Francesco Carlo Boffo (

Cyrillic , bg, кирилица , mk, кирилица , russian: кириллица , sr, ћирилица, uk, кирилиця , fam1 = Egyptian hieroglyphs , fam2 = Proto-Sinaitic , fam3 = Phoenician , fam4 = G ...

: Франц Карлович Боффо; 8 September 1796 – Cherson, 10 November 1867) was a Neoclassical architect who designed more than 30 buildings in

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 ...

between 1818 and 1861, including the famous

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

. Boffo was probably born in 1796 in

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label=Italian, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label=Algherese and Catalan) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after ...

(maybe in

Orosei Orosei ( sc, Orosèi) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Nuoro in the Italy, Italian region Sardinia, located about northeast of Cagliari and about east of Nuoro. Orosei borders the following municipalities: Dorgali, Galtellì, ...

, but in 1790) and he was apprenticed to an architect in

Ticino Ticino (), sometimes Tessin (), officially the Republic and Canton of Ticino or less formally the Canton of Ticino,, informally ''Canton Ticino'' ; lmo, Canton Tesin ; german: Kanton Tessin ; french: Canton du Tessin ; rm, Chantun dal Tessin . ...

. He then joined the

University of Turin The University of Turin (Italian: ''Università degli Studi di Torino'', UNITO) is a public research university in the city of Turin, in the Piedmont region of Italy. It is one of the oldest universities in Europe and continues to play an impo ...

before entering the service of the

Potocki The House of Potocki (; plural: Potoccy, male: Potocki, feminine: Potocka) was a prominent Polish noble family in the Kingdom of Poland and magnates of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. The Potocki family is one of the wealthiest and ...

noble family in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

. He served as Odessa's chief architect between 1822 and 1844. His patrons included Count Michael Vorontsov and his wife, Elisabeth Branicka. Boffo was responsible for transforming Odessa into the open-air museum of

Neoclassical architecture Neoclassical architecture is an architectural style produced by the Neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century in Italy and France. It became one of the most prominent architectural styles in the Western world. The prevailing style ...

, rivalling

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 ...

in the north of

Imperial Russia The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the List of Russian monarchs, Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended th ...

. The Potocki Palace (his authorship being disputed), Shidlovsky, and Vorontsov Palaces in Odessa were built to his designs, as was the Czarnomski Palace near Bershad (1817). The latter is famed for its uncanny resemblance to the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...

. The Potemkin Stairs, Boffo's most ambitious undertaking, was modeled on the earlier Depaldo Stairs, designed by him for the town of

Taganrog Taganrog ( rus, Таганрог, p=təɡɐnˈrok) is a port city in Rostov Oblast, Russia, on the north shore of the Taganrog Bay in the Sea of Azov, several kilometers west of the mouth of the Don River. Population: History of Taganrog The ...

in 1823. It was Boffo who conceived a 22-metre memorial column for the Kagul battlefield. He also built the

Londonskaya Hotel The Londonska Hotel is a historic four star 19th century hotel in the center of Odesa, Ukraine, belonging to the same company as the nearby Bristol Hotel. Description The stylish four star 19th century hotel is in the centre of Odesa. It belong ...

building in 1826–28 as a private residence. The architect died in 1867 and he was buried in Odessa. File:Chekhov Gymnasium (Taganrog).jpg, The

Chekhov Gymnasium The Chekhov Gymnasium in Taganrog on Ulitsa Oktyabrskaya 9 (formerly Gymnasicheskaya Street) is the oldest gymnasium in the South of Russia. Playwright and short-story writer Anton Chekhov spent 11 years in the school, which was later named af ...

(Taganrog) File:Одеса - Воронцовський палац P1050259.JPG, The Vorontsov Palace File:Potemkinsche treppe.jpg, The

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

File:Kollonada.JPG, A semicircular colonnade overlooking the Odessa seaport from a cliff File:Odessa City Duma.jpg, The

Odessa City Hall Odesa City Hall ( uk, Будинок Одеської міської ради) is the city hall of Odesa, Ukraine, located at the junction of Prymorskyi Boulevard, Chaikovskoho Lane and Pushkinska Street. It occupies a Neoclassical building, bui ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boffo, Francesco 1796 births 1867 deaths 19th-century Italian architects Neoclassical architects Architects from Odesa Italian expatriates in Russia People from Ticino Polytechnic University of Turin faculty