Letter from Prince Pyotr Petrovich Volkonsky to the peasants of the villages of Malinki and Luzhki, Skopinsky district, Mikhaylovskaya volost, Ryazan province.

At the end of 1917, my ancestral estate in Luzhkovskaya volost was unlawfully seized, which, according to the documents of the judicial officer of the Ryazan district court dated July 6, 1898, is part of my estate "Malinki." This estate includes 698 desyatins and 2,382 sazhen of land.

Almost ten years have passed since the seizure, and I want to remind you that I have not renounced and do not intend to renounce my rights to this estate, which belonged to my ancestors. I do not recognize any rights to this property by its current owners and do not intend to collect any income from them or make any payments.

I am ready to reclaim this estate as soon as lawful authority is restored in our country. In the event of my death, the estate will be inherited according to the laws. My brothers, Princes Grigory and Alexander Petrovich Volkonsky, are in good health and have descendants.

I wish the residents of the volost all the best.

Prince Pyotr Petrovich Volkonsky.

Prince Pyotr Petrovich Volkonsky (1872, Rome, 1957, Paris) was a chamberlain, state councilor, and the first secretary of the Russian embassy in Rome. He was married to Countess Sofia Alexeyevna Bobrinskaya. Author of the collection "Words Without Songs" (Oxford, 1903).

Response letter from the peasants of the villages of Malinki and Luzhki to the former landowner Prince Volkonsky.

October 1927.

Your Highness Prince Pyotr Petrovich Volkonsky, Luzhki and Malinki respond: "Your laws have been burned."

Having read the letter from the former Prince Volkonsky, we, the citizens of the village of Malinki, are outraged that people like him still hope to reclaim their lands. We declare that the land we cultivate belongs to us, the workers, not to the Volkonskys.

We will not allow the return of those who were overthrown by the October Revolution. We remember your whips and clubs that were used against us, and we will not forget your atrocities.

All your property laws that you mention were burned ten years ago. We are confident that soon, together with workers and peasants, we will rid ourselves of you and your allies.

If any of your supporters attempts to encroach on our achievements, they will face our resistance.

We remind you that your estate and the land worked by the peasants of the village of Luzhki have been distributed among us. We have been working this land for ten years and do not intend to return it to you.

We regret that we allowed you to leave the Soviet country. A curse upon you, prince, from all the residents of the village of Luzhki. We will build a new society on our fields.

Party Archive of the Ryazan Regional Committee of the CPSU, f. 1388, op. 1, d. 127, ll. 63, 65. Uncertified copy.

Note: As reported by the newspaper "Rabochiy Klich" in issue 16 dated January 19, 1928, both letters were sent to France.