Sergey Filippovich Varchenko

Sergey Filippovich Varchenko was the founder and first director of the Zelenchuk District Local History Museum and a collector of antique items. He was born in the stanitsa of Kardonikskaya. Dreaming of the sky since childhood, he enrolled in a flight school but was unable to complete it. Despite a severe aviation accident that literally left him pieced back together, he did not give up his passions and continued to design aircraft, helicopters, and agricultural machinery.

His passion for his native region was combined with a deep interest in history and archaeology. Varchenko took part in excavations related to the Great Silk Road and sites of battles of the Great Patriotic War. His first archaeological finds awakened the desire to create a local history museum to share knowledge about the area's history. Varchenko said: "My dream is to acquaint and tell as many people as possible about everything. Let them know the history of their native land."  He worked tirelessly to establish the museum and assembled a substantial collection of exhibits.

Thanks to his enthusiasm and perseverance, Varchenko made a significant contribution to the study of his region's history. Together with his brother Anatoly they discovered a rock depiction of the face of Christ, the "Spas Nerukotvorny" (the Not-Made-by-Hands Savior). Sergey Filippovich Varchenko died in 2005. In 2013 the museum founded by Sergey Filippovich received legal entity status and was named in his honor.