Penza, 15 October 2014. PenzaNews. The President of Russia Vladimir Putin arrived to the plenary meeting of the All-Russia People’s Front (APF) forum “Quality education for the Country” that began in Penza in the evening hours of Wednesday, October 15. According to the agenda, the event was to begin in the regional Lermontov library at 16.30; however, it was delayed later on.

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As PenzaNews agency reported earlier, Vladimir Putin also visited “Tarkhany” State Museum-Reserve of Mikhail Lermontov during his business trip to Penza.

During his visit to the antique estate where Mikhail Lermontov spent his childhood years, that was arranged to coincide with the poet’s 200th anniversary, the head of the state was accompanied by the presidential envoy in the Volga Federal District Mikhail Babich, the Penza region governor Vasily Bochkarev, the minister of multure of Russia Vladimir Medinsky and the advisor to the President Vladimir Tolstoy.

The director of the museum Tamara Melnikova gave Vladimir Putin the tour of the estate. The Russian president visited the manor house and the church of the Archangel Michael, and laid flowers to the poet’s grave.

After walking through the exhibition organized by the interpretive center in the museum, Vladimir Putin thanked the museum staff for preserving the national treasures, and presented them with a thematic tea set “M.Y. Lermontov. Lyrics and romantics. Mtsyri.”