![Louisa lawson suffragette light box memorial greenway](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/49/Louisa_lawson_suffragette_light_box_memorial_greenway.JPG)
A memorial is an object or place which serves as a focus for the memory or the commemoration of something, usually an influential,
deceased
Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...
person or a historical,
tragic event. Popular forms of memorials include landmark objects or
works of art
A work of art, artwork, art piece, piece of art or art object is an artistic creation of aesthetic value. Except for "work of art", which may be used of any work regarded as art in its widest sense, including works from literature ...
such as
sculpture
Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable ...
s,
statues or
fountain
A fountain, from the Latin "fons" (genitive "fontis"), meaning source or spring, is a decorative reservoir used for discharging water. It is also a structure that jets water into the air for a decorative or dramatic effect.
Fountains were ori ...
s and
parks. Larger memorials may be known as
monuments
A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, hist ...
.
Types
The most common type of memorial is the
gravestone
A headstone, tombstone, or gravestone is a stele or marker, usually stone, that is placed over a grave. It is traditional for burials in the Christian, Jewish, and Muslim religions, among others. In most cases, it has the deceased's name, da ...
or the
memorial plaque
A commemorative plaque, or simply plaque, or in other places referred to as a historical marker, historic marker, or historic plaque, is a plate of metal, ceramic, stone, wood, or other material, typically attached to a wall, stone, or other ...
. Also common are
war memorials
A war memorial is a building, monument, statue, or other edifice to celebrate a war or victory, or (predominating in modern times) to commemorate those who died or were injured in a war.
Symbolism
Historical usage
It has ...
commemorating those who have died in
war
War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...
s. Memorials in the form of a
cross
A cross is a geometrical figure consisting of two intersecting lines or bars, usually perpendicular to each other. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally. A cross of oblique lines, in the shape of the Latin letter X, is termed a sa ...
are called
intending cross
A memorial cross (sometimes called an intending cross) is a cross-shaped memorial to commemorate a special event or an incident, typically where one or more people died. It may also be a simple form of headstone to commemorate the dead.
File ...
es.
Online memorial An online memorial is a virtual space created on the Internet for the purpose of remembering, celebrating, or commemorating those who have died. An online memorial may be a one-page HTML webpage document giving the name of the deceased and a few wo ...
s are often created on
websites
A website (also written as a web site) is a collection of web pages and related content that is identified by a common domain name and published on at least one web server. Examples of notable websites are Google, Facebook, Amazon, and Wiki ...
and
social media
Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks. While challenges to the definition of ''social medi ...
to allow digital access as an alternative to physical memorials which may not be feasible or easily accessible.
When somebody has died, the family may request that a memorial gift (usually
money
Money is any item or verifiable record that is generally accepted as payment for goods and services and repayment of debts, such as taxes, in a particular country or socio-economic context. The primary functions which distinguish money are as ...
) be given to a designated
charity
Charity may refer to:
Giving
* Charitable organization or charity, a non-profit organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being of persons
* Charity (practice), the practice of being benevolent, giving and sharing
* C ...
, or that a tree be planted in memory of the person. Those temporary or makeshift memorials are also called grassroots memorials.
[''Grassroots Memorials: The Politics of Memorializing Traumatic Death'', eds Peter Jan Margry and Cristina Sánchez-Carretero (New York: Berghahn, 2011).]
Sometimes, when a student has died, the memorials are placed in the form of a
scholarship
A scholarship is a form of financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, diversity and inclusion, athletic skill, and financial need.
Scholars ...
, to be awarded to high-achieving students in future years.
Memorials to persons or events of major significance may be designated as ''national memorials''.
Haymarket-martyrs-memorial-Forest-Home-Cemetery-IL.jpg, The ''Haymarket Martyrs' Monument
The ''Haymarket Martyrs' Monument'' is a funeral monument and sculpture located at Forest Home Cemetery in Forest Park, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. Dedicated in 1893, it commemorates the defendants involved in labor unrest who were blamed, con ...
