A monument to the father-founder of the Republic of Udmurtia, Trofim Borisov, was recently unveiled in Izhevsk.

      Borisov was a great believer in the future of the Udmurt people who barely enjoyed any recognition within the Romanov Empire. After the October Revolution the prospect of gaining independence for the Udmurt people became possible, and it was Trofim (Trokai) Borisov who ardently worked to make his dream of a national Udmurt state come true.

      Trokai Borisov was born into a peasant Udmurt family and worked his way up to the academia, first studying History and Languages and then - Medicine, both time in St. Petersburg. He collected the Udmurt songs and compiled an Udmurt-Russian dictionary and thesaurus. After Udmurtia's acknowledgement as a republic in 1920, he continued his work as a doctor and statesman until the early 1930s. He was first sent to the labour camps following an accusation of preparing Udmurtia's break-off from Russia and becoming a part of Finland. He was sent to Kazakhstan where his sentence was reduced. In 1940 he was sentenced again, for doctoral negligence, and in 1942 he was once again sent to prison following an accusation that through his negligence 28 hospital workers contracted spotted typhus and died. Trokai Borisov died in prison in 1943.

      2011 was celebrated as the year of Trokai Borisov throughout Udmurtia, and in October 2012 the monument to this outstanding and intelligent man was unveiled in Izhevsk. A granith monument over 3 meters in height created by sculptors Victor Ovchinnikov and Gennady Kutlybaev now stands a public garden opposite the House of Radio.