Monument of the Great October Revolution
Monument of the Great October Revolution in front of the Moscow Hotel (now Hotel Ukraine) | |
| Location | Kiev, Ukrainian SSR |
|---|---|
| Designer | Vasyl Borodai, Ivan Znoba, Valentyn Znoba |
| Type | Monument composition |
| Material | granite, bronze |
| Height | 18.4 m (60 ft) |
| Completion date | 22 October 1977 |
| Dedicated to | October Revolution |
| Dismantled date | 12 September 1991 |
| Due to 2015 Ukrainian decommunization laws all communist monuments in Ukraine legally have to be dismantled.[1] [2] [3] | |
Monument of the Great October Revolution was a Soviet monument that was located on the October Revolution Square from 1977–1991 (now Independence Square)[4] in Kiev, at the time the capital of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic as part of the Soviet Union.[5] It was removed in 1991 as part of the decommunisation of Ukraine following independence.[6]
Description
The monument had a form of a granite pylon with a figure of Vladimir Lenin out of red granite (8.9 m (29 ft)). In front of the pylon there were four bronze figures of male and female workers, peasant and sailor, each 5.25 m (17.2 ft) in height. The whole composition was located on a granite stylobate.[6]
History
The Monument of the Great October Revolution was erected in 1977 by Ukrainian communist officials to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the October Revolution.[7] During the 1990 Revolution on Granite, the monument was used by anti-communist student activists as a shield against a nearby bomb planted in the area.[8] Following Ukrainian independence in 1991 and the collapse of the Soviet Union, the majority of monuments to Lenin were destroyed. This included the Monument of the Great October Revolution being toppled.[9] The destruction of the monument was ordered by the Kyiv City State Administration and the toppled statue was taken to the property of the privatised ""Ukrrestavratsiya" where its fate was unknown.[6] The pedestal initially remained and was used for mounting advertising boards for a camera shop the following year.[10]
Designers
The following architects designed and built the monument:[6]
- Vasyl Borodai, sculptor
- Ivan Znoba, sculptor
- Valentyn Znoba, sculptor
- Oleksandr Malynovsky, architect
- M.Skybytsky, architect
Gallery
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Removal of the monument on September 12, 1991, by decision of the Kiev City Council
-
Maidan Nezalezhnosti in September 1991; the monument is being taken down
See also
References
- ^ "Poroshenko signed the laws about decomunization". Ukrayinska Pravda. 15 May 2015. Retrieved 9 July 2025.
- ^ "Poroshenko: Time for Ukraine to resolutely get rid of Communist symbols". UNIAN. 17 May 2015. Retrieved 9 July 2025.
- ^ "Goodbye, Lenin: Ukraine moves to ban communist symbols". BBC News]]. 14 April 2015. Retrieved 9 July 2025.
- ^ Susman, Tina, "Ukrainians Prepare to Pull Down Statue of 'Bloodstained' Lenin," AP Online, August 30, 1991."
- ^ A History of Ukraine: The Land and Its Peoples by Paul Robert Magocsi, University of Toronto Press, 2010, ISBN 1442610212 (page 563/564 & 722/723)
- ^ a b c d "Public Art Between Authoritarianism and Democracy (The Case of the Maidan Protest in Ukraine)" (PDF). City University of New York. pp. 43, 62. Retrieved 9 July 2025.
- ^ Kotliar, Mykola (1983). Kiev, Ancient and Modern City. Politvidav Ukraini. p. 179.
- ^ Mink, Pawel (2019). Three Revolutions: Mobilization and Change in Contemporary Ukraine. BOD. pp. 143–144. ISBN 9783838213231.
- ^ "Ukraine commits statue-cide". BBC News. 24 February 2014. Retrieved 9 July 2025.
- ^ Gamboni, Dario (2013). The Destruction of Art: Iconoclasm and Vandalism since the French Revolution. Reaktion Books. p. 122. ISBN 9781780231549.