Syres’ Bolyaien’

Boläeń Syreś
1st Inyazor of Erzyan people
Incumbent
Assumed office 2019
Preceded by	Kshumantsian’ Pirguzh
Succeeded by	Post established
co-founder of the «Free Idel-Ural» social movement
Incumbent
Assumed office 2018
Personal details
Born	(1958-05-07) 7 May 1958 Saransk, Mordovian Republic, USSR
Citizenship	Ukraine
Nationality	Erzya

Syres’ Bolyaien’ (Erzyan. Boläeń Syreś rus. Aleksandr Grigorievich Bol’kin (Александр Григорьевич Болькин); born: 7 May 1958, Saransk, Mordovian Republic, USSR) — Inyazor of Erzyan people, Erzya poet and translator, chairman of the Erzya society in Ukraine «Ěrzäń val» («Erzyan word»), co-founder of the «Free Idel-Ural» social movement.

Family and origins

Born in a Russian-Erzya family in Saransk. His mother is Russian and his father is Erzya. His paternal grandmother, Motrona Alekseevna Butyaikina, — played an important role in the formation of young Bolyaen Sires’ Erzyan identity of Bolyaen Sires. She was telling her grandson tales, legends and myths about the Erzya people and the Erzyan heroes.

Boläeń Syreś grew up in Mordovia, as it was the USSR period in childhood he was a soviet pioneer, later he wasa member of the Komsomol organisation. While his first year at the Military High School he joined the CPSU. Then in 1978 he moved to Ukraine and served in the Soviet Army of the Zhitomir region. Later he continued studies at the Kyiv Air Force Institute.

А significant role in his national self-awareness played а meeting with Ukrainian politician Vyacheslav Chornovil. In the 90s, when young Syreś Boläeń guarded a monument of Lenin "from Ukrainian radicals", political prisoner of the Mordovian camps (rem. V.Chornovil) heard his interlocutor's distinctive accent and struck up a conversation with him about the history and culture of the Erzya people. He knew more about the Erzya than Syreś himself. After this conversation Syreś Boläeń remembrances started to getting up in the mind: how his grandmother Matrena Alekseevna used to sing folk songs and tell little Siŕeś tales about the many-headed serpent, which was defeated by Erzya's men. That was a moment when something switched in his heart and he decided to guard NOT Leninistic myths but his native culture.

«Ěrzäń val» Society

Boläeń Syreś founded the "Ěrzäń Val" society in Kyiv, which united the Erzyan people and their descendants in the Ukrainian capital. Before the beginning of the Russian-Ukrainian war (2014), the activists published books in Erzya language and compiled an electronic Erzya-Russian dictionary. As part of that society's activities, Syreś strengthens Ukrainian-Erzya relations. For example, he translates Ukrainian songs and Ukrainian poetry into Erzya and actively contributes to the independent newspaper "Ěrzäń Mastor".

Revolution of Dignity and the war at Donbas

An active participant in the Revolution of Dignity as a volunteer he used to bring firewood to Independence Square (ukr. Maidan Nezalezhnosti) with his Erzyan friends to heat the tents. In the last and most dangerous days he was on Maidan together with his son and friends. Even before that, at Bankova, he had been severely beaten by the Berkut police. He had got four deep wounds to the head, a fractured skull, a concussion and three broken ribs. With the beginning of war at Donbas, he actively participated in anti-terrorist operation (ATO) as the volunteer. Later he was mobilised to the 10th Mountain Assault Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and took part in combat operations.

Civil movement «Free Idel-Ural»

On March 21, 2018, Boläeń, together with his Tatar colleague Rafis Kashapov and Ukrainian Finno-Ugric specialist Rostyslav Martyniuk, held a briefing at the Kyiv press center "Glavkom", where they announced the creation of "Free Idel-Ural" civil movement. Answering the journalists’ questions, Syreś accused Moscow of not only pumping out the Idel-Ural resources, using that region territory as a raw material colony, but also of pursuing the aggressive russification policy towards indigenous peoples.

Indeed, on several occasions he expressed his concern and drew attention in from of authorities of the Republic of Mordovia regarding russification problem of the Erzyans, requested for strengthening the role of the Erzyan language in the society, in particular asked the Minister of Culture of the Republic of Mordovia to make subtitles for world film classics in the state languages of the republic — Erzyan and Mokshan. Boläeń's offers were not supported by the republican authorities, but caused intense discussions among the indigenous peoples of the Russian Federation.

