The provinces may constantly measure themselves against the capital, but they do not exist in order to please it: they occupy their own place in the country’s history and destiny. By the same token, literature of the provinces is not a ‘preparatory school’ to help you ascend to national fame, but a unique cultural milieu, complete with its own giants and value systems.

The aforementioned statements are reconfirmed by this article, which concerns itself with the expansive and versatile legacy of Leonid Naumovich Bolshakov, a writer of national and international renown, whose literary roots belong to the social and historical soil of the Orenburg region, and whose work produced a social and cultural impact particularly noticeable in his native area. The article offers a detailed account of his life and work. Bolshakov began his career as a journalist, later turning to documentary and historical prose, and research of 19th c. enigmatic literary subjects. Special attention is devoted to Bolshakov’s professional ties with I. Andronikov, and the research of his oeuvre by his descendants T. Bolshakova and S. Lyubichankovsky.