History of Artek Sanatorium
The year was 1924. On a quiet autumn evening at the foot of the Ayu-Dag mountain, the Chairman of the Central Committee of the Russian Red Cross Society, Zinovy Petrovich Solovyov, who had arrived from Moscow, was walking. He rested, admired nature and deeply breathed in the life-giving mountain-sea air, but his thoughts were far away. He was concerned with the issue of improving the health of children as soon as possible, especially those who suffered during the imperialist and civil war and during the years of devastation. He dreamed of creating institutions “where doctors would deal not only with an individual child, but with an organized children’s team.” A sanatorium camp, a “medical camp” - that’s what Zinovy Petrovich wanted to create.
Zinovy Petrovich Soloviev Chairman of the Central Committee of the ROCC Solovyov traveled to a number of places on the coast, visited Koktebel, near Feodosia, and Sudak, but could not settle on anything. And so, while spending his vacation in the Gurzuf branch of the Crimean military resort station (now the Gurzufsky sanatorium), Zinovy Petrovich walked in the Artek tract, which satisfied him in all respects. Solovyov was especially pleased with the fact that the camp site could be expanded over time and the camp “would develop into a real pioneer.” The place for this could not have been chosen more successfully.
The choice of the camp organizer was no less successful. By the beginning of 1925, Dr. Fedor Fedorovich Shishmarev, who was then the head of the children's sanatorium in Ai-Danil, was entrusted with opening the sanatorium camp. F. F. Shishmarev played a significant role in the life of Artek. He gave eight years of his life to him, constantly working as chief physician. An exceptional organizer, an excellent doctor, he was the right hand of Z. P. Solovyov in organizing the treatment and recreation of children.
And so on June 16, 1925, in a cozy and picturesque bay, where peace and quiet is protected by the ancient Ayu-Dag, children’s voices began to sound and a flag rose to the sound of a bugle - this is how the camp-sanatorium of the Red Cross Society of the RSFSR in Artek opened its first shift in Crimea. . The first 80 Artek residents lived near the sea. In the first year, Artek accepted 320 children over four summer shifts. They were housed in four canvas tents, tall, light, with wooden floors. Although their furniture consisted of simple wooden canvas-covered beds, wooden stools and rough bedside tables, everything was kept in great order. The best tent was reserved for the isolation ward, which was located at a considerable distance from the camp.
For the dining area, a place under the tent was used, where six dining tables and benches were placed. And although the tables were roughly made of plank, they were covered with snow-white tablecloths, and each pioneer had a napkin and a ring for it. A club-library was also organized, for which the best room in the Potemkin house was allocated. Collections collected by children, tools and materials for manual labor were also stored there. Near the sea itself, where there is now a fire pit with an amphitheater for guests, there was a physical training ground. Artek bonfires were lit here in the early years.
In the summer of 1925, Clara Zetkin visited Artek, who later wrote: “Do you want to see free, happy children? Visit the summer camp organized by the Red Cross in Artek...”
And foreign guests began to visit and study... In the twenties, children and adults from Germany, Holland, Denmark, Norway, Poland, France, and Sweden rested in the camp. On July 24, 1927, a full-time position of a squad leader was introduced at Artek. The teachers conducted work on local history and natural history, conducted excursions, taught the children how to collect herbariums and compile collections, gave them lectures, and held discussions. Two to three hours a day were allocated for educational work. The daily routine included mandatory labor: children cleaned the park, cleaned the beach, picked grapes, harvested hay, and harvested fruit.
There were few excursions in those years. This was a difficult task, since there was no transport at Artek, and often the children were brought from Sevastopol on horses drawn by droshky. The first years of the camp's operation showed that we need to think about permanent buildings instead of tents, which did not justify their worth at all. During the day, when it was necessary to spend quiet time, it was hot, at night it was cold. This became especially true when one night a severe thunderstorm broke out, destroying the tents and frightening the children. In 1928, Zinoviy Petrovich raised the question of reorganizing the camp into a permanent camp-sanatorium operating all year round. And this same year, the children no longer rested in tents, but in new houses.
