Roza Kuleshova is one of the few people with paranormal abilities whose name was well known back in the Soviet era. True, researchers are still arguing - could Rosa really see with her skin? Reading with fingers Rosa was born in 1940 in the Ural village of Pokrovka near Nizhny Tagil. She was raised by her grandmother, who died early. After the death of her grandmother, the girl began having epileptic seizures. Due to health problems, she was unable to complete her tenth grade: after the seventh grade, she got a job as a nurse in a hospital. In 1960, the girl entered amateur art courses. After their graduation, she began to lead a drama club in the society of the blind. Blind people read texts using the so-called Braille alphabet. Kuleshova wanted to try it too. First, she took the cut-out alphabet that first graders used. In two weeks she managed to learn to read words on it “without looking.” Then she also tried to read a book with ordinary letters blindly. At first, I only felt the roughness of the text printed on paper with my fingers. But a year and a half passed - and she trained herself so that she could calmly read the text without looking at the book. In the spring of 1962, Rosa was hospitalized with a sore throat, where she underwent surgery to remove her tonsils. Once she suggested to the members of the House of Representatives that they show that they could read with eyes closed . She was blindfolded and given an open book in her hands. Rose began to run her fingers along the page and read three lines aloud. The women were so amazed that they told their doctor about the phenomenon. He called Kuleshova to his office and gave her a medical book, which was wrapped in a pillowcase. Covering her eyes with her palm, Rose read the entire page aloud. At the doctor’s suggestion, an article about Kuleshova was soon published in a local publication. Circus performer and teacher As a result, she was invited to work at the circus in Nizhny Tagil. Performances with Rosa's participation always attracted a large audience. In the arena, Kuleshova had to read with her eyes closed, and also recognize the colors and shapes of various objects without looking at them or touching them with her hands. In 1965, Rosa moved to Sverdlovsk, where she got a job at a school for blind children. She began teaching them to read and navigate the environment using her own method. True, for pedagogical purposes, the children were not told that their teacher was actually sighted. A boy named Sasha Nikiforov turned out to be a particularly receptive student. Thanks to Rose, he managed to learn to recognize objects at a distance and walk without a stick and without accompaniment. Skin vision or clairvoyance? At the same time, scientists became interested in Rose. Numerous experiments were carried out with it, not only in Sverdlovsk, but also in Moscow. For example, they blindfolded her and placed a thick partition between her and the book. However, the woman could still read any text from the book, regardless of its level of difficulty. She was also asked to take out colored cards by touch from a dark linen bag or a thick sealed envelope and determine their colors. But if we were talking about an envelope, then Kuleshova accurately named the colors of only three cards lying on top, and the rest were vaguely visible to her. It turned out that Rosa is able to read not only with the help of her hands, but also by touching the text with her elbows and feet - however, only naked. So, during one experiment, she had to read aloud the title of a magazine that was lying under the table. The woman walked up to the table, touched the magazine with her bare foot and read: “Young designer.” But she instantly corrected herself: “No, “Model designer!” The experimenters decided that the word “modeler” was simply unusual for her. There are still many rumors and legends surrounding the name of Rosa Kuleshova. Some claim that she was a swindler and deceived people by peeping through her blindfold (although then it would have been easy to expose her). Others say that she did not read with her skin at all, but had a strong clairvoyant gift. By the way, the woman did not receive any financial dividends for her gift; she lived on a tiny salary as a dishwasher. Unfortunately, Roza Kuleshova did not even live to be 40 years old. She died in 1978 from a brain tumor that caused a hemorrhage. After her death, many researchers suggested that Kuleshova’s abilities were the result of brain disorders, which, obviously, were observed in this woman since childhood (remember epileptic seizures). One way or another, the “Roza Kuleshova effect” remained an unsolved mystery...

“Clairvoyance”, “skin vision” or even “quackery”. As soon as the superpowers of a phenomenal girl were not called in the 1960s and 70s Roza Kuleshova. Scientists and doctors struggled to figure out how she managed to “read” with her eyes closed, but neither one nor the other could give scientific explanation her secret talent.

