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The monument to the mother is a famous image that began to be used especially often after the Great Patriotic War. The most famous such sculptural work was installed in Volgograd on the Mamayev Kurgan. However, over time, such compositions began to appear not only in memory of the war, but also of other tragedies, for example, a monument to a grieving mother for dead sailors, unveiled in Nakhodka.

Motherland

Still, the most famous monument to the mother was installed on the site of the Battle of Stalingrad, one of the decisive battles of the Great Patriotic War. This sculpture is the compositional center of the entire architectural ensemble on Mamayev Kurgan. Today, this is one of the tallest statues not only in Russia, but throughout Europe.

The sculpture is part of a composition of three parts. The first is located in Magnitogorsk. At the "Rear to Front" monument, a worker gives a soldier a sword that was forged in the Urals to fight fascism. The third part of the composition is a monument to the soldier-liberator, which stands in Berlin. On it, the sword, previously raised in Volgograd, is lowered.

Authors of the sculpture

The monument to the mother in Volgograd is the work of sculptor Evgeniy Vuchetich and engineer Nikolai Nikitin. Vuchetich in the 70s was vice-president of the USSR Academy of Arts, and he himself participated in the Great Patriotic War. He owns both the monument to the soldier-liberator in Treptower Park and the “Let’s Beat Swords into Plowshares” monument, which is installed in New York, near the United Nations building. He also installed the sculpture “Motherland” in Kyiv in 1981.

Nikolai Nikitin's track record is also rich. He is the designer of the foundations and load-bearing structures of many famous Soviet buildings. These are the Palace of the Soviets, the main building of Moscow State University on the Lenin Hills, the central capital stadium "Luzhniki", the Palace of Culture and Science in Warsaw, the television tower in Ostankino.

Majestic monument

The monument to the mother by Vuchetich and Nikitin represents the figure of a woman who steps forward with a warlike appearance and a raised sword. This is an allegorical image. It contains the image of the Motherland, which calls its sons all together to fight the common enemy.

The construction of the statue began a decade and a half after the end of the Great Patriotic War - in the spring of 1959. It took 8 years to create it. At that time it was the tallest sculpture in the world. To this day, the sculpture is illuminated by spotlights every night.

Over the past period, the monument has required restoration work twice. Moreover, for the first time it was quite early: 5 years after the official opening, the sword was replaced. In 1986, another large-scale restoration took place.

Prototypes of sculpture

Was there a prototype on the basis of which the monument to the woman-mother was created? There is still no definite answer; there are only several versions.

Most researchers believe that this is a graduate of the Barnaul Pedagogical School, Anastasia Peshkova, who at that time was just under 30 years old. Valentina Izotova and Ekaterina Grebneva are also mentioned among the versions.

A less popular, but also valid version says that the monument to the mother, the photo of which is known to every Russian today, repeats the figure in Paris. Its creation, in turn, was inspired by the statue of the Greek goddess Nike.

Specifications

The height of the sculpture set a record among all those existing at that time. The monument to the mother itself is 85 meters high, and the mounting plate is another two meters. Such a structure required a concrete foundation buried to a depth of 16 meters. The height of the female sculpture itself (without the sword) is 52 meters. Its total weight is very impressive - more than 8 thousand tons.

The figure is made of reinforced concrete and metal structures. It's hollow inside. It’s worth mentioning the sword. Its length is 33 meters. Weight - 14 tons. It is made of stainless steel, which is lined with titanium layers.

Due to the deformation of the sword, the titanium layers began to move, because of this, an unpleasant grinding of metal was constantly heard. It is for this reason that a few years after the installation of the sculpture, they decided to replace the sword. The new one consisted entirely of steel.

To ensure that such a design always remains in service, the engineer, who is also its full-fledged author, worked very hard. The monument to the mother stands thanks to He also calculated the stability of the Ostankino TV tower.

Threat of collapse

In fact, immediately after the completion of the monument’s construction, fears began to be expressed that the mother’s monument might collapse. By and large, they have not subsided to this day.

Back in 1965, the state construction commission issued a conclusion according to which it was necessary to strengthen the main structures of the structure. The Motherland monument caused particular concern. The fact is that the foundation is installed on clay soils, which can slide significantly towards the Volga over time.

