Lev Vladimirovich Rudnev (russian: Лев Владимирович Ру́днев; – November 19, 1956) was a

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

architect, and a leading practitioner of

Stalinist architecture Stalinist architecture, mostly known in the former Eastern Bloc as Stalinist style () or Socialist Classicism, is the architecture of the Soviet Union under the leadership of Joseph Stalin, between 1933 (when Boris Iofan's draft for the Palace ...

Biography

Rudnev was born to the family of a school teacher in the town of

Opochka Opochka (russian: Опо́чка) is a town and the administrative center of Opochetsky District in Pskov Oblast, Russia, located on the Velikaya River, south of Pskov, the administrative center of the oblast. Population: ; 9,902 (2019 estimat ...

(other sources state

Novgorod Veliky Novgorod ( rus, links=no, Великий Новгород, t=Great Newtown, p=vʲɪˈlʲikʲɪj ˈnovɡərət), also known as just Novgorod (), is the largest city and administrative centre of Novgorod Oblast, Russia. It is one of the ol ...

). He graduated from the

Riga Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Ba ...

Realschule ''Realschule'' () is a type of secondary school in Germany, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. It has also existed in Croatia (''realna gimnazija''), the Austrian Empire, the German Empire, Denmark and Norway (''realskole''), Sweden (''realskola''), ...

(now the Riga 1st State Grammar School) and entered 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 ...

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 ...

(1906). At the Academy he studied painting under

Leon Benois Leon Benois (russian: Леонтий Николаевич Бенуа; 1856 in Peterhof – 1928 in Leningrad) was a Russian architect from the Benois family. Biography He was the son of architect Nicholas Benois, the brother of artists Alexandr ...

and architecture under

Ivan Fomin Ivan Aleksandrovich Fomin (3 February 1872 – 12 June 1936) was a Russian architect and educator. He began his career in 1899 in Moscow, working in the Art Nouveau style. After relocating to Saint Petersburg in 1905, he became an established mast ...

. From 1911 Rudnev was a success in various architectural competitions, and in 1915 he became a certified specialist in the art of architecture. After the

February Revolution The February Revolution ( rus, Февра́льская револю́ция, r=Fevral'skaya revolyutsiya, p=fʲɪvˈralʲskəjə rʲɪvɐˈlʲutsɨjə), known in Soviet historiography as the February Bourgeois Democratic Revolution and somet ...

Rudnev won the competition for the

Monument to the Fighters of the Revolution The Monument to the Fighters of the Revolution (russian: Памятник Борцам Революции) is a memorial on the Field of Mars in Saint Petersburg. It marks the burial places of some of those who died during the February and Octobe ...

on the Field of Mars in Petrograd (March 1917). The avant-garde monument there was built according to his design After the end of the Second World War, Lev Rudnev took active part in reconstructing the ruined cities of

Voronezh Voronezh ( rus, links=no, Воро́неж, p=vɐˈronʲɪʂ}) is a city and the administrative centre of Voronezh Oblast in southwestern Russia straddling the Voronezh River, located from where it flows into the Don River. The city sits on the ...

Stalingrad Volgograd ( rus, Волгогра́д, a=ru-Volgograd.ogg, p=vəɫɡɐˈɡrat), geographical renaming, formerly Tsaritsyn (russian: Цари́цын, Tsarítsyn, label=none; ) (1589–1925), and Stalingrad (russian: Сталингра́д, Stal ...

, Riga and Moscow. In 1922–1948 Rudnev was a Professor of the Academy of Arts (former Imperial Academy of Arts) in Leningrad; in 1948–1952 he was a professor at the Moscow Institute for Architecture (Moskovskij Arkhitekturny Institut). Rudnev was also a member of Soviet Academy of Architecture. Rudnev's most remarkable architectural work is the ensemble of the

Lomonosov Moscow State University M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU; russian: Московский государственный университет имени М. В. Ломоносова) is a public research university in Moscow, Russia and the most prestigious ...

Sparrow Hills Sparrow Hills (russian: Воробьёвы го́ры, ), formerly known as Lenin Hills (, ) between 1935 and 1999, is a hill on the right bank of the Moskva River and one of the highest points in Moscow, reaching a height of above the river ...

, then known as Lenin Hills (1948–1953, co-designed with S. Chernyshov, P. Abrosimov, A. Khryakov, and engineer V. Nasonov). His

Palace of Culture and Science A palace is a grand residence, especially a royal residence, or the home of a head of state or some other high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin name palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome which ...

in the centre of Warsaw in Poland (1952–1955) resembles the markedly sculptural style of the MSU ensemble.

Projects

He was the author of many large scale Soviet projects, including: *

M. V. Frunze Military Academy The M. V. Frunze Military Academy (russian: Военная академия имени М. В. Фрунзе), or in full the Military Order of Lenin and the October Revolution, Red Banner, Order of Suvorov Academy in the name of M. V. Frunze (rus ...

in Moscow (1939) * Administrative building on Shaposhnikov street (1934–1938) * Administrative building on Frunze embankment (1938–1955) *

Main building of Moscow State University The main building of Moscow State University (in Russian ''Гла́вное зда́ние МГУ'') a , 36-level (in its central part) skyscraper in Moscow, Russia. Designed by Lev Rudnev as the headquarters of Moscow State University, it is the ...

(1949–1953). This is probably the best known of his buildings, for which he was awarded the

Stalin Prize Stalin Prize may refer to: * The State Stalin Prize in science and engineering and in arts, awarded 1941 to 1954, later known as the USSR State Prize The USSR State Prize (russian: links=no, Государственная премия СССР, ...

in 1949 * House of the Government of the

Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic Azerbaijan ( az, Азәрбајҹан, Azərbaycan, italics=no), officially the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic (Azerbaijan SSR; az, Азәрбајҹан Совет Сосиалист Республикасы, Azərbaycan Sovet Sosialist R ...

Baku Baku (, ; az, Bakı ) is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. Baku is located below sea level, which makes it the lowest lying national capital in the world a ...

(finished in 1952) *

in Warsaw, Poland (1952–1955) * Buildings of

Latvian Academy of Sciences The Latvian Academy of Sciences ( lv, Latvijas Zinātņu akadēmija) is the official Academy of Sciences, science academy of Latvia and is an association of the country's foremost scientists. The academy was founded as the ''Latvian SSR Academy o ...

in Riga (1953–1956)

Gallery

Moscow State University.jpg, The main building of

Moscow State University M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU; russian: Московский государственный университет имени М. В. Ломоносова) is a public research university in Moscow, Russia and the most prestigious ...

KulturpalastWarschau.jpg,

Palace of Culture and Science, Warsaw A palace is a grand residence, especially a royal residence, or the home of a head of state or some other high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin name palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome which ...

External links

*
Architect Lev Rudnev, the Author of the Colossus of MSU

Biography and Works

Architect of the Main Building of the Moscow University

Biography

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rudnev, Lev 1885 births 1956 deaths People from Opochetsky District Russian architects Soviet architects