The story of Konstantin Morozov – the smallest man in the USSR

Resident of Ulyanovsk Konstantin Morozov had a height of only 63 cm. A congenital disease-chondrodystrophy-stopped the development of his skeleton, turned the bones into cartilage and took away the hope of a normal life. Despite this, Kostya-the dwarf, and this was the name of the man in his native village, created a family, happily lived to old age and was never a burden to anyone.

Konstantin himself said that his mother, being pregnant, fell into the cellar and was badly hurt. How else can we explain the fact that of the eight children in the Morozov family, only Kostya was born with a disability?

In 1937, when the baby was born, the midwife almost lost consciousness – the boy was very tiny, weighing only 300 grams. No one expected that such a weak child would survive, but Kostya clung tenaciously to life.

Immediately after the birth of Kostya, rumors began to spread in his native village of Sara, in the Ulyanovsk region. People said that the Morozovs had a baby imp or an incomprehensible animal. When the mother of an unusual baby asked the priest to baptize him, he refused for a long time. He agreed only after being convinced that the boy would definitely die.

Kostya survived, and at the age of six months, his parents took him to Kazan to see experienced doctors. They were surprised to see such a tiny child, but said that they could not help him in any way. As one of the possible solutions to the problem, one of the doctors suggested ... to kill the child and alcohol it in a jar, like a freak. After that, Kostya's mother realized that she could only rely on her own strength.

In an interview with Komsomolskaya Pravda, Konstantin Morozov said that since childhood, he was most afraid of being a burden to others, so he started working as a child. When the father of a large family went to the front, the older brothers got the dwarf a job-soldering aluminum milk flasks.

A five-year-old child the size of a cat could get inside the tightest container and fix the defects from the inside. It was very difficult for Kostya to work – there was not a single solid bone in his body, his arms turned 360 degrees, and his legs did not work at all. But the physical disability did not affect the mental development of the boy-he grew up smart beyond his years and aspired to knowledge. Without even a primary education, Kostya was constantly drawing and inventing something.

When the boy's father returned from the war, he was surprised by his son's knowledge of mechanics and decided to support him in his love of technology. My father dismantled an old sewing machine and made a small but real lathe out of it, on which Kostya began deftly turning spindles for spinning wheels.

Kostya-the gnome really wanted to go to school, but his dream turned out to be impossible. As soon as the unusual boy appeared in the school corridor on a makeshift stroller, converted from a child's bicycle, children and teachers poured out of all classes to look at this miracle.

Schoolchildren laughed at the unfortunate child, and teachers were afraid of him, so Konstantin mastered the letter himself, under the guidance of his parents. As soon as he learned to read, the boy began to eagerly "swallow" all the books that he could find. The day was not enough for him, so at night he hid with another novel under the bed, taking with him a kerosene lamp. The mother was very afraid that Kostya would start a fire, so she drove him out of hiding with a poker.

Konstantin Morozov managed to pass the external final exams at school and get a good certificate. The quick-witted disabled boy was almost immediately invited to the Komsomol work, and Konstantin gladly agreed.

At first, Kostya-the gnome was engaged in the fact that he suddenly appeared in village houses, where healers received clients and spiritualistic seances were held. The appearance of an amazing creature frightened the owners more than a real evil force, and the event was thwarted.

A little later, Kostya moved on to more serious work — he became a speaker. It is well known that the Komsomol meetings are not the most exciting action. The young people avoided him as much as they could. But when everyone knew that Kostya-gnome would be performing, they came only to stare at the outlandish activist.

Morozov began to travel as part of the campaign team to the field camps, where he delivered speeches about the party to tractor drivers and combine harvesters. So that they would not fall asleep during the tedious "obyazalovka", Kostya boldly interspersed lectures on five-year plans and the international with obscene anecdotes.

Needless to say, soon Kostya-gnome became a favorite of the harsh collective farmers and a headache of the district committee. His antics had to be put up with, since it was obvious that after his agitation speeches, the people were much more willing to join the Komsomol and not skip meetings.

At the age of 20, Konstantin realized that he could not work fully, and working on the Komsomol line was a bad help for the family budget. In addition, the guy is tired of the constant attention and ridicule. After much thought, he asked his parents to put him in a boarding school.

In a boarding house for the elderly with disabilities near Ulyanovsk, Kostya did not sit idle – from the first days he took up editing the local wall newspaper. There he also learned to play several musical instruments – art from childhood attracted Morozov, and now he had the time and opportunity to engage in it.

Konstantin composed ditties and songs, arranged improvised performances in which he played all the roles himself – in short, he tried to live an interesting life and brighten up the monotonous everyday life of the residents of the boarding school.

At the age of 33, Konstantin married 31-year-old Lydia – the most beautiful girl in the boarding school. By this time, Morozov had learned how to repair watches and was making good money, so the couple was able to buy a room in a communal apartment. At the registration of marriage in the registry office, a curious case occurred – the secretary decided that the groom did not appear, because she simply did not notice Kostya.

Konstantin and Lydia lived soul to soul and never complained about fate. Kostya the gnome was well known throughout the village-he was a jack-of-all-trades and an indefatigable merry man. In winter, Morozov moved through the deep snow on a sledge, in which he harnessed the dog Palm, and in the summer he overcame the off-road on a small tractor assembled with his own hands, converted from a scooter. It also happened that Kostya was carried in a bag by his beloved wife.

In the 80s, age and chronic diseases began to remind themselves more and more often, so Konstantin and his wife returned to the boarding school. In 2000, Lydia died, and in 2009, Konstantin died. And although no one believed that Kostya the dwarf would live even to a year, he lived a long and decent life.