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A.V. Suvorov State Memorial Museum was opened in St. Petersburg
The Suvorov Museum was solemnly opened and consecrated on November 13 (26) 1904 in St. Petersburg on the day of 175th birthday anniversary of the Russian commander A.V. Suvorov. The ceremony was attended by the Emperor Nicholas II, as well as representatives of regiments, where Suvorov either served or commanded, the General Staff Academy officials, museum’s founders and generalissimo’s descendants.
At the end of 19th c. on the eve of the one-hundredth anniversary of A.V. Suvorov’s death was set up a Suvorov Commission which considered issues to memorialize the commander and decided to establish the Suvorov Museum in St. Petersburg. Funds were raised countrywide. For the museum’s construction the Preobrazhensky Life Guards regiment offered a part of its parade ground on the corner of Kirochnaya and Tavricheskaya streets.
The building was erected in 1901-1904 to the design of the architects A.I. von Hohen and G.D. Grimm imitating the style of old Russian fortifications. The central part with a high tented roof looks like a fortress tower with narrow loopholes. Side wings are adjacent to the tower’s tented roof. Entrance to the museum is designed as an old palace porch. Both wings of the main façade are decorated by mosaic panel “Suvorov sets off to 1799 campaign” and “Suvorov crossing the Alps”, created by mosaicists M.I. Zoshchenko and N.Ye. Maslennikov on sketches of artists A.N. Popov and N.A. Shabunin. Under the tented roof of the central tower there is A.V. Suvorov’s princely coat of arms.
Holdings of the Suvorov museum were replenished mainly due to donations and purchases from private collections. In 1918 the museum was closed, while its collection was taken out and distributed between other Russia’s collections. During the Great Patriotic War the building was damaged by a direct hit of a heavy bomb. After the restoration, carried out in 1950-1951 by the architect M.M. Plotnikov, the museum was re-opened not as a memorial but as a military and historical museum.
In 1975 at the facility of the Suvorov Museum was opened the “Club of military and historical miniature buffs”. In 1991 the museum returned its original status of a memorial. Complex restoration of the building was held in 1988-1998. Relying on old photographs restorers managed to re-create its interior and revive lost elements of decor; what is more the museum launched a new exposition entirely devoted to the Russian commander.
Presently the museum is actively developing its exhibition activities, publishes collected academic articles, and annually holds the conference “Suvorov’s readings”. Holdings of the Suvorov Museum feature the fine arts, memorial belongings of A.V. Suvorov, weapons, trophies, banners, orders and medals dating back to second half of 18th c., and a major collection of tin soldiers.
Lit.: Галенко Б. В., Елескина Л. В. Государственный мемориальный музей А. В. Суворова. Краткий путеводитель. СПб., 2003; Кузьмин А. И., Рогулин Н. Г. Суворовский музей 1904-1999. Краткий путеводитель. СПб., 1999; Кучумов А. М., Кожемяченко Н. Ф. Музей А. В. Суворова. Л., 1954; Меерович Г. И. Музей А. В. Суворова: Историко-краеведческий очерк. Л., 1981; Музей А. В. Суворова: Путеводитель. Л., 1954; Охотников И. В. Музей А. В. Суворова. Л., 1969; Пономарёв И. А. К столетию открытия Суворовского музея // История Петербурга. 2004. № 5 (21). С. 38-52; То же [Электронный ресурс]. URL: http://mirpeterburga.ru/online/history/archive/21/history_spb_21.pdf; Пономарёв И. А. «Красуйся, дивный храм искусства и побед». К 100-летию открытия Суворовского музея // История Петербурга. 2004. № 6 (22). С. 43-50; То же [Электронный ресурс]. URL: http://www.mirpeterburga.ru/online/history/archive/22/history_spb_22_41-54.pdf.
Государственный мемориальный музей А. В. Суворова: сайт. 2014-2018. URL: http://www.suvorovmuseum.ru/.
Based on the Presidential Library’s materials: