Nikolay Vasilyevich Nikitin (; 15 December 1907 – 3 March 1973) was a structural designer and construction engineer of the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

, best known for his monumental structures.

Biography

Nikolay was born in

Tobolsk Tobolsk (russian: Тобо́льск) is a town in Tyumen Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Tobol and Irtysh rivers. Founded in 1590, Tobolsk is the second-oldest Russian settlement east of the Ural Mountains in Asian Russia, and i ...

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the 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 the Great Northern War. ...

to the family of a typographical engineer who later worked as a judicial clerk. When Nikolay was 17 a

snake bite A snakebite is an injury caused by the bite of a snake, especially a venomous snake. A common sign of a bite from a venomous snake is the presence of two puncture wounds from the animal's fangs. Sometimes venom injection from the bite may oc ...

left him with a permanent foot injury. In 1930, Nikolay graduated from the Tomsk Technological Institute with training in construction. In 1932, he designed the train station of

Novosibirsk Novosibirsk (, also ; rus, Новосиби́рск, p=nəvəsʲɪˈbʲirsk, a=ru-Новосибирск.ogg) is the largest city and administrative centre of Novosibirsk Oblast and Siberian Federal District in Russia. As of the Russian Census ...

. By 1937, he was living and working in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

. He turned his attention to calculations for the foundation of the monumental

Palace of Soviets The Palace of the Soviets (russian: Дворец Советов, ''Dvorets Sovetov'') was a project to construct a political convention center in Moscow on the site of the demolished Cathedral of Christ the Saviour. The main function of the p ...

which was to be constructed at the site of the demolished

Cathedral of Christ the Saviour The Cathedral of Christ the Saviour ( rus, Храм Христа́ Спаси́теля, r=Khram Khristá Spasítelya, p=xram xrʲɪˈsta spɐˈsʲitʲɪlʲə) is a Russian Orthodox cathedral in Moscow, Russia, on the northern bank of the Moskv ...

. In 1957, he was appointed chief designer of Mosproekt-2 - Institute for the Planning of Housing and Civil Engineering Construction in the City of Moscow. Nikolay died on 3 March 1973 and is buried in

Novodevichy Cemetery Novodevichy Cemetery ( rus, Новоде́вичье кла́дбище, Novodevichye kladbishche) is a cemetery in Moscow. It lies next to the southern wall of the 16th-century Novodevichy Convent, which is the city's third most popular tourist ...

Selected works

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 ...

's 240 m (787 ft) high main building. At the time of its construction it was the tallest building in Europe. Built from 1949 to 1953. *

Warsaw Palace of Culture and Science Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officiall ...

, constructed from 1952 to 1955 also in partnership with

Lev Rudnev Lev Vladimirovich Rudnev (russian: Лев Владимирович Ру́днев; – November 19, 1956) was a Soviet architect, and a leading practitioner of Stalinist architecture. Biography Rudnev was born to the family of a school teache ...

as main architect. *

Luzhniki Stadium Luzhniki Stadium ( rus, стадион «Лужники», p=stədʲɪˈon lʊʐnʲɪˈkʲi, ''Stadion Luzhniki'') is the national stadium of Russia, located in its capital city, Moscow. The full name of the stadium is Grand Sports Arena of the ...

1956. *Colossal 85 meter statue on the

Mamayev Kurgan Mamayev Kurgan (russian: Мамаев Курган) is a dominant height overlooking the city of Volgograd (formerly Stalingrad) in Southern Federal District, Southern Russia. The name in Russian means "tumulus of Mamai". The formation is domina ...

heights overlooking

Volgograd 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 ...

, ''

The Motherland Calls ''The Motherland Calls'' ( rus, Родина-мать зовёт!, Rodina-mat' zovyot!, t=Homeland-Mother Is Calling!) is the compositional centre of the monument-ensemble "Heroes of the Battle of Stalingrad" on Mamayev Kurgan in Volgograd, R ...

'', used 7900 tons of concrete and steel in a dramatic sculpture design 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 ...

. *

Ostankino Tower Ostankino Tower (russian: links=no, Останкинская телебашня, Ostankinskaya telebashnya) is a television and radio tower in Moscow, Russia, owned by the Moscow branch of unitary enterprise Russian TV and Radio Broadcasting N ...

- Completed in 1967, at 540 metres (1772 ft), the highest freestanding structure in

Eurasia Eurasia (, ) is the largest continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. Primarily in the Northern and Eastern Hemispheres, it spans from the British Isles and the Iberian Peninsula in the west to the Japanese archipelago a ...

Awards and titles

Honored Builder of the RSFSR (1970) Lenin Prize (1970) - for the project of the Ostankino television tower Stalin Prize of the third degree (1951) - for the development of a long-span shed coating and a method for its removal

External links

Berlinale Delegate for Eastern Europe and CEE film Expert: Nikolaj Nikitin
filmneweurope.com, June 13, 2014 {{DEFAULTSORT:Nikitkin, Nikolay Soviet engineers Structural engineers Soviet inventors 1907 births 1973 deaths Tomsk Polytechnic University alumni People from Tobolsk Russian civil engineers Burials at Novodevichy Cemetery 20th-century Russian architects