Yuri Kazakov and Karelia (according to letters to Ortjo Stepanov during 1961-1968)

The article continues the study of biographical and creative communications of the famous writer Yuri Kazakov (1927-1982) with the Republic of Karelia. It reviews the unpublished letters and cards sent by Kazakov to the Karelian writer Ortjo Stepanov in the period from 1961 to 1968. Materials stored in the archive of Petrozavodsk indicate Kazakov's attention to Karelia for several years and show his personal and creative relationships with Stepanov, who became a guide to the Finno-Ugric world for the Moscow writer. The studied correspondence allows us, moreover, to trace the links between the two texts written by Kazakov on Karelian materials and released almost simultaneously in 1962 - they are the story of “Adam and Eve” and the essay “Kalevala”. These texts reflected impressions of two unstudied trips of the writer to Karelia: to the island of Kizhi in 1959 and to Ukhta (Kalevala) in 1961.