On September 19, Kalmykia’s capital Elista celebrated its 156th birthday. The first President of Kalmykia, sixth President of FIDE Kirsan Ilyumzhinov congratulated the residents of Elista on the City Day:
“Dear people of Elista, fellow countrymen! Happy birthday to you, Elista! I am proud to be Elista’s resident! I was born and raised in this wonderful city. I lived on Osipenko St., graduated from Elista school, woraked at the Zvezda factory and left Elista to join the Soviet army.
I have always loved and will love our city. It is the city of my childhood and youth, where I spent the best years of my life. I have always tried to make this world’s most gorgeous city even more beautiful. We have built here the unique Chess City, where we held the 33rd Chess Olympiad. We also built a new stadium, where our Uralan team won their best matches.
The 14th Dalai Lama came to Elista to consecrate the construction site for the largest Buddhist temple in Europe, and we built it! We also built an Orthodox Church of the Exaltation of the Cross, which was consecrated by His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia.
Our love for our hometown has always been expressed not in words, but in actions. Our main desire was to decorate Elista. I think you and I succeeded! I am proud of my fellow countrymen: thanks to their creativity, hard work and love for our native land, we have made Elista one of the important cultural and spiritual centres of modern Russia.
I wish happiness, health and prosperity to everyone! Happy birthday, my capital, my little Elista!"
