Monument to Dostoevsky at the Lenin Library in Moscow

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:39

Relatively recently, a monument to Dostoevsky was erected at the entrance of the Lenin Library. It happened in 1997, during the celebration of the 850th anniversary of the founding of Moscow, and was not accompanied by particularly solemn events. At least the President of Russia was not present at the opening.

Writer F. M. Dostoevsky

The name of this writer, without exaggeration, is world famous. His works "The Brothers Karamazov", "The Idiot", "Crime and Punishment", "Demons" and many others have been translated into many languages and are published to this day. The writer was born in Moscow, on Novaya Bozhedomka Street, which now bears his name. By the way, there is another monument erected there, but much more modest than the monument to Dostoevsky near the Lenin Library. It cannot be said that the writer during his lifetime was surrounded by fame and reverence of others. On the contrary, he survived both hard labor and soldiery, suffered from epileptic seizures and was obsessed with gambling. The metamorphoses of his convictions are also curious. Having started his journey at a young age as a convinced fighter against tsarism, for which he was first sentenced to death,later replaced by hard labor, in the middle and, especially, at the end of his life, the writer became an admirer of the autocracy and a Russian nationalist, anti-Semite and chauvinist. In the Soviet Union, although the writer was included in the school curriculum, some of his works remained under a kind of unspoken ban. In particular, the novel "Demons". Despite all this, his talent as a writer is certainly undeniable. And it was the recognition of this talent that determined the decision to erect a monument to Dostoevsky near the Lenin Library.

The first monument to the writer in Moscow

As already mentioned, the monument to Dostoevsky near the Lenin Library is not the only one in Moscow. The first one was opened back in 1918 in accordance with a special decree of the Bolsheviks on monumental propaganda. The glaring discrepancy between the writer's convictions and Bolshevism was reflected in the story with the name of this first monument. As an extremely risky joke, A. V. Lunacharsky, the curator of the program, was offered a variant title: “Dostoevsky from grateful demons.” There is another story connected with the writer's son, Fedor, who, during the installation of a monument to his father in Moscow, was going to be shot by the local Cheka in Simferopol, but the very fact of kinship and the appearance of the monument played a decisive role in his salvation. It's good that among the zealous semi-literate Chekists there were people who knew this writer.

Description of the monument

The monument to Dostoevsky at the Lenin Library was created by the sculptor A. I. Rukavishnikov andarchitects M. M. Posokhin and A. G. Kochetkovsky. The writer is depicted sitting on the edge of an armchair, in a very uncomfortable position, with a gloomy, thoughtful face, his hands are limply lowered, one hand is on his knees, the figure itself is hunched. Obviously, according to the author's idea, the pose was supposed to reflect the writer's painful thoughts over the fate of the world and humanity. Calling the monument to Dostoevsky near Lenin's library in no way optimistic, but it still makes an impression. Albeit a little dark. Not all urban objects are required to shine with unbridled optimism. To some extent, the monument reflects the hard life of this man, who, despite the disgrace that existed both during life and even after death, at least in our country, was recognized by mankind as the greatest writer of the 19th century.

It must be said that the author A. I. Rukavishnikov created several monuments to this writer. Among them is a very similar monument erected in Dresden, the opening of which was attended by the leaders of Russia and Germany, as well as several statues in various cities of Russia.

Offensive nicknames

With the advent of any monument, there are almost immediately folk wits who come up with all sorts of funny names, regardless of personalities, as well as a whole army of eternally dissatisfied critics, diligently looking for something to complain about. The monument to Dostoevsky at the Lenin Library was no exception. The most innocuous name: "Monument to Bechterew's disease." Other, less decent nicknames: “Monument to Russian Hemorrhoids”, “At the Receptionproctologist. All this is inspired by the writer's uncomfortable posture, which gives rise to such associations. Critics, in addition to the same posture of the writer, noted an unfortunate, in their opinion, place for his installation. But if you wish, you can “get to the bottom” of any city object. In this case, it was a clear contradiction between the name of Lenin, after whom the library is named, and the name of Dostoevsky, whose monument is erected opposite the entrance to this library.

Life of a monument

The site next to the monument to Dostoevsky near the Lenin Library is a fairly popular meeting place for young people. Various flash mobs, hugging actions are periodically held here, in 2017 the monument became one of the venues for the Flower Jam action, turning into an element of garden decor for a short time, in 2013, during the reconstruction of the entrance to the library, its pedestal was updated. In 2011-2012 the site next to the monument became an arena for street press conferences for both supporters and opponents of Bolotnaya Square. In general, the monument "fits" into the urban environment and has become one of the sights of the capital.

Location

Formal address of the monument to Dostoevsky at the Lenin Library: st. Vozdvizhenka, house 3/5, building 1. This address coincides with the address of the library itself. You can find out how to get to the Lenin Library and the Dostoevsky Monument from the information boards located in the center of Moscow, at almost every public transport stop. nearest stationmetro - Arbatskaya and Lenin Library.

How to get to the monument to Dostoevsky near the Lenin Library from the city center? You just need to follow the signs. The monument is located at the intersection of the ancient Moscow streets Mokhovaya and Vozdvizhenka, it is simply impossible not to notice it.