She lives deep in Siberia, a full two day trip along rivers from the nearest civilisation. She lives alone with eight cats two nanny goats, a male goat, a rooster, hens and a dog. I wonder if you can call the cats “Siberian cats”. You may have heard of the Siberian pedigree cat in the West.
She has lived alone since her father Karp died in in 1988 and does everything herself. All the other family members who lived together have died. Her siblings died in 1981 and her mother in 1961.
She was born in the house she lives in and is 69 years old and she is lonely for a Christian human companion.
“With tears and cry we beg you, in the name of Christ, not to leave me alone and pay mercy to an orphan in need. There must be Christians around.”
She is a old-fashioned practicing Christian and on the day that the church honours the prophet Elijah she forbade visitors – that she rarely receives – from working.
Her father decided to live deep into the Siberian forest to escape Stalin’s oppression. He built a sturdy house from wood from the forest which she maintains and lives in, in the freezing winters. In the summer she lives in a fragile DIY wooden hut with some plastic sheeting.
As mentioned, she does get visitors from time to time. What can you say? She is an awesome woman and she cares for cats. That’s why her story appealed to me. That and the fact she is as strong mentally and physically as the mountains she lives in.
I find myself completely drawn to the first photograph there is a sort of raw honesty to it. I wonder about some of the things she has lived through such as the death of her siblings. I think she is scared of dying alone.
Thanks Cal. I have embedded the video in the page.
I think that I could hear purrs at 12:20, a prelude to seeing her cats at 13:00, as she talks about them, in the video. She mentions that she gave one, frozen cat treats, a mistake, and he got very sick. It is believed that her siblings died from pneumonia contracted from contact w/the geographers who came in, all within three wks of each other. Her mother died of suicide (1961) by not eating, so that her children could eat. [It’s ~38 minutes in entirety.] The origins of some of the animals are revealed.
There is a map showing their location at 08:00.
I don’t see her ever leaving willingly.
So, I think it’s essential that she has a companion, someone for company and safety purposes.
I’m surmising she had a female that had kittens, maybe given to her at one point. I haven’t had time to dig that far yet. There are several youtube videos on her Taiga Life, which you probably already found (I was digging through translated comments and discovered them). VICE from the U.S. is endeared to her. Just key in ” Agafia Lykov ” and many videos come up. It is enriching to hear her actual words.
and here, the full-length with a slideshow as well:
http://www.vice.com/read/happy-69th-birthday-agafia-lykov-from-your-friends-at-vice
And a very good thought, she and the animals are all vulnerable, and if she had an accident and couldn’t get help for herself and the animals then it would be a disaster. Perhaps if it’s all she’s ever known she feels safe there but I would be absolutely scared out of my wits at the responsibilty