![Bundesarchiv Bild 183-J0505-0054-001, Berlin, Denkmal Lenin am Leninplatz](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a4/Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-J0505-0054-001%2C_Berlin%2C_Denkmal_Lenin_am_Leninplatz.jpg)
Nikolai Vasilyevich Tomsky (russian: Никола́й Васи́льевич То́мский b. ,
Ramushevo,
Novgorod Governorate
Novgorod Governorate (Pre-reformed rus, Новгоро́дская губе́рнія, r=Novgorodskaya guberniya, p=ˈnofɡərətskəjə ɡʊˈbʲernʲɪjə, t=Government of Novgorod), was an administrative division (a '' guberniya'') of the Ru ...
d. 22 November 1984 -
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 ...
) was a much-decorated Soviet sculptor, designer of many well-known ceremonial monuments of the
Socialist Realism
Socialist realism is a style of idealized realistic art that was developed in the Soviet Union and was the official style in that country between 1932 and 1988, as well as in other socialist countries after World War II. Socialist realism is ch ...
era.
Biography
Born in the village of Staro Ramushevo in Novgorod province, into a blacksmith's family, Tomsky studied in
Leningrad
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 ...
. In 1927, graduated from the Arts and Crafts College.
The sculptor first came to attention with his memorial to
Sergey Kirov
Sergei Mironovich Kirov (né Kostrikov; 27 March 1886 – 1 December 1934) was a Soviet politician and Bolshevik revolutionary whose assassination led to the first Great Purge.
Kirov was an early revolutionary in the Russian Empire and membe ...
, a heroic bronze with friezes around the base, for which he won the 1941
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, ...
. Thereafter his career developed in an official direction; he would be eventually tasked to re-design Lenin's own sarcophagus, produce Stalin's bust at Stalin's grave, and produce at least five major statues of Lenin throughout the Soviet Union. His distinctive
red-granite Lenin stood in the Leninplatz of
East Berlin
East Berlin was the ''de facto'' capital city of East Germany from 1949 to 1990. Formally, it was the Allied occupation zones in Germany, Soviet sector of Berlin, established in 1945. The American, British, and French sectors were known as ...
from 1970 to 1992.
Tomsky became a full member of the USSR Academy of Arts (1949, and president from 1968 to 1983), member of the Academy of Arts of the GDR, the Hero of Socialist Labor (1970), five Stalin Prize laureate (1941, 1947, 1949, 1950, 1952), the winner of the Lenin Prize (1972) and the USSR State Prize (1979), holder of three
Orders of Lenin
The Order of Lenin (russian: Орден Ленина, Orden Lenina, ), named after the leader of the Russian October Revolution, was established by the Central Executive Committee on April 6, 1930. The order was the highest civilian decoration b ...
, the Order of the October Revolution, Order of the Red Banner and the Order of Karl Marx (GDR). He taught at MGAHIS (1948-1982), as Professor and as Rector of the Academy (1964-1970).
Work
* monument to
Sergey Kirov
Sergei Mironovich Kirov (né Kostrikov; 27 March 1886 – 1 December 1934) was a Soviet politician and Bolshevik revolutionary whose assassination led to the first Great Purge.
Kirov was an early revolutionary in the Russian Empire and membe ...
, Kirovskaya Square, St. Peterburg, 1937, with architect
Noi Trotsky
Noi (Noah) Abramovich Trotsky (russian: Ной Абра́мович Тро́цкий; March 15, 1895 – November 19, 1940) was a Soviet architect.
Biography
Born in St. Petersburg to a family of a typesetter, Trotsky took art classes from ...
* major frieze called ''Defense, Labor and Rest'' at the
House of Soviets, St. Petersburg, 1936-1941, for architect
Noi Trotsky
Noi (Noah) Abramovich Trotsky (russian: Ной Абра́мович Тро́цкий; March 15, 1895 – November 19, 1940) was a Soviet architect.
Biography
Born in St. Petersburg to a family of a typesetter, Trotsky took art classes from ...
* ''Lenin'',
Varshavsky Rail Terminal
Varshavsky station (russian: Варша́вский вокза́л, ''Varshavsky vokzal''), or Warsaw station, is a former passenger railway station in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It is located to the south of the city centre, and was in operation ...
, St. Petersburg, 1947, removed 2001
* bas-reliefs at the
Novokuznetskaya Moscow metro
The Moscow Metro) is a metro system serving the Russian capital of Moscow as well as the neighbouring cities of Krasnogorsk, Reutov, Lyubertsy and Kotelniki in Moscow Oblast. Opened in 1935 with one line and 13 stations, it was the first unde ...
station, 1943
* Victory Bridge, Moscow, with architect
Dmitry Chechulin
Dmitry Nikolaevich Chechulin (russian: Дми́трий Никола́евич Чечу́лин; , in Shostka – 29 October 1981, in Moscow) was a Russian Soviet architect, city planner, author, and leading figure of Stalinist architecture.
