Fetisov's House

Alexey Mikhailovich Fetisov plays a significant role in landscaping the city of Pishpek. In 1881, A.M. Fetisov founded the Karagachevaya Grove and a nursery in the city garden on 64 acres. The elm grove has not only become an adornment of the district town, but also today serves as a favorite vacation spot for townspeople. In harsh times, the grove helps out the population, who, by hook or by crook, gather firewood and building materials here for fuel. Fetisov's planting of the first silver poplars and oaks along the ditches near his house was subsequently continued and gave rise to the Boulevard Alley and Oak Park. Since 1884, Fetisov has been growing hops, the seeds of which were ordered from abroad, and he is also the founder of the first cheese-making plant in Pishpek. In 1889, Fetisov opened a Kyrgyz school of gardening on the territory of the State Garden, acquired modern agricultural equipment in Tashkent, and bulls of the Dutch breed from the Talas German colonists. He organizes breeding work on the school farm. The agricultural school he created was subsequently transferred outside the city, and in 1933, the Agricultural Institute, the current Agricultural Academy, was created on its basis. Fetisov is engaged in archaeological and ethnographic study of the region; two of his trips to the Tien Shan are described in the Turkestan Gazette. Fetisov died in 1894. A few years after his death, Poyarkov wrote an article where he figuratively said that Fetisov lived and died alone, like Diogenes in his barrel. This metaphor gave rise to rumors that Fetisov seemed to live in a “beggar’s hut.” In the photograph of Fetisov’s house from the collections of the State Historical Museum, this “hut” looks like a decent dwelling by today’s standards.