The Monument to Felix Dzerzhinsky (russian: Памятник Дзержинскому), also known by the nickname Iron Felix (russian: Железный Феликс), commemorates
Felix Dzerzhinsky
Felix Edmundovich Dzerzhinsky ( pl, Feliks Dzierżyński ; russian: Фе́ликс Эдму́ндович Дзержи́нский; – 20 July 1926), nicknamed "Iron Felix", was a Bolshevik revolutionary and official, born into Poland, Polish n ...
,
Bolshevik
The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...
revolutionary and head of the first two Soviet state-security organizations, the
Cheka
The All-Russian Extraordinary Commission ( rus, Всероссийская чрезвычайная комиссия, r=Vserossiyskaya chrezvychaynaya komissiya, p=fsʲɪrɐˈsʲijskəjə tɕrʲɪzvɨˈtɕæjnəjə kɐˈmʲisʲɪjə), abbreviated ...
and the
OGPU
The Joint State Political Directorate (OGPU; russian: Объединённое государственное политическое управление) was the intelligence and state security service and secret police of the Soviet Union f ...
. The monument, designed by and incorporating a statue of Dzerzhinsky sculpted by
Yevgeny Vuchetich
Yevgeny Viktorovich Vuchetich (–12 April 1974) (russian: Евгений Викторович Вучетич; uk, Євген Вікторович Вучетич, ''Evhen Viktorovych Vuchetych'') was a prominent Soviet sculptor and artist. He is ...
, was erected on
Dzerzhinsky Square, Moscow in 1958, next to the
Lubyanka Building
The Lubyanka ( rus, Лубянка, p=lʊˈbʲankə) is the popular name for the building which contains the headquarters of the FSB, and its affiliated prison, on Lubyanka Square in the Meshchansky District of Moscow, Russia. It is a large Ne ...
.
History
Construction and unveiling
In 1918, the
All-Russian Extraordinary Commission
The All-Russian Extraordinary Commission ( rus, Всероссийская чрезвычайная комиссия, r=Vserossiyskaya chrezvychaynaya komissiya, p=fsʲɪrɐˈsʲijskəjə tɕrʲɪzvɨˈtɕæjnəjə kɐˈmʲisʲɪjə), abbreviated ...
was located in the buildings on Lubyanska Square, the founder and first head of which was Felix Dzerzhinsky, who later headed other state security agencies that were located there. In the autumn of 1926, shortly after Dzerzhinsky's death, Lubyanka Square was renamed Dzerzhinsky Square by the decision of the Presidium of the
Moscow City Council.
In 1940, a competition was announced for the project of a monument to Dzerzhinsky, which was won by
Sarra Lebedeva, who created a lifesized sculptural portrait of Dzerzhinsky, but her project was not implemented.
Construction of the monument began in July 1958, with the statue sculpted by
Yevgeny Vuchetich
Yevgeny Viktorovich Vuchetich (–12 April 1974) (russian: Евгений Викторович Вучетич; uk, Євген Вікторович Вучетич, ''Evhen Viktorovych Vuchetych'') was a prominent Soviet sculptor and artist. He is ...
, and the overall design by . The monument was opened to the public on 20 December 1958, outside the
Lubyanka Building
The Lubyanka ( rus, Лубянка, p=lʊˈbʲankə) is the popular name for the building which contains the headquarters of the FSB, and its affiliated prison, on Lubyanka Square in the Meshchansky District of Moscow, Russia. It is a large Ne ...
, which housed the headquarters of the Soviet security services, in turn the
OGPU
The Joint State Political Directorate (OGPU; russian: Объединённое государственное политическое управление) was the intelligence and state security service and secret police of the Soviet Union f ...
,
NKVD
The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (russian: Наро́дный комиссариа́т вну́тренних дел, Naródnyy komissariát vnútrennikh del, ), abbreviated NKVD ( ), was the interior ministry of the Soviet Union.
...
,
NKGB
The People's Commissariat for State Security (russian: Народный комиссариат государственной безопасности) or NKGB, was the name of the Soviet Union, Soviet secret police, intelligence (information ...
,
MGB and
KGB
The KGB (russian: links=no, lit=Committee for State Security, Комитет государственной безопасности (КГБ), a=ru-KGB.ogg, p=kəmʲɪˈtʲet ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)əj bʲɪzɐˈpasnəsʲtʲɪ, Komitet gosud ...
.
August coup and Muzeon Park relocation
On the evening of 22 August 1991, shortly after the failure of
the coup attempt undertaken by the
State Emergency Committee, thousands of people began to gather around the KGB building on Lubyanka Square, seeking to topple Dzerzhinsky's statue, seeing it as a symbol of the brutal Soviet past. People sprayed the words "executioner", “antichrist”, “Felix is finished” and the symbol of the
Russian Orthodox Church
, native_name_lang = ru
, image = Moscow July 2011-7a.jpg
, imagewidth =
, alt =
, caption = Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, Russia
, abbreviation = ROC
, type ...
on the pedestal.
By the evening of the same day, people climbed onto the statue and affixed ropes to it, attached to a truck. Toppling the monument in this way risked damaging the adjacent
Lubyanka metro station. To avoid this, deputy chairman of the Moscow City Council , addressed the crowd and introduced a resolution with the Moscow City Council to remove the monument. It was then dismantled with a construction crane and taken to wasteland close to
the new building of the
Tretyakov Gallery
The State Tretyakov Gallery (russian: Государственная Третьяковская Галерея, ''Gosudarstvennaya Tretyâkovskaya Galereya''; abbreviated ГТГ, ''GTG'') is an art gallery in Moscow, Russia, which is considered th ...
. In 1992, the monument was moved to the
Fallen Monument Park, where other Soviet-era monuments were collected.
See also
*
Monument to Felix Dzerzhinsky, Ufa
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Felix Dzerzhinsky, Moscow, Monument to
Statues in Russia
Sculptures in the Soviet Union
Buildings and structures demolished in 1991
1991 disestablishments in the Soviet Union
Sculptures of men in Russia
Outdoor sculptures in Russia
Removed statues
Statues removed in 1991
Granite sculptures in Russia
Monuments and memorials in Moscow
Cultural heritage monuments of regional significance in Moscow