The All-Russian scientific conference dedicated to the first Russian Generalissimo Alexei Semyonovich Shein was held on September 24 at the Moscow Theological Academy at the Holy Trinity Sergius Lavra, where the Sheins' ancestral tomb is located.
The large-scale scientific forum was timed to coincide with the 330th anniversary of the victorious capture of Azov in 1696, the first major victory of the young tsar Peter I and commander Alexei Shein, who at the same time received the highest title of generalissimo in the history of Russia. For our country, the Azov victory became one of the key military and political events of the end of the 17th century.
"You know that later Peter had to sacrifice the Azov Sea — this was a failed Prussian campaign. And the first Azov victory, it seems to me, stood up as a kind of barrier: Peter had something to bargain with the Turks. Azov had to be returned. And if he hadn't been there, he probably would have had to give up other lands, even further away. The Azov victory taught Peter to win all the time," says Konstantin Georgievich Shein, a major general in the reserve, a descendant of the Shein family.
Boyar and commander Alexei Semyonovich Shein went down in history not only as an outstanding military commander, but also as a deeply religious man, a church builder and a benefactor. His personality, which combined military feats and spiritual service, is a vivid example for patriotic and spiritual and moral education, especially in the context of modern military challenges.
"One of the definitions of Russia is the country of heroes. There are a lot of daily heroes — I'm not talking about the events in the free zone right now. There are national heroes, among whom undoubtedly belongs the first Russian Generalissimo Alexei Semyonovich Shein. We easily forget them. Some heroic figures could not withstand the ideological test when, on the eve of the Great Patriotic War, historical names were being returned. Shein did not get there," said Professor Alexei Konstantinovich Svetozarsky, Head of the Moscow State Academy of Orthodox Church History Department.
The first Russian generalissimo died in 1700. In 2014, researchers at the Institute of Archaeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences discovered and identified the ancestral burial of the Sheins at the Dukhovskoy Church. In 2016, with the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, an obelisk was erected over the grave of Generalissimo Alexei Shein through the efforts of his descendants.
"Russi is providential that the Holy Trinity-Sergius Lavra became the resting place of the first Russian generalissimo. It is gratifying to realize that the historical memory of him is carefully preserved and perpetuated not only in the glorious city of Azov, where a monument to the hero is erected, but also in Moscow, in Spasskaya Sloboda, with which the commander's life is closely connected. And of course, this memory is sacredly revered here in Sergiev Posad, in the Trinity-Sergius Lavra and at the Moscow Theological Academy, where it acquires a deep scientific, theological and historical understanding," Bishop Kirill of Sergiev Posad and Dmitrov emphasized in his welcoming speech.
The conference was attended by teachers of the Moscow Theological Academy, representatives of the Russian Ministry of Defense, the Research Institute of Military History of the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, government authorities, scientists from the Institute of Archaeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, leading experts from the Sergiev Posad and Azov Museum reserves, representatives of the Moscow Chamber of Commerce and Industry and public organizations.
Before the start of the main program of the forum, a requiem mass was served at the grave of the Generalissimo, then the participants visited the Trinity Cathedral and worshiped the relics of St. Sergius of Radonezh.  
The organizers of the forum declare that the work on perpetuating the name of Alexei Semyonovich Shein continues.