The last large-scale survey of the monument was carried out in 2013. It was made by the capital's architect and sculptor Vladimir Tserkovnikov. In an open letter addressed to the Minister of Culture Vladimir Medinsky, he reports that the foundation of the monument was made with significant errors that Nikitin made at the design stage. In his opinion, today it is in a deplorable state.

Kyiv monument

A similar sculpture was unveiled in the Ukrainian capital in 1981. It is part of the composition of the Museum of Ukrainian History about the Second World War. The architectural complex was opened on the 36th anniversary of the Victory over the Nazis; Leonid Brezhnev took part in the ceremonial events.

The author of the Volgograd sculpture, Evgeniy Vuchetich, began working on the project. After his death in 1974, the project was headed by Vasily Borodai. Just like Vuchetich, a participant in the Great Patriotic War, People's Artist of the USSR, who worked in the genre of socialist realism.

According to the calculations of the experts who made a description of the Motherland monument, the monument should stand for at least 150 years. It is made so reliably that it can withstand an earthquake of even magnitude 9. For example, in 1987, a powerful hurricane swept over Kiev, but the monument did not receive any damage.

The monument is equipped with observation platforms and two elevators, one of which moves at an incline of 75 degrees. Technical platforms and hatches are equipped in many parts of the monument. For example, one of them is right in the head of the Motherland.

Since 2002, tourists have climbed to two observation platforms - at an altitude of 36 and 92 meters. However, after the fall and death of a tourist from the upper level, access to the monument for non-specialists was significantly limited.

St. Petersburg analogue

In Russia, the majority answer to the question: “Where is the monument to the Motherland?” They will answer that in Volgograd. But there are several more similar sculptures. One of them is located in St. Petersburg.

The monument is located on a female figure holding in her hands which symbolizes eternity. The sculpture is located on a stone pedestal. Directly behind it is a stone wall on which the famous words of the poetess “No one is forgotten, nothing is forgotten” are carved.

The work personifies a grieving mother or wife, whose face is turned to a mass grave.

A competition for this project was announced in 1945. It was decided to dedicate the memorial to the residents of Leningrad who survived the siege and to the memory of those killed. Construction began only in 1956. The opening took place during the celebration of the 15th anniversary of the Victory - May 9, 1960.

The group of sculptors was led by Vera Vasilievna Isaeva, who died two weeks before the official opening of the monument. She survived the blockade of Leningrad and took part in camouflaging the city during enemy air raids.

Grieving mother in Nakhodka

The story in the Russian Far East is also quite sad. The memorial in Nakhodka was installed in 1979. The work is made of bronze.

The figure of a woman faces Nakhodka Bay and is dedicated to the memory of the fishermen of the Boksitogorsk trawler, which sank in the Barents Sea in 1965. The tragedy occurred in January during a storm, the strength of which was estimated at 10 points. 24 crew members were killed. Only one managed to escape happily - the mining master from Boksitogorsk, Anatoly Okhrimenko.

Behind the female sculpture are two ship sails. At the foot are the names of all 24 dead sailors, whose mothers and wives did not live that year.

The project was led by the chief architect of Nakhodka, Vladimir Remizov.

Grieving mother in Bashkiria

A similar monument was erected in the capital of Bashkiria - Ufa. It is dedicated to soldiers and officers who died in various military conflicts, including local ones. A memorial was erected near Victory Park.

The official opening took place in 2003. Its author was Nikolai Kalinushkin, Honored Artist of the Russian Federation.

The architectural composition resembles a religious building, and it is deliberately done in such a way that it is impossible to understand whether it is Christian or Muslim. It contains a bronze figure of a mother on a low pedestal.

Nearby are granite slabs on which are carved the names of residents of Bashkortostan who died in local military conflicts since 1951.

monumental monument

The monument to the mother in Cheboksary is one of the symbols of the capital of the Chuvash Republic. Its height is 46 meters, and the sign at its base says that this is a woman-mother who blesses her children and guides them to live only in peace and love. The inscription is made in Russian and Chuvash languages.

In many cities there are monuments to the mother. Everyone has their own story. This project was developed by politician Nikolai Fedorov. For this purpose, he attracted the creative intelligentsia and the public, and a charitable foundation was specially created.

The monument depicts a woman in national costume. The first proposals appeared in print back in 1996, but implementation began only in the early 2000s.

