In 1860, on the initiative of graduates of the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum, where Pushkin studied, a subscription was announced to raise funds for the construction of a monument in Moscow. About 30 thousand rubles were collected. In 1870, on the initiative of the lyceum student Yakov Karlovich Groth, a new subscription was made. A competition was announced, according to the rules of which it was supposed to submit to the commission a project of a monument in eight months, consisting of two parts: a model of the poet's figure made of plaster, wax, or clay in the size of 8-9 vershoks and a pedestal in any size. The terms of the competition included a plan of the area near Tverskoy Boulevard opposite the Strastnoy Monastery, where it was supposed to place the monument. The cost of the finished monument in full size was originally not supposed to exceed 60 thousand rubles. However, we managed to collect about 130 thousand rubles. Many famous sculptors of that time took part in the competition, among them were PP Zabello, IN Schroeder and MM Antokolsky [4].
In 1875, following an open competition, the first prize for the project of a monument to Pushkin was awarded to A.M. Opekushin. At the same time, in the final version of the monument, the shape of the pedestal proposed by A.M. Opekushin (the combination of two truncated cones) was replaced by a shape close to that proposed by I.N.Shroder (a truncated trapezoid on a rectangular prism). Alexander Mikhailovich Opekushin invited the architect Ivan Semyonovich Bogomolov to conduct construction and installation work. A special commission for the construction of the monument was headed by Prince PG Oldenburgsky [5] [6].
In 1875, following an open competition, the first prize for the project of a monument to Pushkin was awarded to A.M. Opekushin. At the same time, in the final version of the monument, the shape of the pedestal proposed by A.M. Opekushin (the combination of two truncated cones) was replaced by a shape close to that proposed by I.N.Shroder (a truncated trapezoid on a rectangular prism). Alexander Mikhailovich Opekushin invited the architect Ivan Semyonovich Bogomolov to conduct construction and installation work. A special commission for the construction of the monument was headed by Prince PG Oldenburgsky [5] [6].
Project M.M. Antokolsky, 1875