Monument to Mamin-Sibiryak (Yekaterinburg)

The monument to D. N. Mamin-Sibiryak is a bronze bust of the Ural writer Dmitry Narkisovich Mamin-Sibiryak on Lenin Avenue in central Yekaterinburg, by the Plotinka dam and the Historical Square. It is one of the literary monuments of Sverdlovsk Oblast, standing in the oldest part of the city next to the monument to another Ural writer, Pavel Bazhov.

History

The monument was unveiled on 5 November 1987. It was created by the sculptor A. G. Antonov and the architect B. A. Demidov. It was conceived in the same spirit as the neighbouring Bazhov monument, so the two writers most closely associated with the Urals are commemorated side by side in the historic centre of Yekaterinburg. The choice of place is fitting: Mamin-Sibiryak lived in Yekaterinburg, and his novels and stories about the mining and factory Urals made the city and the region known far beyond them.

Description

The monument is a bronze bust of the writer on a pedestal of red polished marble with a grey niche; a commemorative plaque is fixed to the base. The writer's head is tilted forward, which gives the portrait a thoughtful, absorbed look. Some passers-by find the sculpture gloomy because of this expression, while others see in it an apt portrait of an observant writer who spent his life describing a harsh land.

Nearby

The monument stands in one of the busiest spots in the city: the Plotinka dam on the Iset River and the Historical Square, where Yekaterinburg began, are right here, as is the Bazhov monument. People sometimes look for the place by the addresses of houses on Mamin-Sibiryak Street, which runs nearby.

To learn more about the writer, head to the Literary Quarter, which brings together five of the seven museums of the United Museum of Ural Writers. On Pushkin Street (formerly Sobornaya) is the Mamin-Sibiryak House Museum, opened in 1946. The quarter also has the museum "Literary Life of the Urals in the 19th Century", housed in a mansion that belonged to the writer's wife, M. Ya. Alekseeva, and the Chamber Theatre, where the Bazhov literary prize is awarded.

Getting there

The monument is within walking distance of the Ploshchad 1905 Goda and Dinamo metro stations. Trams and buses run along Lenin Avenue; get off near the Plotinka or at the Ploshchad Truda stop. The Literary Quarter is about a fifteen-minute walk away.