The widow of the poet and artist Dmitry Prigov died: she headed the foundation, created a museum

Until her last day, Nadezhda Burova managed the foundation named after her late husband

Nadezhda Georgievna Burova, the widow of the poet, artist, one of the founders of Moscow conceptualism Dmitry Aleksandrovich Prigov, has died. Relatives reported her death on social networks. The half-English woman, as her husband said about her, after the death of her husband, founded a foundation named after him, which organized festivals, exhibitions, lectures and creative evenings with Dmitry Prigov. She also kept intact the furnishings of their apartment in Belyaevo, where the couple lived for about 40 years and which can now be visited on a guided tour. Dmitry Alexandrovich devoted many lines to these places.

After the death of her husband, Nadezhda Burova held many events dedicated to the memory of Dmitry Alexandrovich. She always talked about him with great warmth, but spoke little about herself. Something about Nadezhda Burova is known from Prigov himself. One day he told this about his wife:

“She is half-English, born and raised in Tianjin, the British Concession of China. When the communists took power, her family, along with other British people, fled to the mother country. She grew up there, studied there – an absolutely British upbringing. And during the time of Khrushchev, her father suddenly became nostalgic for Russia. In general, they came to the USSR. There were no relatives or acquaintances in Moscow. They went to Tashkent, some relatives remained there. Nadya’s father is a relative of General Burov, an associate of Skobelev. At one time, this General Burov was the Governor-General of Turkestan, his residence still stands in Tashkent, there used to be some kind of palace of pioneers… Nadezhda’s father was very upset by what he saw around him. And he died quickly. And the children then moved to Moscow. Nadezhda has become one of the best simultaneous interpreters.”

In recent years, Nadezhda Burova lived in London, but often visited Moscow for various events dedicated to the memory of her husband. She also kept an eye on the apartment in Belyaevo on Akademika Volgina Street, where they lived for many years. This place preserves the memory of the poet and artist: on the walls instead of wallpaper there are pictures with Prigov’s “Bestiary”, on the shelves there are samizdat books, on the back of the sofa there is a plush “crocodile” from his ironic poems. In 2017, Nadezhda Burova organized the Dmitry Prigov Week festival, dedicated to the 10th anniversary of the death of the poet and artist.