WASHINGTON, September 29. /TASS/. An official opening of a reduction of the "Let US Beat Swords into Plowshares" statue by the Soviet sculptor Yevgeny Vuchetich took place on Saturday in the State of Iowa, the United States. The monument was set in front of the mansion on the farm of Roswell and Elizabeth Garst in Coon Rapids, visited by Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev sixty years ago during the visit to the United States.
"Today we are gathered for a special occasion. Sixty years ago, the leader of the Soviet Union Nikita Khrushchev visited the United States," said Ivan Ponomaryov, the Agricultural Attache of the Russian embassy in the United States. Agriculture turned into one of critical areas of cooperation between the two countries and Soon alter agriculture became one of the crucial areas in cooperation between our countries and "served as a bridge between our people" shortly after the visit of the Soviet statesman, the diplomat said. "Since then, many new things had appeared in Russia. Widely popular at that time in the United States, "hot dogs" and "hamburgers" received a permanent residence in Russia - however, were called it differently: sausage or rissole in the dough," Ponomaryov said.
"We had become more efficient in growing corn, which usually called in Russia the ‘Queen of the Fields.’ This was mostly due to the invaluable contribution of the Roswell Garst and his family. The Iowa farmer, businessman and agricultural innovator, he believed the best way to ease tensions between the two superpowers was by ensuring everyone had a full stomach," the Russian diplomat added.
Vuchetich created the original "Let US Beat Swords into Plowshares" sculpture representing the human wish to end all wars by converting the weapons of death and destruction into peaceful and productive tools in 1957. It is currently set in front of the UN building in the United States. The copy opened in Iowa with the height slightly above one meter was made by Russian sculptor Salavat Scherbakov.
The statue copy was made by the order of local banker and farmer John Chrystal, who visited the USSR many times. It was inherited later on by Valentina Fominykh, who helped Chrystal with visits to the Soviet Union. Fominykh donated the statue to the Whiterock Conservancy in 2018, shortly before her death. "This is a very appropriate piece for the historic farmstead as John Chrystal and Roswell Garst both were very strong believers in the "peace through corn" approach, chief executive of Whiterock Conservancy Dan Gudahl told TASS.