Pushkin Bust Reborn in Dnipropetrovsk
15 июня, 00:00
The monument to Aleksandr Pushkin, which has stood for almost a century
in Dnipropetrovsk has been unveiled after major repairs, The Day's
Vadym RYZHKOV reports. The bronze bust on a granite pedestal was
build in 1901 in pre-Revolutionary Katerynoslav, where the poet had lived
in exile, paid for by voluntary contributions. Later the monument ironically
echoed the destiny of the poet himself: in Word War II, a German officer,
who learned that Pushkin had died at a duel, fired his pistol twice at
the monument. Then the Nazis decided to melt the bronze bust down, but
streetcar depot workers managed to hide the idol of all lovers of Russian
poetry. The June 6 festivities in Dnipropetrovsk in honor of Pushkin ran
late into the night. In addition to flowers and wreaths, 200 burning candles
were placed on the pedestal, and among those reciting the poet's verses
was acting Mayor Ivan Kulichenko.
Выпуск газеты №:
№22, (1999)Section
Culture
