ARTIST IN POLITICS: THE EVOLUTION OF THE IMAGE OF G. I. CHOROS-GURKIN AS A PUBLIC AND POLITICAL FIGURE

The article considers one of the clearest examples of the "intellectual's going to power" situation on the example of the fate of the famous Altai artist G.I. Choros-Gurkin. The purpose of the study is to identify the characteristic features of the complex evolution of the image of G.I. Choros-Gurkin as a public and political figure. Regulatory and legal documents, materials of archival funds, publications in mass media, etc. are used as sources. The image of G.I. Choros-Gurkin transforms significantly: from a talented artist, a student of I.I. Shishkin, to a leader of the national movement and a chairman of the Altai Mountain Duma (1918), and then into an "enemy of the people" and a "traitor". For a long time, even after his political rehabilitation (1956), his name was omitted. However, since the late 1980s, his image as a politician has been rapidly reviving. Now he is not only the "national hero" and "genius loci", but also the "founder of the Altai statehood". The article shows that by now the image of G.I. Choros-Gurkin is used in the memory politics as a key figure that contributes to the formation of ethnic and territorial identity in the Altai Republic.