The symbol of the 1980 Olympics, which took place in the USSR, is still remembered and loved thirty years later. The Olympic Bear, despite his good looks, has a very unattractive history of climbing the podium.
The mascot of the twenty-second Olympic Games in 1980 was named Mikhail Potapych Toptygin. Among the people, he was affectionately nicknamed Bear Misha or simply Bear. Illustrator and Honored Artist of Russia Viktor Aleksandrovich Chizhikov became the author of the image of the famous bear cub.
He was born in 1935, from childhood he had a penchant for drawing. For the first time, a pencil was handed over to a two-year-old kid by his father, since then Victor never parted with it and more and more honed his skills. Chizhikov showed a particular inclination for cartoons, cartoons and illustrations of stories.
In 1977, the CPSU Central Committee announced a competition to create a mascot for the future Olympics. Initially, by voting, the Soviet people chose the bear among other animals (elk, deer, seal, sable and, in fact, the bear). Misha was traditionally called the hero of Russian fairy tales - a strong, courageous, stubborn bear. It is precisely because of the similarity between the qualities of the bear and the athletes that the Organizing Committee of the Moscow Olympics chose him as a symbol.
An unprecedented number of artists from all over the country responded to the party's call. At that time, Viktor Chizhikov was the head of the Union of Artists and, together with his colleagues, decided to participate in the competition.
Several thousand sketches of the future mascot were sent to the Olympic Organizing Committee. Chizhikov created Potapych after a thorough analysis of the previous symbols of the Olympics. As a result, his talisman turned out to be kind, open and for the first time in the history of the symbols of the Olympics, looking into the eyes of his viewer. And the members of the Politburo chose Mishka, and their opinion was supported by the rest of the citizens of the USSR.
Viktor Sergeevich was incredibly happy, because after such an event he was supposed not only to become famous, but also to become a real millionaire. The legislation of that time assumed that the author of the picture placed on toys, badges, key chains, envelopes and any other items should receive a percentage of their sale.
Having learned about the choice of his drawing, Chizhikov went to the Organizing Committee for a reward. But there he was in for an unpleasant surprise - they shook his hand and promised to thank him for his help in organizing the Olympics with 250 rubles. The author of Mishka was perplexed - abroad the authors of the talismans received a lot of money, and his reward was a thousand times less. After a long dispute, Chizhikov was given two thousand rubles, but at the same time they set tough conditions.
Viktor Alexandrovich was explained that now he has no right to claim authorship. The author of Mikhailo Potapych Toptygin was declared the Soviet people. The KGB forced to sign a paper on the transfer of fees in favor of the Organizing Committee, then the author's signature was removed from the picture, and the Bear became public domain.
The bear, so beloved by the people, did not bring either money or fame to its creator. Chizhikov continues to work on illustrations for children's books, but he still feels resentment and annoyance, because the copyright for the bear was never returned to him.
