In Memoriam: Aleksei Grachev

21/5/1968 - 20/6/2021

Alex (as most of the Western and European world knows him) was a very bright and beautiful soul. We treasure him first because who he was as a friend, and what he meant and did to the community on a larger scale.

One of the founding member and until his time ended, the sole leader of Russia's St.Petersburg Bear Club, founder of Russia's first and only official Leather Fetish Club, he became an avid LGBT activist throught the years we knew him. Just too sad his road was cut short by COVID19, who knows what wonderful deeds and liasions would have become.

Not a small detail of importance is the fact that he was a kind of catalyst to the formation of Tallinn Bearty, too.

It was 2014 when he suggested meeting in Tallinn (Estonia) to arrange a smaller cross border fun weekend between bear clubs of Estonia (BE Bears of Estonia) and newly formed St.Peterbugrg Bear Club. We got lit by the idea and saw an immediate opportunity to move the boundaries of established bear runs in Europe little more North and little closer to East. That led to organising a very first Tallinn Bearty featuring Nordic and Russian bear clubs. Everything else is a recent beautiful ongoing history project now and we are preparing for the 8th TB, next April, 2022.

Alex, we miss you terribly, you were always joyful, kept your head up. We know you tried your hardest to unite kinship of bears in Russia, you succeeded to the extent and without your effort someone(s) had to do it instead. We keep memory of you bright, we continue what you had aimed for, and one day... Our deepest condolences to his daughter, mother, loved and all close ones.

RIP, brother.