“To Felix Edmundovitch Dzerzhinsky” reads the inscription. This bronze plaque honors a man of complex legacy. We are standing before the \u0424.\u00a0\u042d.\u00a0\u0414\u0437\u0435\u0440\u0436\u0438\u043d\u0441\u043a\u043e\u043c\u0443 Plaque in Saint Petersburg. It commemorates Felix Edmundovich Dzerzhinsky. He was the founder of the Soviet secret police.
Dzerzhinsky, often called “Iron Felix”, played a crucial role after the Bolsheviks seized power. He wasn’t necessarily the highest-ranking official. Yet, he held several key positions in the young Soviet Republic. On December 6, 1917, the All-Russian Extraordinary Commission for Combating Counter-Revolution and Sabotage, or VChK, was established. Dzerzhinsky was its head.
Later, the VChK was transformed into the GPU in 1922. It was then reorganized into the OGPU in 1923. These were all successive iterations of the Soviet secret police. Dzerzhinsky led them until his death on July 20, 1926. He simultaneously served as the People’s Commissar of Railways. He also headed the commission for improving the lives of homeless children. From February 1924, he chaired the Supreme Council of the National Economy of the USSR.
This \u0424.\u00a0\u042d.\u00a0\u0414\u0437\u0435\u0440\u0436\u0438\u043d\u0441\u043a\u043e\u043c\u0443 Plaque is near the “revolution headquarters”. The bronze monument was unveiled on October 23, 1981. It is located on Shpalernaya Street. This is just a short distance from the Smolny Institute. From October 27, 1917, to March 10, 1918, the Sovnarkom. That is, the Council of People’s Commissars. It was the first Soviet government.
The sculptors Vladimir Gorevoy and Sergei Kubasov created the monument. Vyacheslav Bukhaev was the architect. Dzerzhinsky appears in military uniform. He has a sheathed sword at his hip. The sculpture stands four meters tall. It is set on a three-meter-high pedestal. The back of the pedestal lists the names of the project’s authors.
Interestingly, the \u0424.\u00a0\u042d.\u00a0\u0414\u0437\u0435\u0440\u0436\u0438\u043d\u0441\u043a\u043e\u043c\u0443 Plaque wasn’t removed. Unlike the statue of Dzerzhinsky in Moscow’s Lubyanka Square. This one remains. Perhaps because the work of Evgeny Viktorovich Vuchetich wasn’t created here. He was the composer of the Lubyanka Square ensemble.
The granite pedestal consists of two colors. Gray granite forms the base. Rose granite extends the composition. This \u0424.\u00a0\u042d.\u00a0\u0414\u0437\u0435\u0440\u0436\u0438\u043d\u0441\u043a\u043e\u043c\u0443 Plaque serves as a reminder. It is a reminder of a complex figure. He was a revolutionary. He was the founder of the Soviet secret police. His legacy remains a topic of debate in Russian history.