'' at the Forest Home Cemetery
Forest Home Cemetery is a historic rural cemetery located in the Lincoln Village neighborhood of Milwaukee, Wisconsin and is the final resting place of many of the city's famed beer barons, politicians and social elite. Both the cemetery and ...
in Forest Park, Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...
File:Fan with Shankly.jpg, alt=Fan with Shankly, Fan next to memorial statue of Bill Shankly
File:Martyrs Memorial. Algiers, Algeria.jpg, Maqam Echahid
The Maqam Echahid ( ar, مقام الشهيد, , en, Martyrs' Memorial) is a concrete monument commemorating the Algerian War. The monument was opened in 1982, on the 20th anniversary of Algeria's independence. It is fashioned in the shape of t ...
in Algiers, Algeria
)
, image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg
, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, capital = Algiers
, coordinates =
, largest_city = capital
, relig ...
File:Airport Disaster 20.06.11 Memorial near Petrozavodsk 3.JPG, The memorial monument of the 2011 airport disaster in Petrozavodsk
Petrozavodsk (russian: Петрозаводск, p=pʲɪtrəzɐˈvotsk; Karelian, Vepsian and fi, Petroskoi) is the capital city of the Republic of Karelia, Russia, which stretches along the western shore of Lake Onega for some . The population ...
, Republic of Karelia
File:Podlaskie - Białystok - Białystok - św. Rocha - Koścół św. Rocha - Tablica ofiarom katastrofy smoleńskiej 20120428 05.JPG, Memorial dedicated to the victims of the 2010 Polish Air Force Tu-154 crash
On 10 April 2010, a Tupolev Tu-154 aircraft operating Polish Air Force Flight 101 crashed near the Russian city of Smolensk, killing all 96 people on board. Among the victims were the president of Poland, Lech Kaczyński, and his wife, Maria, ...
in Smoleńsk
Smolensk ( rus, Смоленск, p=smɐˈlʲensk, a=smolensk_ru.ogg) is a city and the administrative center of Smolensk Oblast, Russia, located on the Dnieper River, west-southwest of Moscow. First mentioned in 863, it is one of the oldest c ...
at the Church of St. Roch in Białystok, 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 populou ...
File:Airborne Museum 'Hartenstein'.jpg, The Airborne Museum in Arnhem
Arnhem ( or ; german: Arnheim; South Guelderish: ''Èrnem'') is a city and municipality situated in the eastern part of the Netherlands about 55 km south east of Utrecht. It is the capital of the province of Gelderland, located on both ban ...
, Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
commemorates the liberation of the city during World War II
File:Berlin_ghostbike.jpg, A ghost bike
A ghost bike (also referred to as a ghostcycle or WhiteCycle) is a bicycle roadside memorial, placed where a cyclist has been killed or severely injured, usually by the driver of a motor vehicle.
Apart from being a memorial, it is usually inte ...
roadside memorial
A roadside memorial is a marker that usually commemorates a site where a person died suddenly and unexpectedly, away from home. Unlike a grave site headstone, which marks where a body is laid, the memorial marks the last place on earth where a ...
in Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...
File:Orthodox Cathedral of St. Andrew in South Bound Brook.jpg, St. Andrew Memorial Church in South Bound Brook
South Bound Brook is a borough in Somerset County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough's population was 4,563,[New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...]
, was built in 1965 to commemorate the victims of the Holodomor
File:Namantar Shahid Smarak Nagpur.jpg, Namantar Shahid Smarak
The Namantar Shahid Smarak (English: Name Change Martyrdom Memorial) is a large memorial sculpture dedicated to those who died in the Namantar Andolan. The Namantar Andolan was a 1978 to 1994 movement in India by Dalits (formerly known as Untouc ...
commemorates the Namantar Andolan
Namantar Andolan (English: Name Change Movement) was a Dalit and Navayana Buddhist movement to change the name of Marathwada University, in Aurangabad, Maharashtra, India, to ''Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar University''. It achieved a measure of succ ...
File:Victoria Memorial situated in Kolkata.jpg, The Victoria Memorial
The Victoria Memorial is a large marble building on the Maidan in Central Kolkata, built between 1906 and 1921. It is dedicated to the memory of Queen Victoria, Empress of India from 1876 to 1901.
