In the yellow building close to the cache, Igor Sikorsky was born in 1889. He would later become famous as the inventor of the first flying helicopter, and the company that he founded after emigrating to USA still exists today.
Sikorsky lived in this building as a child. His father was of Russian-Polish origin, whereas his mother was the daughter of a Ukrainian father and a Russian mother. Both Igor's parents were doctors, but his mother never worked as a doctor. Instead she took care of the five children and also schooled them at home. She was particularly fond of art, as well as the works of Jules Verne.
Both the works of Leonardo da Vinci and Jules Verne inspired Igor, and already when he was 12 he built a small rubber-band helicopter. At the age of 14 he started at the naval academy in Saint Petersburg, but after a few years he realized that his future lay in engineering.
"Sikorsky I.I. 1914. Karl Bulla" by Karl Bulla - Book: С-Петербург. Столица Российской империи. Лики России. С-Петербург 1993.. Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons.
The first prototypes of helicopters that he created were built right here in the backyard of the house with the help of local craftsmen that Sikorsky employed for a low salary. His first helicopter never succeded in getting airborne, but in 1910 he had managed to create a helicopter that could fly. This took place in the meadow behind the house. He also made other inventions, like a snow-mobile to make it possible to travel the snow-filled streets of Kyiv.
Among his first major achievements was the first multi-engine fixed-wing aircraft, the Russky Vityaz from 1913, and also the first airliner, Ilya Muromets from 1914.
He believed in individual freedom and was always opposed to communism. Sikorsky left Russia before the revolution and settled in USA where he eventually managed to start the production of helicopters as well as other types of aircraft. One of his sponsors was the composer Sergei Rachmaninoff.
Sikorsky's belief in individual achievements is expressed in this quote: ”The work of the individual still remains the spark that moves the world ahead even more than teamwork. ”
The building where Sikorsky was born has been disputed over, and following a court ruling in 2013 it should be home of the commemorative museum of Igor Sikorsky. However not much has happened, and currently the building is in a bad state.
Igor Sikorsky died in 1972 at the age of 82 in his new hometown Easton, Connecticut, USA. But the company that bears his name is still one of the major producers of helicopters in the world.