He is the author of a number of appeals on behalf of the "Free Idel-Ural" to international organisations. Thus, in January 2019 he appealed to the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities to help the Erzyan people to install a monument to their national hero, Inyazor Purgaz. Later, on the same occasion, he appealed to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. In the appeal he asked "to help realize the right of the Erzyan people to preserve the Erzyan culture and to honour their own national horoes".

According to The Jamestown Foundation, Boläeń Syreś was involved in lobbying and played one of the key roles in the adoption by the Verkhovna Rada of the VIII convocation of the Resolution "Appeal of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine to the United Nations, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, national parliaments of the world to condemn violations of indigenous peoples' rights in the Russian Federation and its temporarily occupied Ukrainian territories".

Election as Inyazor

The ceremony of inauguration of Erzyan national movement. September 12, 2019. Kyiv.

On July 13, 2019, the Erzyan-Mokshan (Republic of Mordovia) held Raśkeń Ozks — an ascestral praying of the Erzyan people. In addition to its ceremonial role, the Raśkeń Ozks has an important social role. On the eve of the praying, the Council of Elders, Atäń Ězemeś, convenes to discuss the most important issues of the people’s life. For the period until the next Raśkeń Ozks, the members of the Council elect the chief elder, the Inyazor, by secret ballot. Six times in a row, Kshumantsyan Pirguzh became the chief elder of the Erzyan people. However, in 2019. Atäń Ězemeś entrusted this mission to Siŕeś Boĺaeń. The new Inyazor was supported by 12 of the 18 elders. Given the escalation of political repression against national movement activists in the Russian Federation, the Erzya decided to hold the inauguration ceremony of the new Inyazor in exile — in Ukraine.

On September 12, 2019, were held the ceremony of inauguration of Erzyan national movement new leader that took place in the House of Trade Unions in Kyiv. It was attended by the Erzyan delegation from Russia, representatives of Erzya’s diasporas and Ukrainian politicians and diplomats. Ozhomasony Kirdey, a member of the Kyiv’s Erzya community, said that until the last moment the venue of the solemn event, organized by the Erzyan diaspora of Ukraine, was kept secret: "Preparing for this event, we decided that the inauguration of the new Inyazor should be held in a symbolic place, associated with the struggle for freedom, dignity and human rights. That's why we chose the Information Centre of Maidan Museum, a hall in Trade Union House that has become a symbol of the struggle of Ukrainians for freedom and dignity".

The host of the ceremony spoke in Erzyan with translation into Ukrainian. The audience observed a minute of silence for Udmurt scientist Albert Razin, who on September 10, as a sign of protest against the policy of Russification, committed self-immolation outside the building of the State Council of Udmurtia.

Among the honored guests at the inauguration ceremony were Solomy Bobrovska, Secretary of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine; Andriy Parubiy, ex-Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine; Said Ismagilov, Mufti of the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of Ukraine "Umma"; Eskender Bariev, member of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people; Hanna Hopko, former head of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, politicians Igor Lutsenko, Ostap Ednak, Yuri Sirotyuk; Ukrainian scientists and journalists.

Kshumantsyan Pirguzh — the former Inyazor, who had held the post since 1999, presented his successor with a kolar, a badge that symbolizes power. Syreś Boläeń took the oath of Inyazor on Mastorava (Erzya national epic).

Speech at the UN

On April 21, 2021, Syreś Boläeń, as a member of the Ukrainian delegation, addressed the XX session of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. In his speech he strongly criticised Moscow and called on the international community to increase pressure on the Russian Federation for its policies towards the national republics. He was the first to speak in the UN in Erzyan, with simultaneous translation into English. In his speech, S. Boläeń, emphasized:

Erzya can survive the COVID-19 pandemic, but cannot survive in the Russian Federation. Only international pressure on Moscow can protect us from the last phase of ethnocide.

Syreś Boläeń also provided a statement to the Forum Secretariat alleging the rights violation of indigenous peoples in the Russian Federation, describing the numerous politically motivated persecutions and repressions against leaders and activists of the national movements of Tatars, Ingush, Kalmyks and Buryats.

The Erzyan leader’s speech got a wide public response in the Ukrainian media. Bolyaen's speech attracted the attention of the American political scientist Paul Goble, the Ukrainian writer Oksana Zabuzhko, and also caused indignation among the loyal to Moscow Finno-Ugric peoples organizations.

Awards and honours

Winner of the Erzya Literary Prize (2014)

References

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