Biography
In December 2019, in Nevinnomyssk, the Investigative Committee opened criminal cases under two extremist articles against 9 elderly believers. One of the victims of persecution was Georgiy Parfentyev, an amateur gardener. All charges were later dropped from him. In July 2023, the elderly man passed away.
Georgiy was born in 1946 in the village of Stepanchikovo, Yaroslavl region. His mother was a milkmaid, and the man did not remember his father. His childhood was active: he went skiing with friends and every day overcame 5 kilometres, going to school through marshland.
After school, Georgiy entered the railway school, where he studied as a locksmith for the repair of wagons and brakes. He worked as a grinder at a factory—first in Komsomolsk-on-Amur, then in Yaroslavl, where he moved to take care of his disabled mother, and from 1992 until retirement—in Nevinnomyssk. In retirement, an elderly man was doing what he loved—growing plants on his land and harvesting for the whole family.
In 1970, Georgiy met his future wife. Tatyana is a kindergarten teacher by profession. Together the spouses led an active lifestyle: skiing, skating and dreaming of a brighter future. The couple raised and educated their three children—their daughter graduated from a music school, their eldest son graduated from a construction institute, and the youngest received a degree in mechanical engineering.
In the early 1990s, the couple became interested in the Bible. “The Bible has answers to all questions that help me be happy,” Georgiy said.
The criminal prosecution greatly overshadowed the life of Georgy and his wife, and also hit their health, leading to an exacerbation of long-standing illnesses. The children considered the accusations of extremism to be unfair and meaningless.