Roza Kuleshova, at first glance, was a completely ordinary girl born in the post-war years. The father died at the front, the mother arranged her personal life by getting married a second time, and the grandmother took up raising the baby. True, this did not last long: my grandmother lived short life and, left practically an orphan after her death, Rosa was forced to quit school and get a job as a nurse, although she only completed 7 grades. The girl’s health has deteriorated: due to nervous breakdown she developed epilepsy.

To escape from difficult thoughts and loneliness, the girl began to help the sick after hours; she organized a drama club for the blind. Then she became interested in how people who have lost their sight can read texts. Rose decided to independently master “reading by touch,” but instead of books printed in Braille, she took regular publications. Long hours of painstaking work, and Rose achieved her first successes.

Perhaps about the girl's abilities for a long time no one would have known, but in 1962 she was admitted to the hospital with a sore throat and there, out of boredom, she offered to amuse her roommates by reading to them blindly. The women were shocked and immediately told the doctors about this, but they only recorded phenomenal abilities and could not explain them. Rosa realized that she needed to develop her abilities: first she began performing in a circus for children, then she got a job at a school for the blind, teaching them to read. Over time, she learned to receive information from touch not only with her fingers, but also with her feet, and even her elbows. The girl “read” everything - books, letters, magazines. She could recognize by touch the denomination of a banknote or the date on a tear-off calendar.

Roza Kuleshova lived a short life; she died of a brain tumor before her 40th birthday. We never knew the exact answer to the question of how she managed to read without looking; scientists were unable to get to the bottom of the truth. Even more mysterious before today personality remains.

Today it is believed that in the Soviet era, society did not have the opportunity to learn about unusual and strange phenomena, including extrasensory abilities. People simply forgot about the fuss that Roza Kuleshova caused in the press and among scientists. This ordinary woman demonstrated real miracles. Many then believed that Roza Kuleshova was a psychic. Was this really so? Let's figure it out using the available facts.

Roza Kuleshova: biography, years of life

For a citizen of the country of the Soviets, everything was “like everyone else.” The soldiers of the Great Patriotic War and home front workers were famous for their exploits. Since Roza Kuleshova was born in 1940, she had nothing to do with either one or the other. The girl lived in a village in the Urals, went to school and thought about how to benefit society. In those days, almost everyone had this position. Received an education - and go to work. Nobody will feed you just like that, and the law does not encourage parasitism.

After finishing seven years of school, Roza Kuleshova got a job at a hospital in the city of Nizhny Tagil as a nurse. Researchers are silent about what prompted the girl to search for a more serious career closer to art, but at the age of twenty she completed amateur art courses. We can only state this well-known fact, but we will reveal it a little further. After completing the courses, Rosa began leading a drama club for the blind. In those days, the state stimulated citizens’ desire for culture, that is, it created paid jobs for people who would be involved in the development of the population. People who knew Rosa noted that she was a very sincere and simple-minded person.

Let us immediately note that Rose’s century turned out to be short-lived, but bright. She died at the age of 38. The cause of his tragic untimely death was a cerebral hemorrhage.

How did the phenomenon begin?

Each of us has moments of choice. People probably don’t realize that they are faced with something important and fateful. They intuitively take the first step into the unknown, believing that everything happens naturally and completely normally. Apparently, this is exactly what Roza Kuleshova thought. The years of this woman’s life can be safely divided into two stages: before and after. And the rubicon is the moment when she began to engage in creativity with blind people. Watching her students read books printed in Braille, Rose became interested and decided to conduct an experiment. Literally, as sources write, after two weeks she completely mastered this technique. Rosa Kuleshova began reading books for the blind with her hands. This is where the moment came, which is considered an insight. The girl, most likely out of mischief, tried to use her new skills to read ordinary books. Imagine her surprise when the text succumbed to her fingers trained in Braille. Rosa treated her discovery as a joke. Back then, the poorly educated woman had no idea that she had practically created a miracle and gone beyond the ordinary. Surely the girl’s abilities would have remained unknown to the world if a small misfortune had not occurred.