The sculptor of the project was Vladimir Nagornov, who also became famous for “memory and glory” in the regional center of Chuvashia and the monument to Ostap Bender and Kisa Vorobyaninov, installed in Cheboksary. He worked in collaboration with scientific consultants and other famous architects, for example, Vladimir Filatov.

Remember your mom
Monuments and sculptures are made from different materials, but they represent one thing - maternal love / Plot “Monumental sculpture” / June, 2016

It’s hard to live when you’ve lost your Mother forever.
There are no happier people whose mother is alive.
In the name of my dead brothers
Please, think about my words.

No matter how the rush of events beckons you,
No matter how you attract me into your whirlpool,
Take care of your mother more than your eyes,
From grievances, from hardships and worries.

Mother will die, and the scars will not be erased,
The mother will die, and the pain will not be relieved.
I conjure: take care of your mother,
Children of the world, take care of your mother!
(Rasul Gamzatov)

Kuzma Petrov-Vodkin. Mother. 1913

1. Monument to mother (Tyumen)

The monument was unveiled on June 1, 2010, its opening timed to coincide with the 60th anniversary of International Children's Day. The bronze monument depicts a heavily pregnant woman with her children next to her. Initially, it was planned to install a figure of the pope nearby, but the author of the monument abandoned this idea; nevertheless, the woman has a wedding ring on her hand.

2. Monument to mom. Tyumen

On June 1, 2005, a monument to a pregnant woman was inaugurated in Tomsk. The opening of the monument is timed to coincide with the 115th anniversary of the medical university, opposite which it was installed. The sculptural composition represents a slightly enlarged woman and a child inside her. Both the woman and the child are made exclusively of metal rods (in an avant-garde style). The author of this unusual monument is sculptor Nikolai Gnedykh.

3. Monument to a pregnant woman. Tomsk / Photo: Vladimir Shekhtman

The monument was erected in 2008 as part of a “city break”. The monument is made from the image of a real woman. - this is the mother of one of the directors of the local organization. The monument exudes kind maternal warmth; the monument turned out to be very sincere.

4. Monument to motherhood. Zelenograd

The monument was erected in 2009 in front of the central regional library. The sculpture, according to the author’s plan, carries the image of love and motherhood. It is a monument in the form of a young woman holding a child in her arms. The author of the monument is Sochi sculptor Pyotr Khrisanov. The sculpture was created with donations from citizens, businesses, and entrepreneurs. It took 500 kg of bronze to make.

5. Monument to motherhood. Korenovsk

The Mother and Child monument is located near the children's clinic. The sculptural composition represents a woman with a child, as if flying in space. The monument evokes mixed feelings. On the one hand, it recalls the connection between mother and child and reflects the continuation of life on earth. On the other hand, it seems that mother and child are engaged in acrobatic exercises on some kind of invisible trampoline.

6. Monument “Mother and Child”. Novosibirsk city

The monument “Mother and Child” was erected at 120 Morskaya Street on the territory of the “Zhuravlik” kindergarten as part of a project for the protection of motherhood and childhood, and is a landmark of the city. It is unique not only for the city, but also for the country as a whole. Volgodonsk is the administrative center of the Rostov region, located in the Salsk steppes, on the left bank of the Tsimlyansk reservoir in the continental climate zone.

The construction of the Volga-Don shipping canal became the reason for the founding of the city. The first residential buildings on its territory began to be built on July 27, 1950, this date is considered the birthday of Volgodonsk. The monument “Mother and Child” was designed by the architect T. Botyanovsky and erected by the sculptor V. P. Polyakov

7. Monument “Mother and Child”. Volgodonsk

The sculptural composition represents a woman sitting on a stone, and on her lap a baby stretched out his hand and a dove sits on her palm. The sculpture has a certain simplicity and sincerity. There is nothing dashing or pretentious about this, but on the contrary, it is simple and kind in a family way. It seems that the child is about to jump off his mother’s lap and run around happily.

8. Monument “Mother and Child”. Noyabrsk

In Pskov, in the botanical garden you can see a garden sculpture of a mother and child. The exact name of the sculpture is unknown. The mother and child sculpture is obviously made of granite, which of course makes it versatile.

9. Monument to motherhood. Pskov

This monument was opened on June 12, 2009, City Day. The cradle personifies the tenderness and care of mother's hands, reverent maternal care for children. The sculpture in the form of a palm, on which a child, tired and caressing, sleeps, settled not far from maternity hospital No. 1.

