Arnold Alas (known as Arnold Hoffart until 1939; 1 July 1911 – 20 April 1990) was an

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

n landscape architect and artist. Alas was born in

Tapa Tapa, TAPA, Tapas or Tapasya may refer to: Media *Tapas (website), a webtoon site, formerly known as Tapastic * ''Tapas'' (film), a 2005 Spanish film * ''Tapasya'' (1976 film), an Indian Hindi-language film * ''Tapasya'' (1992 film), a Nepalese f ...

, and died, aged 78, in

Tallinn Tallinn is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Estonia, most populous city of Estonia. Situated on a Tallinn Bay, bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, it has a population of (as of 2025) and ...

. He is best known for his work on the

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

memorial ensemble in

, which is now widely referred to as the

Bronze Soldier The Bronze Soldier (, ) is the informal name of a controversial Soviet World War II war memorial in Tallinn, Estonia, built at the site of several war graves, which were relocated to the nearby Tallinn Military Cemetery in 2007. It was originall ...

and includes a two-meter bronze statue (by

Enn Roos Enn Roos (20 September 1908 – 15 July 1990) was an Estonian sculptor. He was a member of the Pallas (society), Artists Society Pallas and a founding member of the Estonian Artists Association. Roos studied in the studios of Ants Laikmaa fro ...

) of a soldier in a

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

uniform and an accompanying monumental stone structure. The memorial was relocated amid controversy in April 2007 to the Defence Forces Cemetery in

. He was awarded the in 1947 and 1948.

References

Alas, Arnold - haljastusarhitekt ja maalikunstnik
by Arthur Ruusmaa.
Pronkssõduri müür on värav surnuteriiki
by Tõnu Virvet. 1911 births 1990 deaths People from Tapa, Estonia People from Kreis Jerwen 20th-century Estonian male artists 20th-century Estonian artists Soviet architects 20th-century Estonian architects Soviet artists Soviet military personnel of World War II Honoured Workers of the Arts Industry of the Estonian SSR Recipients of the Estonian SSR State Prize {{Estonia-architect-stub