Memorial plaques (general article)

Categories / Architecture/Sculpture, Monuments
MEMORIAL PLAQUES. Memorial inscriptions in stone and metal first appeared in St. Petersburg as early as the 18h century. On the descents leading to the Neva River, beside Palace Embankment the dates of their building were marked in 1764-67; granite plaques were installed on Naryshkin (1780), Gosudarev (1783) and Trubetskoy (1785) bastions of the St. Peter and Paul Fortress to commemorate their being "dressed in stone". The first memorial plaques were dedicated to the floods of 1752, 1775, 1777, and 1788 (under the arch of Nevskie Gates). The plaques indicating the water level at the time of the flood of 1824 were put on 22 city buildings. The first memorial plaques dedicated to a man of letters was installed in 1880 on the house where A.S. Pushkin died (architect N.L. Benois). In the 1890s, on the initiative of the City Council, memorial plaques dedicated to M.I. Glinka, I.A. Goncharov, P.I. Tchaikovsky, and G.R. Derzhavin, appeared. The Count A.D. Sheremetev Musical Historical Society (founded in 1910) initiated the installation of the memorial plaques in honour of A.S. Dargomyzhsky, M.A. Balakirev, A.N. Serov. For the 100th anniversary of the Patriotic War of 1812, a memorial plaque was unveiled on the house, from which M.I. Kutuzov left to join field units. Soviet propoganda favoured the appearance of memorial plaques in post-revolutionary years, a great number of memorial plaques dedicated to various events of the three Russian Revolutions, including the organization of trade unions. To this day, 120 memorial plaques dedicated to V.I. Lenin have remained (the first one installed in 1924 on 52 Shirokaya Street, which was later renamed Lenina Street). The memorial plaques dedicated to the events of the Great Patriotic War of 1941-45, are rather numerous and vary in form. On the walls of the houses on Twenty-Second Line of Vasilievsky Island, 61 Lesnoy Avenue, and 14 Nevsky Prospect, we can still see the bombardment risk inscriptions which have become memorial plaques of sorts. The subjects of the memorial plaques include various events of the city history, its enterprises and establishments, social and political events and military events. Memorial plaques commemorate places associated with life and work of statesmen and public figures, scholars, travellers, men of letters, musicians, actors, artists, architects, athletes, benefactors, religious figures, etc. Memorial plaques were designed by architects and sculptors V.S. Vasilkovsky, L.K. Lazarev, G.D. Yastrebenetsky et al.. Over 1500 memorial plaques are registered in the City Sculpture Museum, which administers the installation and restoration of all plaques.

References: Мемориальные доски Санкт-Петербурга: Справ. СПб., 1999.

Y. M. Piryutko. Balakirev Mily Alexeevich
Benois Nikolay Leontievich
Dargomyzhsky Alexander Sergeevich
Derzhavin Gavriil Romanovich
Glinka Mikhail Ivanovich
Goncharov Ivan Alexandrovich
Kutuzov (Golenishchev-Kutuzov) Mikhail Illarionovich, Gracious Prince
Lazarev Levon Konstantinovich
Lenin (real name Ulyanov) Vladimir Ilyich
Pushkin Alexander Sergeevich
Serov Alexander Nikolaevich
Sheremetev Alexander Dmitrievich, Count
Tchaikovsky Peter Ilyich
Yastrebenetsky Grigory Danilovich
Yastrebenetsky Grigory Danilovich
22nd Line of Vasilievsky Island/Saint Petersburg, city, house 22
Dvortsovaya Embankment/Saint Petersburg, city
Lenina St./Saint Petersburg, city, house 52
Lesnaya Ave/Saint Petersburg, city, house 61
Nevsky prospect/Saint Petersburg, city, house 14
Мемориальные доски Санкт-Петербурга: Справ. СПб., 1999 St. Peter and Paul fortress
St. Peter and Paul fortress
City Duma
Museum of City Sculpture