Abram or Avraam Melnikov (Авраам Иванович Мельников; 1784—1854) was a Russian Neoclassical architect associated with the late phase of the

Empire style The Empire style (, ''style Empire'') is an early-nineteenth-century design movement in architecture, furniture, other decorative arts, and the visual arts, representing the second phase of Neoclassicism. It flourished between 1800 and 1815 durin ...

. His teachers at the

Imperial Academy of Arts The Russian Academy of Arts, informally known as the Saint Petersburg Academy of Arts, was an art academy in Saint Petersburg, founded in 1757 by the founder of the Imperial Moscow University Ivan Shuvalov under the name ''Academy of the Thre ...

included

Andreyan Zakharov Andreyan Zakharov (russian: Андрея́н Дми́триевич Заха́ров; 19 August 1761 – 8 September 1811) was a Russian Imperial architect and representative of the Empire style. His designs also alternated neoclassicism with ecle ...

. He graduated with a gold medal and went to further his studies in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. Melnikov became de facto Dean of the Academy in 1831 but was not officially appointed until 1843. Melnikov collaborated with sculptor

Ivan Martos Ivan Petrovich Martos (russian: Иван Петрович Мартос; uk, Іван Петрович Мартос; 1754 — 5 April 1835) was Ukrainian and Russian sculptor and art teacher who helped awaken Russian interest in Neoclassical ...

on the pedestals for his statues of Minin and Pozharsky in

Red Square Red Square ( rus, Красная площадь, Krasnaya ploshchad', ˈkrasnəjə ˈploɕːətʲ) is one of the oldest and largest squares in Moscow, the capital of Russia. Owing to its historical significance and the adjacent historical build ...

and

Duc de Richelieu Duke of Richelieu (french: duc de Richelieu) was a title of French nobility. It was created on 26 November 1629 for Armand Jean du Plessis de Richelieu (known as Cardinal Richelieu) who, as a Roman Catholic clergyman, had no issue to pass it down ...

at the top of the

Potemkin Stairs , location = , address2 = , owner = , coordinates = , place_type = Stairs , construction = 1837–1841 , open = 1841 , steps = 192 , height = 27 m , surface = granite, sandstone ...

Odessa Odesa (also spelled Odessa) is the third most populous city and municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. The city is also the administrativ ...

. Apart from the

Imperial School of Jurisprudence The Imperial School of Jurisprudence (Russian: Императорское училище правоведения) was, along with the Page Corps, a school for boys in Saint Petersburg, the capital of the Russian Empire. The school for would-be ...

and the Old Believer Church of St. Nicholas (later converted into the

Arctic and Antarctic Museum The Russian State Arctic and Antarctic Museum (russian: Российский государственный музей Арктики и Антарктики) is a museum in St. Petersburg, Russia. It was established in November 1930 as part of th ...

), Melnikov's major buildings are in

New Russia Novorossiya, literally "New Russia", is a historical name, used during the era of the Russian Empire for an administrative area that would later become the southern mainland of Ukraine: the region immediately north of the Black Sea and Crimea. ...

and the

Volga The Volga (; russian: Во́лга, a=Ru-Волга.ogg, p=ˈvoɫɡə) is the List of rivers of Europe#Rivers of Europe by length, longest river in Europe. Situated in Russia, it flows through Central Russia to Southern Russia and into the Cas ...

provinces. The Saviour Cathedral in

Rybinsk Rybinsk ( rus, Рыбинск, p=ˈrɨbʲɪnsk), the second largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city of Yaroslavl Oblast in Russia, lies at the confluence of the Volga River, Volga and Sheksna Rivers, 267 kilometers north-north-eas ...

is based on Melnikov's design that had won the architectural competition for

St. Isaac's Cathedral Saint Isaac's Cathedral or Isaakievskiy Sobor (russian: Исаа́киевский Собо́р) is a large architectural landmark cathedral that currently functions as a museum with occasional church services in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It is ...

St. 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 ...

. It was also Melnikov who won the competition for the

Cathedral of Christ the Saviour The Cathedral of Christ the Saviour ( rus, Храм Христа́ Спаси́теля, r=Khram Khristá Spasítelya, p=xram xrʲɪˈsta spɐˈsʲitʲɪlʲə) is a Russian Orthodox cathedral in Moscow, Russia, on the northern bank of the Moskv ...

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 million ...

. Neither design was approved by

Alexander I of Russia Alexander I (; – ) was Emperor of Russia from 1801, the first King of Congress Poland from 1815, and the Grand Duke of Finland from 1809 to his death. He was the eldest son of Emperor Paul I and Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg. The son of ...

.The Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary
/ref> His successor, Nicholas I, also preferred the Russo-Byzantine designs of

Konstantin Thon Konstantin Andreyevich Thon, also spelled Ton (russian: Константи́н Андре́евич Тон; October 26, 1794 – January 25, 1881) was an official architect of Imperial Russia during the reign of Nicholas I. His major works includ ...

to the supposedly ponderous Late Neoclassical style espoused by Melnikov.

Major buildings

Potemkin Stairs , location = , address2 = , owner = , coordinates = , place_type = Stairs , construction = 1837–1841 , open = 1841 , steps = 192 , height = 27 m , surface = granite, sandstone ...

, Odessa *

Nativity Cathedral, Chişinău Nativity or The Nativity may refer to: Birth of Jesus Christ * Nativity of Jesus, the Gospel stories of the birth of Jesus Christ * Nativity of Jesus in art, any depiction of the nativity scene ** ''Nativity'' (Campin), a 1420 panel painting by ...

Saviour Cathedral, Bolhrad Savior or Saviour may refer to: *A person who helps people achieve salvation, or saves them from something Religion * Mahdi, the prophesied redeemer of Islam who will rule for seven, nine or nineteen years * Maitreya * Messiah, a saviour or li ...

.Одеса та Бессарабія архітектора Мельникова. - Одеса майбутнього, 09.05.2022
/ref> *

Semicircular Square, Odessa In mathematics (and more specifically geometry), a semicircle is a one-dimensional locus of points that forms half of a circle. The full arc of a semicircle always measures 180° (equivalently, radians, or a half-turn). It has only one line o ...

Kazan Cathedral, Yaroslavl Kazan ( ; rus, Казань, p=kɐˈzanʲ; tt-Cyrl, Казан, ''Qazan'', IPA: ɑzan is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Tatarstan in Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Volga and the Kazanka rivers, covering an ...

* Saviour Cathedral,

Demidov Lyceum The Yaroslavl Demidov State University (Russian: ''Ярославский государственный университет имени П. Г. Демидова'') is an institution of higher education in Yaroslavl, Russia. In 1918, Yaroslav ...

, Yaroslavl * St. Nicholas Cathedral, Mtsensk * The cathedral belltower in Yaroslavl File:Rybinsk church viewed from Volga.JPG, File:Никольская единоверческая церковь (Санкт-Петербург).jpg, File:Chisinau Parcul Catedralei.jpg, File:Yar kazan 1+.JPG, File:Demidov Juridical Lyceum 01.jpg,

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Melnikov, Abram 1784 births 1854 deaths Russian neoclassical architects Russian architects