According to the idea of ​​the authors of the work (employees of Studio LLC Yuri Chernosov and Pavel Barkov), the sculptural composition “Cradle” should become a symbol of gratitude to all mothers who protect, nurture and raise their children. After all, “the hand that rocks the cradle rules the world.”

10. Monument “The Hand That Rocks the Cradle.” Kemerovo

The monument to the mother in Rostov-on-Don is installed on Teatralnaya Square. There is no description of the monument; the author and date of installation are unknown. The sculptural composition includes a woman with an outstretched hand, a child and a dove. A naked child can symbolize a defenseless childhood, and because... The dove is a bird of peace, which means the woman extends friendship.

11. Monument to mother. Rostov-on-Don

In 2001, on the eve of the 40th anniversary of the first manned space flight, a monument to the mother of the first cosmonaut on Earth, Anna Timofeevna Gagarina, was unveiled in the city of Gagarin.

There is an overcoat hanging on the bench, Anna Timofeevna is holding flowers. Everything suggests that the monument commemorates Yuri’s arrival...

12. Monument to Yuri Gagarin’s mother - Anna Timofeevna. Gagarin

The monument was opened on November 30, 2011 in the Pravoberezhye microdistrict of the city of Kaluga. The author of the sculpture is Svetlana Farnieva. The monument was erected on the site of what was once a vacant lot, which was landscaped and turned into a public garden.

The bronze mother, according to the author of the monument, has a real prototype. This is a Kaluga resident, a mother of two sons. As for the child held in the arms of a woman, his image is a collective one. At the base of the sculpture there are toys, also cast in bronze. The composition is crowned with a nest of doves, a symbol of family and home.

13. Monument to mother. Kaluga

On June 1, 2004, on International Children's Day, the grand opening of the sculptural composition “Motherhood” took place in Yevpatoria. The slender figure of a woman-mother holding a newborn baby in her arms adorns the square next to the Evpatoria maternity hospital, which is very symbolic. The author of the sculpture “Motherhood” is Evpatoria sculptor Alexey Shmakov.

14. Monument to mother. Evpatoria

Monuments of different directions are specially collected on the Walk of Fame to honor the memory of all those who participated in the battles of the Great Patriotic War. The monument to “Our Mothers” is a composition of three bronze sculptures of a woman with two children. The boy and girl rushed towards the Church of St. George the Victorious, and the mother could barely keep up with them. Thus, sculptor Alexander Rozhnikov wanted to show that during the war, women and children could only worry about their relatives and pray. They had no choice but to believe and wait.

15. Monument to “Our Mothers”. Vidnoye

For the sculpture “Motherhood”, the artist chose forged aluminum as the material for the work. The sculptor managed to create a living, strong woman-mother, with her main gift to the world - her son, still a boy, but already clearly a future man. The deliberate and verified sculpture of the symmetry of the composition is, of course, a symbol of a harmonious world in which the center of the universe is the woman-mother.

This sculpture presents many telling signs to the audience. The child sits on the lap of the mother, who protects and protects the child. The hands of a child and his mother, with palms open to the world, are a kinship with nature and faith in its protection. The whole composition easily fits into the sphere, which since ancient times was considered a symbol of the planet Earth, the Sun and the Universe.

16. Monument “Motherhood”. Yalutorovsk

The monument is located near the children's hospital and park. The sculpture of a mother and child will logically complete the composition of the children's park, the design of which began last year in the area of ​​the children's clinic and hospital.

The Monument to Motherhood is the first monument in Novocheboksarsk that carries a good light charge - symbolizing recognition of the great value of the birth of a new person, personifying feelings of gratitude and admiration for the woman-mother and what she symbolizes - kindness, care, forgiveness, hope and inexhaustible love.

17. Monument to motherhood. Novocheboksarsk

A person gets his first impressions of the world through his mother’s milk. Newborns, just like hundreds of years ago, come into this world in need of care and warmth, understanding and participation. The mother's primary task is to give the child what he needs, which is reflected in the sculpture.

18. Monument to a nursing mother. Izhevsk

Installation location: city ​​of Zadonsk. The monument is located at the entrance to Victory Park, not far from the memorial to all fellow countrymen who did not return from the battlefields of the Great Patriotic War.

