Form 8b, School 77, Perm Teacher: L.E. Nemtinova

Introduction Dear guests, dear friends, We are having an unusual lesson today. It will be just a short local trip, we won’t go very far from our school. Every day we walk along these streets, pass by these houses and don’t think about their history and fate. Somehow, each of them is not just a part of our everyday life. It has its own history and is connected with many people. If we are attentive and curious, it will tell us a lot. Let us look around and start with the building which means so much to us – School 77.

School 77 School 77 is well-known in Perm. It has a rich history and interesting traditions. The school was founded in Firstly, it was a gymnasium for girls. In 1959 it got the status of an English Language School. The school has a lot of interesting traditions. For example, every spring we have a theatre festival. The motto is “All Different – All Equal”. Each form prepares a performance. Another tradition is to celebrate Maslenitsa. We always have a kind of a fair on that day.

Genrikh Terpilovsky The building at 3, Solovyev Street is connected with the name of Genrikh Terpilovsky, a composer, the one who founded Russian jazz. He came to Perm in 1949 after being in exile. When Genrikh was a boy, his family moved to Petrograd. In 1918 Terpilovsky met Shostakovich – an important event for him. In 1920, in his flat, Terpilovsky organized the first jazz club in the country. Very soon his orchestra became one of the best in Leningrad. He wrote the legendary blues cycles on poems by the black poet Langston Hughes. Since 1949 Terpilovsky lived in Molotov (Perm) where he worked as an orchestra leader in the Palace of Culture named after Stalin. From 1954 on, he led the orchestra and a popular musical comedy theatre in the Palace of culture named after Sverdlov. He created a lot of music, for instance “Cantata of Perm” (1973). Terpilovsky knew several languages and therefore could write letters to other jazz musicians of that time – Duke Ellington, Count Basie and others. On April 13, 1991 a memorial plaque was installed on the building where the composer had lived and worked.

Soloviev Street This is a part of Soloviev Street. Pavel Soloviev was an outstanding person, an honourable citizen of Perm who made his mark in the history of our city. P. Soloviev was an engine designer who designed the gas turbine engine. He was born in the village of Alekin in Ivanovo district in His parents were peasants. In 1934, on leaving the 9 th grade, he entered the Rybinsk Aviation Institute which later he graduated from with honors. During the second World War, due to f the evacuation of the Institute he came to Perm. In 1940, he started to work at the Perm Engine Plant. P. Soloviev was a very talented person. His work was highly appreciated and in 1981 he became the head of the design department. In 1960, under the guidance of Pavel Soloviev the first Soviet double-circuit turbojet engine was constructed. During the 36 years of his work he founded the unique engineering school. Pavel Soloviev was a professor at Perm Polytechnical Institute. In 2007, a monument in his memory was put in Rybinsk.

The ‘Tower of Death’ The Building of Perm Department of Home Affairs (called the ‘Tower of Death’) is a monument of architecture and urban planning. It is a five-storied building with a 43 metre tower with a spire on top. The building was built in 1952 according to the project of the architect M.A. Perelin. It is located between Komsomolsky prospect and Geroev Khasana street. The corner of the building facing the square is constructed in the shape of a tower in the style of famous Moscow high buildings of the 1950s. The building sharply stands out on the background of other buildings due to its height and magnificent architectural look. This building is one of the main landmarks in the city area and is often visited by citizens in everyday life. People call it the ‘Tower of Death’ because of a popular belief in its gloomy history connected with the time of repressions.

Palace of Culture named after A. Soldatov The Palace was built in 1957 as a club and theatre for the plant employees. First, the Palace was named after Sverdlov, but then was renamed after Soldatov, an outstanding person, who had worked at the plant and had done much for the city and the region. All the inhabitants of Perm know this place. Couples marry here (therefore it is also considered a Palace of Weddings), different famous music groups give their concerts here. Nowadays the Palace is a cultural center. Here, young people and children can develop their abilities and talents. There are a lot of hobby clubs in the Palace: a dancing club, theatre, signing and music studios, etc.

Conclusion Now our short tour is over. Hopefully, it was interesting for you to learn more about this part of the city and the buildings you see every day. I suppose it was informative. It is very important to finish this trip near the memorial to the heroes of the Great Patriotic War and give our tribute to the people who gave their lives for us and our life and freedom. We can really learn much if we are attentive to the town and its people.