First confession

In 1962, the woman’s illness brought her to the hospital, and she was admitted to the hospital. There, out of simplicity of soul and kindness, she began to entertain her friends with “tricks.” By that time, Roza Kuleshova had learned to read printed text not only with her fingers, like the blind, but also with her elbows. The patients were surprised and asked to demonstrate the “trick” again, trying to catch the woman cheating and figure out how she did it. Surprised and delighted conversations reached the chief physician. He called Rosa into his office and demanded to show how she reads without using her eyesight. To make sure that the experiment was pure, the doctor put the first book he found in a pillowcase. The woman did not save. She stuck her hands into this makeshift bag and began, stumbling over unfamiliar words, to read an abstruse scientific text.

First glory

Information about the woman’s extraordinary abilities appeared in the local newspaper. The correspondent told readers that Roza Kuleshova, whose biography did not stand out in any way, was able to discover an amazing talent in herself. Soviet publications often published materials about small feats ordinary people, so to speak, for educational purposes. But the note caught the eye of an employee of the local pedagogical institute. This man was engaged in research in the field of psychology. He became interested in the phenomenon. Roza Kuleshova (photos of the girl are given in the article) unexpectedly became an object scientific research. Doctors tried to uncover the secret of her body in order to use the material to create technologies that would make life easier for the blind.

Life under experiments

The women decided to study the extraordinary organism in Sverdlovsk, in a serious scientific institution. Rose had to move to this city. According to eyewitnesses, they tortured her mercilessly. Burdened with much knowledge, the husbands could not unravel the secret of her abilities. The woman was biopsied many times (pieces of skin were cut off) in order to examine the genetic material - maybe there was a problem in it. Rose had to participate in a series of experiments. She lived on a modest salary as a dishwasher. No one was going to reward her financially for her talent. These studies were largely carried out on a voluntary basis. Rosa had to travel to the capital at her own expense; she did not refuse to cooperate with specialists of various kinds. The solution was not found. Its phenomenon is nevertheless described in specialized literature and is called the “Rosa Kuleshova effect.”

Home experiments

Eyewitnesses wrote in their memoirs about what Kuleshova Rosa was like. She was a very calm, patient and friendly person. When she came to visit, she allowed those around her to conduct experiments on her. If someone from the company wanted to verify with their own eyes that she was reading with her fingers, she never objected. The person was asked to come up with special, non-standard conditions for home experience. So, the guest approached Rosa and tightly blindfolded him with a cloth. She made it possible to check if there were any cracks, to see if she could peek. In addition, the organizer of the experiment approached the woman from behind and turned his head away from the place where the book was located. But she still read, without making a single mistake. No one had any doubts about the purity of the experiment.

Why did Rose not refuse to demonstrate her abilities?

According to the testimony of those who had the opportunity to communicate with this woman, she was terribly hurt by the accusations of fraud. The simple-minded soul demanded justice. She could punish the offender in only one way - to prove that he was lying. That is why she did not deny the curious (including scientists) the opportunity to explore her talent. By the way, reading is not the only unique ability with which Rose amazed viewers. She could see the color of the thread inside the tight bag. That is, she distinguished him with her hands! Nowadays a lot of things are written about the phenomenon of women. There is evidence that she read with her buttocks. Is it true? Unknown. But with my fingers and toes and elbows I could clearly distinguish both text and color.

Ability Explanation

Rosa herself tried to tell scientists about talent, to help them discover her secret. She said the colors “feel” different. Red, for example, warms the hand and gives spring. There is no heat emanating from the green, and it “does not resist.” She also did not perceive the texts quite the way we read them with the help of sight. Letters and whole words give rise to special, clearly distinguishable sensations in the skin. From them she identified the meaning of what was printed and reproduced it out loud. Moreover, she did not need to touch the paper or threads. She felt the color and essence of signs at a distance of about two centimeters, which she proved experimentally more than once. She could explain how this happens only from the point of view of sensations. Scientists were looking for changes in the body and how they are related to brain activity.