Story: This monument has a real story of maternal and military feat, which cannot leave anyone indifferent. The monument is dedicated to Zadonsk resident Maria Frolova. This woman, from whom the war took away 8 sons, can rightfully personify the image of a mother.
Maria and Georgy Frolov got married before the Revolution. George was 20 years older than Maria. He treated his wife with trepidation and tenderness, was truly in love with his wife and grateful for the children. Mary bore him 14 children, two of whom died in infancy. They raised and raised two daughters and 10 sons - handsome, smart, athletes and musicians. The children grew up strong, friendly and cheerful. In the summer we swam across the Don several times a day. On winter evenings we read books aloud.
The eldest daughter Antonina was the first to leave her parents' home in Zadonsk and move to Leningrad, a city that became a second home for the Frolov children. Following their sister, the brothers followed their sister to the banks of the Neva. They got jobs and started families. When the news came in 1941 that the war had begun, the mother said doomedly: “That means all our people will leave.” The Zadon brothers left Leningrad for the front and most of them died defending the Northern capital.
Maria received 6 funerals - six sons died during hostilities. Two sons died from the consequences of front-line wounds shortly after the Victory.
Maria's husband Georgy died in May 1941. Receiving messages about the death of the brothers, the youngest daughter Anna shared the bitterness and horror of the loss with her mother. Anna lived with her mother in Zadonsk, fulfilling her promise to her brothers - not to leave her mother. Maria Matveevna passed away at the age of 96.

In Zadonsk there is a street named after the Frolov brothers. On April 29, 1995, a memorial plaque was installed on the house where the Frolov family lived. Some things of the Frolov family are kept in.

In 2002, by decision of the district administration and the district Council of Deputies, fundraising began for the construction of a monument to Maria Matveevna Frolova, a monument to the Mother. The main funds for the construction of the monument were allocated from the regional and district budgets. In the construction of the monument there is a feasible contribution from Zadontsev, who sincerely honor the memory of the Frolov family. Almost 100 thousand rubles were collected, as they say, by the whole world. Donations came not only from the entire region, but also from residents of St. Petersburg - the descendants of those whom the Frolov brothers defended without sparing their lives.

The monument was inaugurated in the year of the 60th anniversary of the Great Victory - September 24, 2005. Residents of the city, representatives of the district administration, the authors of the monument gathered, and Maria Matveevna’s grandson, Evgeny Mikhailovich Frolov, came. “We wanted to show the bitterness and sadness of mothers of front-line soldiers. We wanted the monument to remind, first of all, of the tragedy of the war,” said artist Yu. D. Grishko at the opening.

The monument to Maria Frolova in Zadonsk soon became known throughout the country. It is rightfully considered a monument to all mothers of Russia who lost their children in wartime.

Description: in the center of the composition is a statue of an elderly woman frozen in eternal sorrow. The sculpture of the Mother is made of polymer concrete. There are eight obelisks around with male names: Mikhail, Dmitry, Konstantin, Tikhon, Vasily, Leonid, Nikolai, Peter.

