Porfiry Korneevich Ivanov (also known by the nicknames "Parshek"And" Winner of Nature "and" Teacher of the People "; 1898-1983) - the founder of the health and spiritual system, prevalent mainly in the territory of the post-Soviet space.
From the age of 35, pursuing his own idea of health and immortality, Ivanov gradually abandoned clothing and shoes until he began to walk barefoot in only shorts all year round. He managed to endure extremely low temperatures, go without food and water for a long time, and also engage in healing.
There are many interesting facts in the biography of Porfiry Ivanov, which we will talk about in this article.
So, before you is a short biography of Porfiry Korneevich Ivanov.
Biography of Porfiry Ivanov
Porfiry Ivanov was born on February 8 (20), 1898 in the village of Orekhovka, located today in the Luhansk region (Ukraine). He grew up and was brought up in a large miner's family with 9 children.
Porfiry graduated from only 4 classes of the parish school, after which he took a job as a farm laborer in order to financially help his parents. At the age of 15, he got a job in a coal mine.
After the end of the First World War (1914-1918) Ivanov changed many professions. In the 30s, he worked as a freight forwarder. It was during that period of his biography that the man came to the idea that the cause of all diseases and death is the separation of people from nature.
It is worth noting that until the age of 35, Porfiry lived like many ordinary people. He smoked, loved to drink, was fond of gambling, and also repeatedly participated in fights. Moreover, according to some sources, he even served time in prison for stealing boots.
Among other things, Ivanov showed a great interest in Marxism, as a result of which he sympathized with the policies of the Bolsheviks. He participated in collectivization, church closure and was a candidate for membership in the Communist Party.
Spiritual break
A spiritual turning point in the biography of Porfiry Ivanov took place on April 25, 1933. He deeply rethought his life, coming to the conclusion that when a person makes every effort to achieve traditional benefits (satiety, comfort, luxury, social status), as a result, he gets “bad” - illness and death.
Such reflections led to the fact that Ivanov decided to reunite with nature as much as possible, abandoning traditional benefits. An interesting fact is that such a lifestyle, according to Ivanov, could lead to immortality.
In 1934, Porfiry began walking barefoot and only in shorts. At the same time, he strove to abstain from eating and drinking as long as possible. According to him, he soon felt an unprecedented surge of strength and vivacity.
Ivanov believed that if diseases can be transmitted from one person to another, then health can be transmitted in the same way. As a result, he decided to take up healing, and very successfully. According to the testimony of many people, he relieved patients from various diseases through a method he developed that was developed in an intuitive way.
Every year Porfiry Ivanov more and more resorted to asceticism, continuing to assert that dependence on food, clothing and housing leads to a "dying" life. He urged people to learn to live in harmony with nature, through what the earth gives.
In 1935 an interesting incident occurred in the biography of Porfiry. While promoting his teachings on the market in Rostov, he was detained by law enforcement officers and taken to a mental hospital. Doctors recognized him as a mentally unhealthy person with a mark in the medical record - "schizophrenia".
As a result, Ivanov was assigned the 1st group of disability, thanks to which he avoided conscription into the army during the Great Patriotic War (1941-1945). In the fall of 1936, he took a letter to Moscow, in which he asked the government to amend the Constitution of the USSR, since it did not take into account the interests of prisoners and crazy people.
Porfiry, walking barefoot and in only his underpants, was immediately detained by the police and taken to Lubyanka, where Nikolai Yezhov himself had a tough conversation with him. A certificate from a mental hospital saved the healer from death. After about a couple of months, he was taken home with escorts.
In the winter of the following year, Ivanov was detained by agents of the NKVD on suspicion of sabotage. The secret services listened with a grin to the statements of the man, who argued that he was not afraid of the cold and many other things. Then they decided to test it for hardening, pouring cold water on it for a long time in a 17-degree frost.
To the surprise of everyone, Porfiry did not feel any discomfort, continuing to behave as if nothing had happened. After 3 months, he was allowed to return home with an apology. Similar experiments were carried out on him by the Nazis, who rapidly occupied Soviet territories during the war.
In the fall of 1942, the German general Paulus spoke to Ivanov, having heard about the "miracles" of the Russian peasant. Convinced of his unique abilities, Paulus ordered to issue Porfiry a title of protection, which stated that Ivanov "is of interest to world science."
