The humanist count Nandor (Ferdinand) Ploteni (1844-1933), who was a close friend of world-famous composers, left a huge mark on the history of the small Transcarpathian village of Bolshye Lazi F. Lista and E. Belts.
Count Nandor Ploteni was one of the greatest violinists of the nineteenth century. In 1896, Ferdinand Ploteni and his extended family moved to a new house in the village of Veliki Lazi, which is a real masterpiece palace architecture. It was built using neoclassical architectural style. In addition, the Palace was surrounded by a magnificent Englishpark in the very center of the village.
At various times he had visitors Ferenc Liszt, Johann Brahms and Eduard Belts. It was He who taught the young count to play the violin and they even performed together with concerts in Europe.
In addition, Nandor Ploteni was the largest landowner in the entire district, built in the village distillery,damn, and organized winegrowing farm. Most people from the village started working at its facilities. Each fee grape’s it turned into a real rural holiday. Each family in the village had its own vineyard, and moonshine was absent as a class. Farmers handed over part of the crop to the distillery and received back a fair part of the product in the form of vodka, famous throughout Europe “Lazovsky slivovitsy”. At the same time, there was no drunkenness in the village.
Any resident of the village remembers the count with great kindness and gratitude. They especially remember what he did for the village. Everyone had work to do. People no longer live in poverty. After Nandor’s death, his business was continued by his sons Janos and William, who did as much for the village as their father.
A few years before his death, Nandor and Eugenia Ploteni moved to live in Budapest, where the old count died on may 5, 1933.
Nandor Ploteni’s sons, William and Janos, had an unusual but extremely tragic fate. The daughters of Nandor and Eugenia Ploteni left the estate in their youth and went to study in Europe. They only came to the Palace during their vacations. Nandor’s eldest son, Janos, was an outstanding Aviator. It is said that he was even able to fly his plane under a Large (now pedestrian) bridge in Uzhgorod, in order to demonstrate their skills.
One day Janos suddenly arrived at the estate and saw his beloved wife cheating on him with his younger brother William. After this incident, the wife of Janos had terminated the marriage and left to live in the Big Eyes together with William.
As a result of such dramatic events, Janos lost interest in life and soon died. According to one version, he crashed on a plane during a heroic battle in the First world war, according to another-prematurely died of diseases. The village has preserved the grave of Janos Ploteni with a tombstone.
The fate of William of Platini also turned out to be tragic. His carefree and prosperous life ended when our edge began to approach Soviet troops. Of course, William was well aware of the inevitability of the infatuation of his Palace, preparing for this Armageddon, he and the wife of his late brother Janos collected the most valuable things and left the Great Lakes to Budapest.
After that, William returned and began to give things that were left to all his relatives, acquaintances and friends.
When the Soviets came to the region, William Ploteni voluntarily gave his vineyards and wine cellars to the new authorities, and those immediately organized a cognac factory on the basis of the entire economy.
There is a legend that is associated with the arrival of Soviet troops in the village. Old residents say that the red army tied William to a tree that grows behind the Palace, and prepared to shoot the count, but local farmers who gathered near the building, came to the defense of their landowner and prevented all plans to kill him or take him to the camps.
After the confiscation of estates by the Soviet authorities, the former count simply had no place to live. But he did not stay on the street, he was sheltered by the chief winemaker of the Palace. He lived in a small hut that was located just below the Park that surrounded the estate. It was in the attic of this house that the personal belongings of William Ploteny were recently found, which can now be seen in regional museum Velikolukskoe school.
William accepted his fate with humility. He did not live in poverty, because he did not sit idle, but earned a part-time job repairing watches and other household appliances. But for the rest of his life he lived in a small room old hut. William died around the early 1960s without marrying or having children of his own.
Now in the Palace of Ploteni, as count Nandor dreamed, the temple of art and creativity, because it is located Uzhhorod district center for children’s creativity.