Bibliography

1. Mother's feat // From century to century... / A. V. Kosyakin. – Lipetsk: De Facto, 2003. – P. 26–42.
2. Monument to the Mother // Zadonsk: walks with a local historian / A. S. Nartsisov. – Lipetsk, 2013. – P. 20 – 21: ill.
   ***
3. Alekhina L. The Frolov family // Donskaya Pravda. – 1975. – May 24. – P. 3.
4. Kosyakin A. Mother’s feat // Donskaya Pravda. – 1985. – May 7. – P. 1, 3. Continuation page 3.
5. Kosyakin A. The feat of a mother: [about the fate of members of the Frolov family, about the head of the family - mother M. M. Frolova] // Lipetsk newspaper. – 1994. – July 29. – P. 3: photo.
6. Kosyakin A. Plaques are memorial, memory is eternal: [about the installation of a memorial plaque in memory of the feat of M. Frolova] // Lipetsk newspaper. – 1995. – March 15. – P. 1.
7. Anniversary celebrations: [about the installation of a memorial plaque on the Frolovs’ house] // Zadonskaya Pravda. – 1995. – April 29. – P. 1.
8. Mother's feat // Zadonskaya Pravda. – 2000. – January 13. – P. 1, 2. Continuation page 2.
9. Preparing for the anniversary of the Victory: [at a meeting with the head of the Zadon administration. district again raised the issue of the monument to M. M. Frolova] // Zadonskaya Pravda. – 2000. – January 20. – P. 1.
10. Zelinskaya L. Fundraising has begun in the Zadonsk region for a monument to Maria Matveevna Frolova // Komsomolskaya Pravda. – 2002. – April 30. – P. 6.
11. Soldiers were given birth to mothers, and wars killed them: [responses to the publication of A. Kosyakin’s essay “War and Mother” about Georgy and Maria Frolov from Zadonsk] // Lipetsk newspaper. – 2002. – April 30. – P. 3.
12. Bozhko Yu. Her whole life was a feat: [conversation with the head of the Zadon administration. district about the decision to erect a monument to M. M. Frolova] / Yu. Bozhko; recorded by A. Alexandrov // Lipetsk newspaper. – 2002. – June 22. – P. 1.
13. Kosyakin A. Another monument, but not to the leaders...: [a decision was made to install a monument to M. M. Frolova in Zadonsk] // Lipetsk newspaper. – 2003. – April 11.
14. Alexandrov A. Her whole life was her feat // De facto. – 2003. – April 17–23. (No. 16). – P. 5.
15. Gates of the Lipetsk Land: [at a meeting of the expert advisory council on monumental and decorative art, the draft competition for the creation of a monument to the Mother was considered] // Lipetsk newspaper. – 2003. – April 25.
16. Where should the Mother's monument be located? // Zadonskaya truth. – 2003. – May 20. – P. 2.
17. There are no “feats of local significance”: in the near future a monument to the Mother will appear in Zadonsk // Lipetsk newspaper. – 2003. – June 11.
18. Bokov N. A monument to the soldier’s mother will be erected in Zadonsk // Komsomolskaya Pravda. – 2003. – June 17. – P. 6.
19. Perveev V. Once again about what the monument to the Mother in Zadonsk should be like // Zadonskaya Pravda. – 2003. – June 17. – P. 1–2. Continuation page 2.
20. Nikolaev V. Who still needs a monument to the Mother? // Zadonskaya truth. – 2003. – July 24. – P. 2.
21. About the monument to the Mother in Zadonsk: [negotiations began on the construction of the monument] // Holy Rus'. – 2003. – June-July (No. 6/7). – P. 2.

The monument to mom is one of the original and unusual monuments in the city of Tyumen. It is located in the Central Administrative City District, at the intersection of two streets - Komsomolskaya and Sverdlova, in a park not far from the perinatal center and chapel.

The initiator of the creation of the sculptural composition was the government of the Central District of the city. Funds for the construction of the Monument to Mom were allocated by city enterprises and individuals. The author of this project was a talented sculptor - P. S. Starchenko. The monument project was officially registered in May 2007. It took 8.5 months to make the monument.

The grand opening of the Tyumen monument to mother took place on June 1, 2010 and was timed to coincide with the 60th anniversary of International Children's Day. The opening ceremony was attended by city authorities, doctors from the nearby infectious diseases hospital and perinatal center, as well as local residents. At the opening of the monument, Tyumen mothers danced, sang and read poetry, for whom this day was significant.

The sculpture “Monument to Mother” is a multi-figure bronze composition - a woman in late pregnancy looking into the distance, near whom there are happy children. Initially, it was planned to install a figure of the pope next to these figures, but for some reason the author of the sculptural composition abandoned this idea. The wedding ring that appeared on her hand testifies to the woman’s happy family marriage. A monument to my father was erected in the city park Tenisty, which is located opposite KinoMax.

At the base of the monument, a plaque is attached to the back side, which indicates the name of the author of the monument, as well as city residents and businesses who acted as sponsors.

Monument “The Motherland is Calling!” opened in 1967. How the monument became the tallest in the world, whose face the female figure has and what sculptural “relatives” she has - let’s remember 10 facts about the Motherland.

Volgograd. Memorial complex “The Motherland is Calling!” Andrey Izhakovsky / Photobank Lori

Competition without borders. The victory in the Battle of Stalingrad was a turning point in the history of the Great Patriotic War. A competition for the creation of a monument in Stalingrad was announced already in September 1944. Famous architects and soldiers took part in it, sending their sketches by military mail. Architect Georgy Martsinkevich proposed erecting a tall column with the figure of Stalin at the top, and Andrei Burov - a 150-meter pyramid with a frame made of melted down tanks.

Projects even came from abroad - from Morocco, Shanghai. It is interesting that the future creator of the Motherland, Evgeniy Vuchetich, did not take part in the competition. There were legends that he discussed his project directly with Stalin.