However, despite the presence of the document, within a month, the healer was tested for 27 days by the Gestapo, who were critical of his abilities. The Germans buried him naked in the snow for the whole night, and also carried him naked on a motorcycle in severe frost.
As a result, the more Porfiry was exposed to the cold, the better he felt. They said that when he was dug out of the snow, hot steam emanated from Ivanov's body.
At the end of 1943, the man decided to go to Stalin with a proposal to conclude an armistice with Germany. But as soon as a half-naked man was seen at the train station in winter, he was again taken to a psychiatric hospital, where he stayed for more than 3 months.
Several years later, Porfiry was again detained in the capital, accused of anti-Soviet agitation. As a result, he was treated in 3 prison psychiatric clinics - for a year or more in each. He was released after Stalin's death, at the end of 1954.
In the future, Ivanov will be sent for compulsory treatment in different cities many more times. The reason for this will be his non-standard behavior, half-naked appearance, propaganda of his ideas and other factors.
In total, Porfiry Korneevich spent about 12 years in hospitals, clinics, and under house arrest. Perhaps the most serious "treatment" of a man took place in the Novoshakhtinsk mental hospital from November 4, 1975 to March 5, 1976.
The conditions of detention were so appalling that Ivanov almost died. Through the efforts of his followers and relatives, he was discharged from the clinic in an extremely serious condition under the care of Valentina Sukharevskaya, his closest follower since the 50s.
The consequences of the treatment affected Porfiry's health. In particular, his leg hurt until the end of his life, for which reason he had to replace jogging with walking. By the way, later doctors from Novoshakhtinskaya mental hospital came to his home thinking that he would not be able to survive after "treatment" in the clinic, but they saw a completely opposite picture.
In 1978, Ivanov, together with Sukharevskaya, decided to conduct a unique experiment on prolonged refusal of food and water. As a result, they managed to do without food for 5 months and without water for a long time.
The very next year, Porfiry was put under house arrest, forbidden to heal people and to be no further than 30 meters from his own house. The arrest lasted over 3 years and was canceled after the publication of an article about him in the magazine "Ogonyok" - "Experiment half a century long."
By the time of the biography, the man was 84 years old. After the article was published, Ivanov began to receive a huge number of letters. Compatriots asked him a lot of questions, wanting to know all the details of his longevity and excellent health.
In response to letters from readers, Porfiry Korneevich published 12 practical advice, known as - "Baby". These tips were a code of moral and health-improving lifestyle.
People from all over the country came to Porfiry Ivanov, whom he helped to get rid of various diseases. Until the end of his days, he urged people to retire with nature, refusing benefits, lies, hypocrisy and other human vices.
Criticism
Thanks to his "achievements", the healer aroused great interest among millions of people. This led to the formation of the movement of his followers - the Ivanovoites. At the same time, some of them adhered only to the ideas of hardening the body, while others considered Ivanov their spiritual leader and deified him in every possible way.
A number of experts assess the activities of Ivanovo residents differently. They are called a destructive sect, neopagans, or, on the contrary, a new religious denomination. For example, some Orthodox clergy characterize Porfiry Ivanov as a dangerous, obsessed, or mentally unhealthy person.
An interesting fact is that in the declaration of the international scientific and practical conference "Totalitarian sects - the threat of religious extremism" among the "The most famous destructive totalitarian sects and groups that have a significant number of signs of such, operating in the Russian Federation" included "Ivanova Porfiria cult (" Optimist ", club)".
Personal life
When Porfiry was about 20 years old, he married Ulyana Gorodovichenko. In this marriage, the couple had two sons - Andrei, who died during the First World War, and Yakov. Ivanov's wife died in 1974 from the consequences of a severe injury after falling from the hayloft.
The man suffered the death of his wife very hard. In the future, he was constantly in society with his faithful follower Valentina Sukharevskaya.
Over the years of his personal biography, Ivanov left behind about 300 handwritten notebooks (diaries), written in the period 1933-1983, not counting a large number of letters. Since he had only primary education, the man took notes in the common village language, without punctuation marks and paragraphs.
Death
Porfiry Ivanov died on April 10, 1983 at the age of 85. According to some experts, the exact cause of his death is unknown, since the body of the deceased was not opened.
In his last notes, the healer complained of excruciating pain in his leg. It is possible that the leg could be affected with gangrene from hypothermia, or it was the consequences of treatment in mental hospitals.
Photo by Parfiry Ivanov
