Calls for Rachmaninoff's Reburial in Russia, Lenin's Burial Follow the Ceremony of Moscow Reburial of the Leader of White movement Anton Denikin

Calls for Rachmaninoff's reburial in Russia, Lenin's burial follow the ceremony of Moscow reburial of the leader of White movement Anton Denikin.

Moscow (PRWEB) October 5, 2005 -- Oscar-winning Russian filmmaker Nikita Mikhalkov called Monday for the embalmed body of Vladimir Lenin, the founder of the Soviet State, to be finally buried and the return of Sergey Rachmaninoff's remains from the US for burial in Russia.

Mikhalkov's remarks came following the reburial of Anton Denikin, a White Guards general and Lenin's arch rival, who had fled into exile after the Civil War and died in the United States in 1947.

Speaking to reporters after the reburial ceremony for Denikin and the Russian emigre philosopher Ivan Ilyin in the 16th-century Donskoy Monastery in Moscow, Mikhalkov said Lenin, whose embalmed body has been on public display in a mausoleum on Red Square since his death in 1924, was "one of the greatest figures in world history." Despite his controversial legacy, the man should finally be laid to rest beside his mother, in keeping with his last will, Mikhalkov said.

Asked about the possibility of repatriating and reburying the remains of Sergei Rachmaninoff, Mikhalkov said Russia should be the final resting place for the famous pianist and composer, who had spent much of his life in exile in the United States. Rachmaninoff, the renowned composer, who fled Russia after the Bolshevik revolution, is buried at the Kensico Cemetery in Valhalla, New York.

The return of the remains of General Anton Denikin, a leader of the White anti-Bolshevik movement, and religious philosopher Ivan Ilyin to Russia symbolizes the reunification of the nation, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church said Monday.

"Today's event testifies to the finally restored unity of our nation, which was divided by the tragic history of last century," Patriarch Alexy II said at the re-burial ceremony of the prominent Russian emigrants, which took place in the Donskoy Monastery.

Under the communist rule, all those who had fought for the White movement in the civil war of 1918-1922 were considered enemies of the state.

Alexy said the names of those who continued to work for Russia's good even abroad, and who wished our country prosperity, were returning to public memory.

The remains of Denikin and Ilyin that were originally buried in the United States had been previously delivered to Paris and Geneva and then onto Moscow Sunday, October 2.

Alexy II said the reburial also signified reunification of Russian Orthodoxy, as representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia had taken part in the last rites in New York, Paris and Geneva.

"The church is re-uniting as well as the Russian people. Together, we are invincible," Alexy II said, adding that the remains of Denikin and Ilyin returned home in the year when Russia would be marking Day of National Unity on November 4 for the first time. The holiday will replace November 7, which was formerly celebrated as the day of the Bolshevik revolution.

The patriarch blessed the founding stone of the memorial to national unity and accord.

The ceremony was attended by delegates of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia led by Archbishop Mark of Berlin and Germany, who is also chief negotiator at the talks on re-union of the two Churches.

Mayor of Moscow Yury Luzhkov said both Denikin and Ilyin were symbols of the nation. "I think we are now fundamentally revising all that happened to our society in the 20th century," he said.

The other guests at the ceremony included presidential envoy to the Central Federal District Georgy Poltavchenko, actor and Oscar-winning director Nikita Mikhalkov, Lyubov Sliska, the first deputy speaker of the lower chamber of Russia's parliament. The daughter of Gen.Denikin also flew in from Paris to take part in the ceremonies.

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