Roza Kuleshova: exposure

The scientific world from the inside is not the same as we imagine it from the outside. He is full of envy, intrigue, lies and falsehood. People engaged in mental activity are characterized by all the same vices as ordinary residents and hard workers. Rose's abilities were studied in various research institutes. Scientists put forward their theories and tried to prove them. Some thought that there were light-sensitive cells (or other formations) in the skin that transmitted signals to the brain; others tried to find the answer in a woman's genes, and there were other ideas. The phenomenon itself and its bearer faded into the background in the heat of the struggle. The fate of the woman ceased to interest scientists who were carried away by the problem. Unable to explain her phenomenon, these people began to criticize her.

Bullying

This is exactly what we should call what happened to Rosa. Scientific scandals have become public knowledge. Revealing materials signed by eminent scientists appeared in the central press. Honored illusionists joined them with pleasure, caused by ordinary professional jealousy. The scientific community discussed the question: Is Rosa Kuleshova a swindler or a psychic? Amazingly, this topic turned out to be much more fascinating than the woman’s abilities. The village woman, raised by her grandmother, had no patron. But there was a soul: pure and honest. Rosa reacted negatively to the dirt generated by the lack of talent and splashed out on the pages of the media.

Fight or retreat?

There are situations in life that a person cannot cope with on his own; they are not enough. How can an illiterate woman influence pseudo-scientific disputes? She did everything that was in her power. She demonstrated her abilities to everyone and tried to explain the sensations as best she could. However, this turned out to be not enough. The learned men failed to cope with the task; their knowledge was not enough. But that is not all. Honored specialists were unable to create a suitable theoretical basis for studying this phenomenon. It is much easier to declare a woman a charlatan and thereby cover up her fiasco. That's what they did. Rose was left with no choice: give up or become a black sheep. For an honest, decent and open woman, neither one nor the other was possible.

And a solution was found!

Rosa Alekseevna did not give up. She responded to the invitations of all researchers, went and allowed herself to be experimented on. She hoped that there would be a specialist who would reveal her secret and wipe the noses of dirty science gossip. But the gift defied the thinkers. This is now easy to explain. Soviet science denied some existing phenomena. She was somehow flawed; she viewed the world one-sidedly. Psychic abilities it was simply denied and not taken into account. Everything that went beyond the scientific paradigm was declared quackery and deception (which, incidentally, is the same thing). Rose went to those who needed her - blind children. She tried to pass on her gift to the deprived children. At that time they wrote that the most talented student was Sasha Nikiforov. The boy could distinguish objects at a distance (he is blind) and walked without a guide.

conclusions

Such a story cannot remain without results. As already said, the woman lived only thirty-eight years, you must agree, very little! She had to really fight for the truth. Judge for yourself, she already possessed abilities that could, in other conditions, be turned into money, as they say, monetized. But this was in the Soviet Union, in that lost country people became illusionists only with the permission of the party and government. A simple woman had to fight the bureaucratic machine of science. And she won. So what is Rose's victory? We haven't forgotten about her. Even though she died long ago, her trace remained both in scientific literature and in the hearts of those who are interested in outstanding people. And one more thing: Roza Kuleshova taught her descendants a lesson. It consists in the fact that under any conditions you should not surrender to the mercy of ignoramuses from science. There is a way out if you think carefully. The professors did not want to unravel her gift; it was useful to the blind. Agree, this is the highest meaning of human existence - to give people happiness (or the opportunity to feel it). Rose found the strength to brush aside the mediocrities and turn to those who needed her.

At the same time, scientists became interested in Rose. Numerous experiments were carried out with it, not only in Sverdlovsk, but also in Moscow. For example, they blindfolded her and placed a thick partition between her and the book. However, the woman could still read any text from the book, regardless of its level of difficulty. She was also asked to take out colored cards by touch from a dark linen bag or a thick sealed envelope and determine their colors. But if we were talking about an envelope, then Kuleshova accurately named the colors of only three cards lying on top, and the rest were vaguely visible to her.

