Vagankovo Cemetery (russian: Ваганьковское кладбище, Vagan'kovskoye kladbishche), established in 1771, is located in the Presnya district of

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 ...

. It started in the aftermath of the Moscow plague riot of 1771 outside the city proper, so as to prevent the contagion from spreading. Half a million people are estimated to have been buried at Vagankovo throughout its history. As of 2010, the existing cemetery contains more than 100,000 graves. The vast necropolis contains the

mass grave A mass grave is a grave containing multiple human corpses, which may or may Unidentified decedent, not be identified prior to burial. The United Nations has defined a criminal mass grave as a burial site containing three or more victims of executi ...

s from the

Battle of Borodino The Battle of Borodino (). took place near the village of Borodino on during Napoleon's invasion of Russia. The ' won the battle against the Imperial Russian Army but failed to gain a decisive victory and suffered tremendous losses. Napole ...

, the

Battle of Moscow The Battle of Moscow was a military campaign that consisted of two periods of strategically significant fighting on a sector of the Eastern Front (World War II), Eastern Front during World War II. It took place between September 1941 and January ...

, and the Khodynka Tragedy. It is the burial site for a number of people from the artistic and sports community of Russia and the old

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

. William Taubman claims that during the

Great Purge The Great Purge or the Great Terror (russian: Большой террор), also known as the Year of '37 (russian: 37-й год, translit=Tridtsat sedmoi god, label=none) and the Yezhovshchina ('period of Yezhov'), was Soviet General Secreta ...

"alcohol-soused guards would execute weeping prisoners" after they had dug their graves in the cemetery. The cemetery is served by several Orthodox churches constructed between 1819 and 1823 in the Muscovite version of the

Empire style The Empire style (, ''style Empire'') is an early-nineteenth-century design movement in architecture, furniture, other decorative arts, and the visual arts, representing the second phase of Neoclassicism. It flourished between 1800 and 1815 dur ...

Notable burials

* Nadezhda Lamanova (1861-1941), fashion and costume designer * (1900-1979), writer, journalist,

Russian Civil War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Russian Civil War , partof = the Russian Revolution and the aftermath of World War I , image = , caption = Clockwise from top left: {{flatlist, *Soldiers ...

and

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

participant,

Union of Soviet Writers The Union of Soviet Writers, USSR Union of Writers, or Soviet Union of Writers (russian: Союз писателей СССР, translit=Soyuz Sovetstikh Pisatelei) was a creative union of professional writers in the Soviet Union. It was founded ...

* Aleksandr Abdulov (1953-2008), actor * Vasily Agapkin (1884–1964), musician, author of the song " Farewell of Slavianka" * Boris Andreyev (1915-1982), actor *

Inga Artamonova Inga Grigoryevna Artamonova (russian: И́нга Григо́рьевна Артамо́нова; 29 August 1936 – 4 January 1966Great Russian Encyclopedia (2005), Moscow: Bol'shaya Rossiyskaya enciklopediya Publisher, vol. 2) was a Soviet ...

(1936–1966), world speed-skating champion * Grigori Chukhrai (1921–2001), film director *

Vladimir Dal Vladimir Ivanovich Dal ( rus, Влади́мир Ива́нович Даль, p=vlɐˈdʲimʲɪr ɨˈvanəvʲɪdʑ ˈdalʲ; November 22, 1801 – October 4, 1872) was a noted Russian-language lexicographer, polyglot, Turkologist, and founding ...

(1801–1872), lexicographer * Sergei Grinkov (1967–1995), world & Olympic ice skating pairs champion * Leonid Kharitonov (1930–1987), actor *

Otari Kvantrishvili Otari Kvantrishvili ( ka, ოთარ კვანტრიშვილი, russian: Ота́ри Квантришвили; January 27, 1948 – April 5, 1994) was a Georgian mafia boss and one of Moscow's leading organised crime figures during ...

(1948–1994), godfather of the Georgian mafia * Egor Makovsky (1802–1886), accountant and artist * Andrei Mironov (1941-1987), actor *

Bulat Okudzhava Bulat Shalvovich Okudzhava (russian: link=no, Булат Шалвович Окуджава; ka, ბულატ ოკუჯავა; hy, Բուլատ Օկուջավա; May 9, 1924 – June 12, 1997) was a Soviet and Russian poet, writer, musici ...

(1924–1997), poet and singer-songwriter, writer * Vasili Oshchepkov (1892-1937), fighter * Lyudmila Pakhomova (1946–1986), world & Olympic ice dancing pairs champion *

Mikhail Pugovkin Mikhail Ivanovich Pugovkin (russian: Михаи́л Ива́нович Пу́говкин; July 13, 1923, Rameshki, Chukhlomsky District of Kostroma Oblast — July 25, 2008, Moscow) (aged 85) was a Soviet and Russian comic actor named a People' ...