The largest monument to a monarch anywhere ...
of Kolkata
Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...
is an important monument of India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
File:Robison, Mathew Stanford FULL MONUMENT.jpg, The grave memorial for a ten year old disabled boy; Matthew Stanford Robison. Salt Lake City Cemetery
The Salt Lake City Cemetery is a cemetery in northeastern Salt Lake City, Utah, United States, that is one of the largest city-operated cemeteries in the United States.
Description
The cemetery is located above 4th Avenue and east of N Street in ...
Utah
Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...
.
File:Golconda Playground memorial.jpg, Homemade memorial in Brooklyn, NYC featuring a photo cut-out of the deceased giving the middle-finger
File:Lincoln Memorial (May 2014) crop.jpg, Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
, United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
.
File:Chiang Kai-shek memorial amk.jpg, Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall
The National Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall () is a national monument, landmark and tourist attraction erected in memory of Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek, former President of the Republic of China. It is located in Taipei.
The monument, surrou ...
in Taipei
Taipei (), officially Taipei City, is the capital and a special municipality of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Located in Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City that sits about southwest of the ...
, Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...
.
File:Anıtkabir, Ankara.jpg, Anıtkabir in Ankara
Ankara ( , ; ), historically known as Ancyra and Angora, is the capital of Turkey. Located in the central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5.1 million in its urban center and over 5.7 million in Ankara Province, maki ...
, Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...
.
File:Mausoleum of the Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah medium View.JPG, Mazar-e-Quaid
Mazar-e-Quaid ( ur, , lit=Mausoleum of the Leader) is the resting place of Muhammad Ali Jinnah situated in Karachi, Sindh. The marble monument comprises a surface area of . It is surrounded by formal gardens and designed in an Islamic modernist ...
in Karachi
Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former c ...
, Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...
.
See also
*
Lists of monuments and memorials
This is a list of articles that are lists of monuments and memorials.
Africa
Kenya
* List of sites and monuments in Kenya
Morocco
* List of sites and monuments in Morocco
Sierra Leone
* List of National Monuments of Sierra Leone
Swazila ...
*
Ghost bike
A ghost bike (also referred to as a ghostcycle or WhiteCycle) is a bicycle roadside memorial, placed where a cyclist has been killed or severely injured, usually by the driver of a motor vehicle.
Apart from being a memorial, it is usually inte ...
*
Historical marker
A commemorative plaque, or simply plaque, or in other places referred to as a historical marker, historic marker, or historic plaque, is a plate of metal, ceramic, stone, wood, or other material, typically attached to a wall, stone, or other ...
*
Memorial bench
A memorial bench, memorial seat or death bench is a piece of outdoor furniture which commemorates a dead person. Such benches are typically made of wood, but can also be made of metal, stone, or synthetic materials such as plastics. Typically mem ...
*
Memorialization
Memorialization generally refers to the process of preserving memories of people or events. It can be a form of address or petition, or a ceremony of remembrance or commemoration.
Memorialization as a human right
Memorialization is a universal nee ...
*
National monument
*
Public history
*
Roadside memorial
A roadside memorial is a marker that usually commemorates a site where a person died suddenly and unexpectedly, away from home. Unlike a grave site headstone, which marks where a body is laid, the memorial marks the last place on earth where a ...
*
Tomb of the Unknown Soldier
A Tomb of the Unknown Soldier or Tomb of the Unknown Warrior is a monument dedicated to the services of an unknown soldier and to the common memories of all soldiers killed in war. Such tombs can be found in many nations and are usually high-prof ...
*
War memorial
A war memorial is a building, monument, statue, or other edifice to celebrate a war or victory, or (predominating in modern times) to commemorate those who died or were injured in a war.
Symbolism
Historical usage
It has ...
*
Culture of Remembrance
''Erinnerungskultur'' (from German), or Culture of Remembrance, is the interaction of an individual or a society with their past and history.
Definition
In the strictest sense, Remembrance Culture consists of all the behavioral configuration ...
References
External links
Commemorative Landscapes of North Carolina
{{Authority control