Life ...
, 1943
* ''Stalin'' at the
Kurskaya (Koltsevaya Line) Moscow metro station, 1950, removed 1961
* monument to
Ivan Chernyakhovsky
Ivan Danilovich Chernyakhovsky (russian: Ива́н Дани́лович Черняхо́вский; – 18 February 1945) was the youngest-ever Soviet General of the army. For his leadership during World War II he was awarded t ...
,
Vilnius
Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional urb ...
, 1950, relocated to
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 ...
in 1993
* monument to
Nikolai Gogol
Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol; uk, link=no, Мико́ла Васи́льович Го́голь, translit=Mykola Vasyliovych Hohol; (russian: Яновский; uk, Яновський, translit=Yanovskyi) ( – ) was a Russian novelist, ...
on
Gogolevsky Boulevard
Gogolevsky Boulevard (russian: Гоголевский бульвар) is a boulevard near the Arbat District, Moscow, Russia, named after the writer Nikolai Gogol. It was named Prechistensky Boulevard (russian: Пречи́стенский б ...
, Moscow (replacing the controversial monument by sculptor
Nikolay Andreyev
Nikolay Andreyevich Andreyev (russian: Николай Андреевич Андреев; – 24 December 1932) was a Russian sculptor, graphic artist and stage designer. As a young man Andreyev studied with Sergey Volnukhin and in 1902 became ...
), 1952
* bust of Stalin at his grave,
Kremlin Wall Necropolis
The Kremlin Wall Necropolis was the national cemetery for the Soviet Union. Burials in the Kremlin Wall Necropolis in Moscow began in November 1917, when 240 pro-Bolshevik individuals who died during the Moscow Bolshevik Uprising were buried in m ...
, 1953
* monument to
Mikhail Lomonosov
Mikhail Vasilyevich Lomonosov (; russian: Михаил (Михайло) Васильевич Ломоносов, p=mʲɪxɐˈil vɐˈsʲilʲjɪvʲɪtɕ , a=Ru-Mikhail Vasilyevich Lomonosov.ogg; – ) was a Russian Empire, Russian polymath, s ...
,
Moscow 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 ...
, 1954
* monument to
Pavel Nakhimov
Pavel Stepanovich Nakhimov (russian: Павел Степанович Нахимов, ; – ) was a Russian Admiral in the Imperial Russian Navy known for his victory in the Battle of Sinop and his leadership in the Siege of Sevastopol (18 ...
,
Sevastopol
Sevastopol (; uk, Севасто́поль, Sevastópolʹ, ; gkm, Σεβαστούπολις, Sevastoúpolis, ; crh, Акъя́р, Aqyár, ), sometimes written Sebastopol, is the largest city in Crimea, and a major port on the Black Sea ...
, 1959
* work at the
Tomb of the Unknown Soldier (Moscow)
The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier ( rus, Могила Неизвестного Солдата, , mɐˈɡʲilə nʲɪɪˈzvʲɛsnəvə sɐlˈdatə) is a war memorial dedicated to the Soviet soldiers killed during World War II. It was designed by ...
, 1967
* ''Lenin'' at Leninplatz, former
East Berlin
East Berlin was the ''de facto'' capital city of East Germany from 1949 to 1990. Formally, it was the Allied occupation zones in Germany, Soviet sector of Berlin, established in 1945. The American, British, and French sectors were known as ...
, 1970, removed and buried in 1992
* re-designed
sarcophagus
A sarcophagus (plural sarcophagi or sarcophaguses) is a box-like funeral receptacle for a corpse, most commonly carved in stone, and usually displayed above ground, though it may also be buried. The word ''sarcophagus'' comes from the Greek ...
at
Lenin's Tomb, Moscow, 1973
* equestrian statue of
Field Marshal Kutuzov in the
Kutuzovsky Prospekt
Kutuzovsky Prospekt (russian: Куту́зовский проспе́кт) is a major radial avenue in Moscow, Russia, named after Mikhail Illarionovich Kutuzov, leader of the Russian field army during the French invasion of Russia. The prospekt ...
, Moscow, 1973
References
entry, St. Petersburg encyclopedia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tomsky, Nikolai
1900 births
1984 deaths
People from Novgorod Oblast
Soviet sculptors
Russian male sculptors
Full Members of the USSR Academy of Arts
Stalin Prize winners
Heroes of Socialist Labour
20th-century sculptors