It turned out that Rosa is able to read not only with the help of her hands, but also by touching the text with her elbows and feet - however, only naked. So, during one experiment, she had to read aloud the title of a magazine that was lying under the table. The woman walked up to the table, touched the magazine with her bare foot and read: “Young designer.” But she instantly corrected herself: “No, “Model designer!” The experimenters decided that the word “modeler” was simply unusual for her.

There are still many rumors and legends surrounding the name of Rosa Kuleshova. Some claim that she was a swindler and deceived people by peeping through her blindfold (although then it would have been easy to expose her). Others say that she did not read with her skin at all, but had a strong clairvoyant gift. By the way, the woman did not receive any financial dividends for her gift; she lived on a tiny salary as a dishwasher.

Unfortunately, Roza Kuleshova did not even live to be 40 years old. She died in 1978 from a brain tumor that caused a hemorrhage. After her death, many researchers suggested that Kuleshova’s abilities were the result of brain disorders, which, obviously, were observed in this woman since childhood (remember epileptic seizures). One way or another, the “Roza Kuleshova effect” remained an unsolved mystery...

An illiterate young woman who accidentally discovered that she had an unusual gift suddenly became famous, and she liked it - being special and famous. But recognition didn’t come to her just like that - she studied, worked hard, and it took about two years for her abilities to begin to clearly manifest themselves.

Roza Kuleshova could not receive a full education - she suffered from epilepsy. But she completed the courses and worked with children who were blind from birth. That's when she became interested - how do they manage to read text with letters punched out on paper? I decided to try it myself and in two weeks I mastered the alphabet for first-graders suffering from blindness. And then she wanted to see if she could read ordinary printed text? She did it. Not immediately, but she managed, without looking at pictures or books, to accurately identify words or pictures, and also name colors.

Having demonstrated her abilities to the attending physician, Roza Kuleshova became a sensation. After this experience, the first article about her appeared and a series of other experiences, experiments and performances began.

The Rosa Kuleshova effect

In the country of the Soviets, it truly produced a deafening effect. They tried to repeat her success; many discovered similar abilities in themselves and declared it. Rosa herself showed that she could “read” with her skin, with any open part of the body - with her hand, elbow, foot, through an impenetrable partition or a thick envelope. She distinguished colors without seeing them, named hidden symbols, and determined the meaning of an inscription made without contact by the heat trace left on the paper by her finger. Later she learned to diagnose diseases of internal organs.

“All of you scientists don’t believe me...”

Roza Kuleshova demonstrated her abilities many times, did it with pleasure and clearly wanted to impress. But she was very upset when they didn’t believe her. Experimenters often came to the conclusion that the woman was simply deceiving them. They even exposed her, entering into the protocol:

“Experiments carried out with precautions against spying and eavesdropping give negative results. If the demonstration is carried out during breaks and strict control conditions are not observed, everything works out.”

Doctor of Psychological Sciences, famous Soviet psychologist A. V. Petrovsky did not question Kuleshova’s abilities. He was convinced that she could do a lot. But during research, she “allows herself to do different tricks,” which is what scientists catch her with. Because of this, confidence in her abilities was lost and the existence of her special gift was refuted. Rosa was very worried about such accusations and was ready to show everyone that she could do something special.

In public, she became lively, flirtatious, perky, and received applause and delight from the audience. She behaved like a star accepting well-deserved success and admiration from the audience. And to the scientists she walked confidently and joyfully. But every time, faced with hostility and doubts, she reacted violently and emotionally, was ready to go anywhere and prove to anyone that she was a talented psychic.

The period of glory was short-lived

The experiments that put an end to the research into Rosa Kuleshova’s abilities indicated that she did not possess any abilities. Perhaps Petrovsky was right when he spoke of “tricks” involving voyeurism. Perhaps the quality of the demonstration was affected by the skeptical and distrustful attitude of the audience. After all, the results of the experiments remain contradictory - some scientists confirm the presence of extraordinary abilities, others do not. But we will never know this, since due to the onset of a brain tumor, Roza Kuleshova died before she even lived for 40 years and left her mystery unsolved.