(1923–2008), actor * Prosh Proshian (1883–1918), Left Socialist-Revolutionary * Alexei Savrasov (1830–1897), painter * Gennady Shpalikov (1937–1974), poet, screenwriter * David Shterenberg (1881–1948), artist * Vitaly Solomin (1941–2002), actor * Anatoly Solonitsyn (1934-1982), actor * Nikolai Starostin (1902–1996), footballer *

Vasily Surikov Vasily Ivanovich Surikov (Russian: Василий Иванович Суриков; 24 January 1848 – 19 March 1916) was a Russian Realist history painter. Many of his works have become familiar to the general public through their use as illu ...

(1848–1916), painter *

Yevgeny Svetlanov Yevgeny Fyodorovich Svetlanov (russian: Евгéний Фёдорович Светлáнов; 6 September 1928 – 3 May 2002) was a Russian conductor, composer and a pianist. Life and work Svetlanov was born in Moscow and studied conducting wi ...

(1928-2002), conductor, composer, and pianist * Igor Talkov (1956–1991), poet, singer-songwriter *

Anna Timiryova Anna Vasilyevna Timiryova (russian: Анна Васильевна Тимирёва; 18 July 1893 – 31 January 1975) was a Russian poet. Born Anna Safonova, she was the daughter of composer Vasily Ilyich Safonov. At the age of 19 she married Adm ...

(1893–1975), poet * Nika Turbina (1974–2002), poet * Vasily Tropinin (1776–1857), painter * Lev Vlassenko (1928–1996), pianist *

Vladimir Vysotsky Vladimir Semyonovich Vysotsky ( rus, links=no, Владимир Семёнович Высоцкий, p=vlɐˈdʲimʲɪr sʲɪˈmʲɵnəvʲɪtɕ vɨˈsotskʲɪj; 25 January 1938 – 25 July 1980), was a Soviet singer-songwriter, poet, and actor ...

(1938–1980), poet, singer-songwriter, actor * Vasily Yan (1876–1954), writer *

Leonid Yengibarov Leonid Georgievich Yengibarov ( hy, Լեոնիդ Ենգիբարյան; russian: Леонид Георгиевич Енгибаров; March 15, 1935 – July 25, 1972) was a Soviet Armenian clown and actor. Biography Leonid Yengibarov was ...

(1935–1972), clown, mime, actor * Yakov Rozval (1932-2015), engineer, inventor *

Sergei Yesenin Sergei Alexandrovich Yesenin ( rus, Сергей Александрович Есенин, p=sʲɪrˈɡʲej ɐlʲɪkˈsandrəvʲɪtɕ jɪˈsʲenʲɪn; ( 1895 – 28 December 1925), sometimes spelled as Esenin, was a Russian lyric poet. He is one o ...

(1895–1925), poet, husband of

Isadora Duncan Angela Isadora Duncan (May 26, 1877 or May 27, 1878 – September 14, 1927) was an American dancer and choreographer, who was a pioneer of modern contemporary dance, who performed to great acclaim throughout Europe and the US. Born and raised in ...

* Antonina Zubkova (1920-1950), WWII bomber pilot, Heroine of the Soviet Union *

Lev Loktev Lev Abramovich Loktev ( Russian: ) (August 25, 1908 - April 28, 1981) was a Soviet artillery designer and served as the chief designer at Mikhail Kalinin Plant No.8 in Podlipki, now part of Korolyov, Moscow Oblast. Early life Lev Abramovich Lo ...

(1908-1981), artillery designer *

Anastasia Filatova Anastasia Ivanovna Filatova (russian: Анастаси́я Ива́новна Фила́това, mn, Анастасиа Ивановна Филатова-Цэдэнбал, , 4 February 1920 – 21 October 2001) was the Russian wife of the Mongol ...

(1920—2001) the Russian wife of the

Mongolia Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 millio ...

n leader

Yumjaagiin Tsedenbal Yumjaagiin Tsedenbal ( mn, Юмжаагийн Цэдэнбал, ''Yumzhaagiin Tsedenbal'' ; russian: Юмжагийн Цэдэнбал, translit=Yumzhagyn Tsedenbal ; 17 September 1916 – 20 April 1991) was the leader of the Mongolian Peop ...

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1771 establishments in the Russian Empire Cemeteries in Moscow Cultural heritage monuments of federal significance in Moscow