Construction of the monument “The Motherland is Calling!” Mamayev Kurgan, Volgograd. 1962. Photo: zheleznov.pro

Construction of the monument “The Motherland is Calling!” Mamayev Kurgan, Volgograd. 1965. Photo: stalingrad-battle.ru

Construction of the monument “The Motherland is Calling!” Mamayev Kurgan, Volgograd. 1965. Photo: planet-today.ru

Changes in composition. The sculptural composition should have looked different. It was assumed that next to the female figure there would be a statue of a kneeling soldier holding out his sword to the Motherland. However, the initial composition of the monument seemed too complicated to Yevgeny Vuchetich. He changed the project after approval from above. The sculptor had an important ideological argument: the soldier could not give his sword to anyone, because the war was not over yet.

Who was the prototype? Art historians agree that Evgeny Vuchetich was inspired by the bas-relief “Marseillaise” on the Parisian Arc de Triomphe and the ancient sculpture of the Nike of Samothrace. However, who exactly posed for him is not known for certain. It is most likely that the sculptor sculpted the figure of the Motherland from the Soviet discus athlete Nina Dumbadze, and the face from his wife Vera. Today, a model of the statue’s head is kept in the Vuchetich Estate Museum in Moscow.

The first reinforced concrete monument. The Motherland became the first monument in the USSR made entirely of reinforced concrete. In the 1960s, after the war, many cities, including Volgograd, were not rebuilt, and reinforced concrete was one of the cheapest materials. However, this choice caused some difficulties. For example, just a year after the opening of the monument, small cracks began to form on it. To preserve the monument, the head and hands of the sculpture were annually coated with a water-repellent agent.

Soviet track and field athlete Nina Dumbadze at competitions. 1950s Photo: russiainphoto.ru

Bas-relief “Retreat of volunteers to the front in 1792” (“Marseillaise”). Triumphal Arch. Sculptor Francois Rud. Paris, France. 1836

Sculpture "Nike of Samothrace". Pythocritus from Lindos. Around 190 BC Louvre, Paris

Strengthening the structure. All engineering calculations were carried out under the direction of Nikolai Nikitin, who built the Ostankino TV tower. Monument “The Motherland Calls!” it was not secured in any way during construction: it stands on the ground due to its own weight. Metal ropes are stretched inside the statue, which make it more stable and maintain the rigidity of the metal frame. Today, sensors are installed on the cables, and specialists monitor the condition of the structure.

Monument to the era of three secretaries general. Although the architectural design competition took place in the 1940s, work on the monument began after Stalin's death. The order for construction was signed in January 1958 by Nikita Khrushchev. The monument took almost ten years to build - it was opened in October 1967. The opening was also attended by the General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee - at that time Leonid Brezhnev.

Tallest statue in the world. It was planned that the height of the Motherland would be 36 meters. However, Khrushchev ordered to “grow up” the female figure. The statue on Mamayev Kurgan was supposed to “overtake” the Statue of Liberty - its height without a pedestal was 46 meters.

After construction was completed, the Motherland was the tallest statue in the world. The female figure towered 52 meters above the pedestal, and taking into account the length of her arm and sword, the height of the monument was 85 meters. The monument weighed 8 thousand tons, excluding the sword. Today, the Motherland remains in the top ten tallest statues in the world.

Steel sword. The sword of the statue was made using aviation technology. It was made of stainless steel and sheathed with titanium sheets. But this solution was not suitable for the monument - the sword swayed and creaked in the wind. In 1972, the weapon was replaced with a steel one with holes to reduce windage. Because of the “problematic” sword, the monument’s designers did not receive the Lenin Prize. The “Motherland Calls!” monument. Sculptor Evgeniy Vuchetich, architect Nikolai Nikitin. Volgograd. 1959-1967

Monument "Warrior-Liberator". Sculptor Evgeniy Vuchetich, architect Yakov Belopolsky. Berlin, Germany. 1949

The image of the "Motherland". The collective image of the Motherland appeared on propaganda posters back in 1941. They were created by the Soviet painter Irakli Toidze. The artist recalled that the prototype of the woman on the poster was his wife. Hearing a message about the attack on the USSR, she ran into the artist’s studio shouting “War!” Irakli Toidze was shocked by her expression and immediately made the first sketches.