Novodevichy Cemetery

History

The cemetery was designed by Ivan Mashkov and inaugurated in 1898. Its importance dates from the 1930s, when the necropolises of the medieval Muscovite monasteries (Simonov, Danilov, Donskoy) were scheduled for demolition. Only the Donskoy survived the Joseph Stalin era relatively intact. The remains of many famous Russians buried in other abbeys, such as Nikolai Gogol and Sergey Aksakov, were disinterred and reburied at the Novodevichy. The 19th-century necropolis within the walls of the Novodevichy convent, which contained the graves of about 2000 Russian noblemen and university professors, also underwent reconstruction. The vast majority of graves were destroyed.

During the Soviet Union, burial in the Novodevichy Cemetery was second in prestige only to burial in the Kremlin Wall Necropolis. Among the Soviet leaders, Nikita Khrushchev and Mikhail Gorbachev would be buried there. Since the fall of the Soviet Union, the Kremlin Wall is no longer used for burials and the Novodevichy Cemetery is used for only the most symbolically significant burials. In 1997, former premier Nikolai Tikhonov was buried in the cemetery at state expense (since he didn't have any money of his own). In April 2007, within one week both the first President of the Russian Federation Boris Yeltsin and cellist Mstislav Rostropovich were buried there.

Today, the cemetery holds the tombs of Russian authors, musicians, playwrights, and poets, as well as famous actors, political leaders, and scientists. Notable burials include Dmitry Shostakovich, Sergei Prokofiev and Anton Chekhov. More than 27,000 are buried at Novodevichy. There is scant space for more burials. A new national cemetery has been opened in Mytishchi north of Moscow.

The cemetery has a park-like ambience, dotted with small chapels and large sculpted monuments. It is divided into the old (Divisions 1–4), new (Divisions 5–8) and newest (Divisions 9–11) sections; maps are available at the cemetery office.

Monuments

File:Bulgakow Grab.JPG|Mikhail Bulgakov File:Novodevicij Cemetery Anton Chekhov.JPG|Anton Chekhov File:Post-2009 gravesite of Nikolai Gogol in Novodevichy Cemetery, Moscow, Russia.jpg|Nikolai Gogol File:A grave of Dmitry Shostakovichi.jpg|Dmitri Shostakovich File:Grave of Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev.jpg|Sergei Prokofiev and his wife Mira Mendelson File:V Majakovskij.jpg|Vladimir Mayakovsky File:02 serov.JPG|Valentin Serov File:Эйзенштейн.jpg|Sergei Eisenstein File:Могила композитора Бориса Александрова.JPG|Boris Alexandrovich Alexandrov File:Tumba de Aleksandr Rodímtsev y su esposa.jpg|Alexander Rodimtsev File:Tumba de Iván Petrov.jpg|Ivan Yefimovich Petrov File:Надгробие на могиле Кирилла Семёновича Москаленко.jpg|Kirill Moskalenko File:Ilya Ehrenburg grave.JPG|Ilya Ehrenburg File:Nadezhda Alliluyeva Tomb 20160930.jpg|Nadezhda Alliluyeva File:Sergey Ilyushin's grave at Novodevichy cemetery, Moscow.jpg|Sergey Ilyushin

References

References

1. (April 2008). "Novodevichy Cemetery". Passport Magazine.
2. (3 September 2022). "Gorbachev buried in Moscow in funeral snubbed by Putin". Associated Press.
3. "Министр СССР: о реформах Брежнев говорил — "не дергайте людей, дайте людям отдохнуть"".
4. Kishkovsky, Sophia. (April 30, 2007). "Rostropovich Is Laid to Rest Near Another Russian Titan". New York Times.
5. Roskies, David G.. (1999). "The Jewish search for a usable past". Indiana University Press.
6. Brooke. Caroline. "Moscow: a cultural history". Oxford University Press. (2006). link