.
“If everyone plants at least one tree in their life, can you imagine, what a beautiful planet it we be!” said Fyodor Konyukhov.
