2006 Likhachev Foundation Prize ceremony - Alexey Komech

Alexei Komech (8 August 1936 – 28 February 2007) was a Russian

preservationist Preservationist is generally understood to mean ''historic preservationist'': one who advocates to preserve architecturally or historically significant buildings, structures, objects, or sites from demolition or degradation. Historic preservation us ...

, architectural historian and art critic who helped protect the cultural heritage of

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...

and

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

for over 50 years. He was the Director of the Moscow Art History Institute and a member of the Moscow's City Government's Architectural Consultative Council. Komech commanded immense respect in the city of

and often battled with the mayor,

Yury Luzhkov Yury Mikhailovich Luzhkov ( rus, Ю́рий Миха́йлович Лужко́в, p=ˈjʉrʲɪj mʲɪˈxajləvʲɪtɕ lʊˈʂkof; 21 September 1936 – 10 December 2019) was a Russian politician who served as mayor of Moscow from 1992 to 2010 ...

, and local developers to save the city's architectural heritage from the "substitution of historic sites with modern reproductions and theatrical imitations." He also served on the board of the Open Society Institute–Russia

'The city is interested in receiving so much rom constructionthat it pushes the architecture council to allow anything,' he said. 'It has allow d developersto destroy, to start anew, to build underground garages at the price of the historical part of the city. ... It's all at the expense of the city's history'"Heritage Champion Battles City Hall"
''Moscow Times'', February 3, 2004

Publications

*Komech, Alexei (1991) ''The Golden Ring: Cities of Old Russia''. *Gippenreiter, Vadim and Komech, Alexei (1991) ''Old Russian Cities''.

References

External links

''Moscow Times'' - Crisis facing Moscow's historical buildings

''Pravda'' 21 October 2003 {{DEFAULTSORT:Komech, Alexei 1936 births 2007 deaths Russian architectural historians Komech Komech Komech Komech