“A great compatriot who left a huge legacy.” That is how Minister of Justice, Konstantin Chuychenko, described Anatoly Fedorovich Koni. We are standing before the monument to this outstanding Russian lawyer.
This monument to Anatoly Fedorovich Koni stands near the new building of the Russian National Library. The statue’s opening occurred on June 26, 2024. It coincided with the XII St. Petersburg International Legal Forum. The event also celebrated the 180th anniversary of the famous jurist’s birth.
The monument’s location highlights Anatoly Fedorovich Koni’s role in Russian literature and jurisprudence. Anatoly Fedorovich was a famous writer. He deeply understood Russian literature. He gathered a unique library. He was friends with all the great writers of his time. The archives of the Russian National Library hold documents related to Koni’s life and work.
The bronze statue of Anatoly Fedorovich Koni shows him in formal attire. He stands tall and holds a scroll. The sculpture is 3.5 meters high. It rests on a granite pedestal. The granite is of the “Baltic” variety. It was also used in facing the library building. The total height of the monument is 6.49 meters.
The project was initiated by the Foundation for the Development of Legal Culture. A majority of the members of the Town Planning Council approved it.
The creative team included architect Sergei Bukin and sculptor Alexey Stepanenko. Evgenia Kokorina also participated. From the other side of the square, there will be a monument to Mikhail Mikhailovich Speransky. He was a statesman and a reformer.
Anatoly Fedorovich Koni was born in Saint Petersburg on January 28, 1844. His father was writer Fyodor Alekseevich Koni. His mother was actress Irina Semyonovna Koni. Anatoly received his early education at home. In 1855, he entered a German school at St. Anna’s Church. Later, he attended the Second Gymnasium.
In 1861, Anatoly Koni joined the Physics and Mathematics Faculty. It was at St. Petersburg University. However, the university closed. In 1862, he transferred to the Law Faculty of Moscow Imperial University.
After graduating in 1866, Anatoly Koni joined the administrative service. He started in the state control. Then he worked in the main staff for special assignments. These assignments were of a juridical nature.
In 1870, after serving in Kharkov, he became a prosecutor in the St. Petersburg District Court. In 1875, he was appointed vice-director of the Ministry of Justice. He served until 1877.
From 1876 to 1883, Anatoly Fedorovich Koni was a member. He was in the higher establishment commission for railway affairs in Russia. He participated in creating Russian railway regulations. He taught criminal procedure at the Imperial School of Jurisprudence.
Koni was an honorary academician. He was at the Imperial St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. In 1902, he was the first nominee for the Nobel Prize in Literature. He was nominated again in 1903.
Anatoly Fedorovich Koni’s long career was connected with Saint Petersburg. After the October Revolution, it became Leningrad. He dedicated many bright pages to his memoirs and essays about his native city.
Anatoly Fedorovich was an honorary member of the Leningrad Society of Bibliophiles. He was a professor at the Department of Criminal Procedure. He was at the 1st Petrograd University.
A.F. Koni is one of the most famous lawyers in Russian history. He was a founder of judicial ethics. He authored the term “judicial ethics”. Even under Soviet rule, in 1922, he wrote commentaries on the new Criminal Code of the RSFSR.
Anatoly Fedorovich Koni died in Leningrad on September 17, 1927. He was initially buried at the Tikhvin Cemetery. It was in the Alexander Nevsky Lavra. In the mid-1930s, his ashes and monument were moved. They were moved to the Literary bridges of the Volkovskoye Cemetery.
The Russian National Library stands opposite the monument to Anatoly Fedorovich Koni. It is located at 165 Moskovsky Prospekt, Building 2. The nearest metro station is Park Pobedy. It is on the Moscow-Petrograd (second) blue line.