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"On Point"
MINSK, 6 January (BelTA) – In a new episode of the On Point. The Nation’s Pride project on BelTA’s YouTube channel, tour guide Sofiya Macharashvili spoke about Ignacy Domeyko’s recognition in Chile and reflected on what it is like to come from a land of outstanding people.
“Listing these names, speaking not just about Chagall but also about other amazing people famous all over the world brings endless joy,” Sofiya Macharashvili said.
The guide cited the example of Ignacy Domeyko, an outstanding scientist, ethnologist, geologist, and mineralogist, a native of Belarus and a national hero of Chile: “Visitors to Chile often notice the monument and ask: ‘Who is this monument for, here in Chile?’ Locals proudly explain it honors a great educator. He was appointed lecturer at the University of Chile in Santiago three or four times and came to his Belarusian homeland when he was already 80 years old.”
“To speak these names here fills you with awe that you are part of this. And you feel so grateful to live here, to have that fragile thread linking you to this past,” Sofiya Macharashvili noted. She added: “It’s a wonderful thing to be able to say: ‘I live in Marc Chagall’s homeland.’ Can you imagine how the Vitebsk residents feel? People there are walking in Chagall’s world. Chagall is part of the fabric of their everyday lives.”
Noting the words of the Belarusian historian, writer, publicist and literary scholar Mikola Yermalovich that one must not live blind on one’s native soil, the guide clarified: “He was referring not to physical, but to spiritual blindness.” “Yakub Kolas put it perfectly, his words never cease to amaze me: ‘What power lies in these vast roads, the hold they have on you, the forever restless traveler.’ The stream of visitors to Vitebsk never ceases. They visit Chagall’s monument on Pokrovskaya Street, and look at his violin. Chagall himself, when questioned about the recurring violinist and violin in his works, traced it to Jewish tradition. For him, no wedding or feast was complete without this majestic instrument,” Sofiya Macharashvili said.
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