Mother Armenia ( hy, Մայր Հայաստան ) is a female

personification Personification occurs when a thing or abstraction is represented as a person, in literature or art, as a type of anthropomorphic metaphor. The type of personification discussed here excludes passing literary effects such as "Shadows hold their b ...

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''Ox ...

. Her most public visual rendering is a monumental statue in Victory Park overlooking the capital city of

Yerevan Yerevan ( , , hy, Երևան , sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia and one of the world's List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Y ...

Mother Armenia statue in Yerevan

The current statue replaces a monumental statue of General Secretary

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secreta ...

that was created as a victory memorial for

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. During Stalin's reign of the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

, Grigor Harutyunyan, the first secretary of the

Armenian Communist Party The Armenian Communist Party ( hy, Հայաստանի կոմունիստական կուսակցություն, ՀԿԿ; ''Hayastani Komunistakan Kusaktsutyun'', HKK) is a communist party in Armenia. It considers itself the successor to the Armenia ...

's Central Committee, and members of the government oversaw the construction of the monument which was completed and unveiled to the people on November 29, 1950. The statue was considered a masterpiece of the sculptor

Sergey Merkurov Sergey Dmitrievich Merkurov (russian: Серге́й Дми́триевич Мерку́ров, – 8 June 1952) was a prominent Soviet sculptor-monumentalist of Greek-Armenian descent. He was a People's Artist of the USSR, an academic at the S ...

. The pedestal was designed by architect

Rafayel Israyelian Rafayel "Rafo" Israyelian ( hy, Ռաֆայել Իսրայելյան; 8 September 1973) was a Soviet Armenian architect. Seen as a follower of Alexander Tamanian, Israyelian designed some of Soviet Armenia's most prominent structures, including t ...

. Realizing that occupying a pedestal can be a short-term honour, Israyelian designed the pedestal to resemble a three-nave basilica Armenian church, as he confessed many years later "Knowing that the glory of dictators is temporary, I have built a simple three-nave Armenian basilica". In contrast to the right-angled shapes of the external view, the interior is light and pleasing to the eye and resembled Echmiadzin's seventh-century St. Hripsime Church. In spring 1962, the statue of Stalin was removed, with one soldier being killed and many injured during the process, and in 1967, the statue of Mother Armenia, designed by

Ara Harutyunyan Ara Harutyunyan ( hy, Արա Հարությունյան; March 28, 1928 – February 28, 1999) was an Armenian monumental sculptor, graphic artist, People's Artist of Armenia, corresponding member of Academy of Fine Arts of USSR and Russian Acade ...

, was installed in its place. The prototype of "Mother Armenia" was a 17-year-old girl Genya Muradian. Ara Harutyunyan met her at the store and persuaded her to pose for the sculpture. "Mother Armenia" has a height of , thus making the overall height of the monument , including the pedestal. The statue is built of hammered copper while the pedestal-museum is of basalt.Monuments of Yerevan

Symbolism

The Mother Armenia statue symbolises peace through strength. It can remind viewers of some of the prominent female figures in Armenian history, such as

Sose Mayrig Sose Mayrig ( hy, Սօսէ Մայրիկ, 1868 – 1953), born Sose Vartanian, () was an Armenian female '' fedayee'', the wife of famous hajduk leader Aghbiur Serob. She was surnamed ''"mayrig"'' (mother) by Serop's hajduks for her bravery and m ...

and others, who took up arms to help their husbands in their clashes with Turkish troops and Kurdish irregulars. It also recalls the important status and value attributed to the older female members of an Armenian family. Its location on a hill overlooking

makes it look like a guardian of the Armenian capital. Every year on 9 May, thousands of Armenians visit the statue of Mother Armenia and lay flowers to commemorate the Armenian martyrs of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. The pedestal hosts the Mother Armenia Military Museum of the Ministry of Defense. When first built it housed a military museum dedicated to World War II. Today, a large proportion of the exhibition space is devoted to the Nagorno-Karabakh War of 1988–1994. On display are the personal belongings, weapons, and documents of participants, and the walls are decorated with their portraits. Among other historical artifacts, there is a map on which Armenian forces worked out their campaign for the capture of Shusha. File:20160603 005-Jerevan Mutter Armeniens-Armenien-006.jpg, alt=Mother Armenia, Edged forms of the heroic looking figure File:20160603 006-Jerevan Militärmuseum-Armenien-002a.jpg, alt=Entrance to the military museum, Entrance to the military museum in the base. Historical design as a stepped portal with filigree ornaments File:Mother-Armenia-Yerevan-Armenia.jpg, alt=Mother Armenia statue, View of Mother Armenia monument

References

External links

Meeting 'Mother Armenia,' The Woman Behind Yerevan's Iconic Statue
{{National personifications National personifications Buildings and structures in Yerevan Monuments and memorials in Armenia Monuments and memorials built in the Soviet Union Colossal statues Sculptures in the Soviet Union Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic Tourist attractions in Yerevan Sculptures of women Statues in Armenia

Mother Armenia statue in Yerevan

Symbolism

See also

References

External links