Nicholas Benois (russian: link=no, Никола́й Лео́нтьевич Бенуа́; 13 July 1813 – 23 December 1898) was an Imperial Russian architect who worked in Peterhof and other suburbs of

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 ...

Biography

Benois was born in Russia, to Anna Katarina (Groppe), who was of German descent, and a French father, Louis Jules Benois (from Brie,

Saint-Ouen-sur-Morin Saint-Ouen-sur-Morin (, literally ''Saint-Ouen on Morin'') is a commune in the Seine-et-Marne department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. Demographics Inhabitants of Saint-Ouen-sur-Morin are called ''Andonniens''. See also ...

). He studied 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 ...

from 1827 to 1836. Eight years later, he was appointed a court architect to

Nicholas I of Russia Nicholas I , group=pron ( – ) was List of Russian rulers, Emperor of Russia, Congress Poland, King of Congress Poland and Grand Duke of Finland. He was the third son of Paul I of Russia, Paul I and younger brother of his predecessor, Alexander I ...

and oversaw several projects in the town of Peterhof, notably the Principal Imperial Stables (1847–52). He was quite notable in 19th-century Russia for adhering to the

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

style of architecture and decoration. Benois designed some of the first railway stations in Russia, notably in Strelna,

Tsarskoe Selo Tsarskoye Selo ( rus, Ца́рское Село́, p=ˈtsarskəɪ sʲɪˈlo, a=Ru_Tsarskoye_Selo.ogg, "Tsar's Village") was the town containing a former residence of the Russian imperial family and visiting nobility, located south from the cen ...

and New Peterhof, the last being considered his masterpiece. Later in his career he also worked in the Caucasus, where he designed the Summer Palace of the Viceroy in

Likani Likani ( ka, ლიკანი) is a townlet in Georgia’s Samtskhe-Javakheti region, located at the west end of the town of Borjomi in the Borjomi Municipality, some 160 km west of Tbilisi, capital of Georgia. Likani is adjacent to the Borjomi ...

, Georgia. By his marriage to Camilla, daughter of

Alberto Cavos Alberto Cavos (Russified to Albert Katerinovich Kavos, russian: Альберт Катеринович Кавос, December 22, 1800 – May 22, 1863) was a Russian–Italian architect best known for his theatre designs, the builder of the Mariinsk ...

who designed Mariinsky Theatre, Nicholas had four sons. Of these,

Alexander Benois Alexandre Nikolayevich Benois (russian: Алекса́ндр Никола́евич Бенуа́, also spelled Alexander Benois; ,Salmina-Haskell, Larissa. ''Russian Paintings and Drawings in the Ashmolean Museum''. pp. 15, 23-24. Published by ...

specialized in stage design,

Albert Benois Albert Nikolayevitch Benois (russian: Альбе́рт Никола́евич Бенуа́; 14 March 1852 – 16 May 1936) was a Russian painter and art teacher who specialized in watercolor landscapes. Biography His father was the architect, ...

was a painter, and Leon Benois became a distinguished architect. His daughter married the sculptor Eugeny Alexandrovich Lanceray, and that marriage produced the artists Zinaida Serebriakova and Eugene Lanceray. The actor

Peter Ustinov Sir Peter Alexander Ustinov (born Peter Alexander Freiherr von Ustinov ; 16 April 192128 March 2004) was a British actor, filmmaker and writer. An internationally known raconteur, he was a fixture on television talk shows and lecture circuits ...

was a great-grandson.

Selected works

Petergof, the building of post office.jpg, Post office in Peterhof Svenska teatern after 1930.jpg, Swedish Theatre in

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

Новый Петрогоф станция.JPG,

References

External links

Nicholas Benois in Peterhof
{{DEFAULTSORT:Benois, Nicholas 1813 births 1898 deaths Architects from Saint Petersburg People from Sankt-Peterburgsky Uyezd

Nicholas Nicholas is a male given name and a surname. The Eastern Orthodox Church, the Roman Catholic Church, and the Anglicanism, Anglican Churches celebrate Saint Nicholas every year on December 6, which is the name day for "Nicholas". In Greece, the n ...

People from the Russian Empire of French descent 19th-century architects from the Russian Empire