Dmitry Shvidkovsky (, born 14 May 1959) is a Russian educator and historian of

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and construction, constructi ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

and the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

during the

Age of Enlightenment The Age of Enlightenment (also the Age of Reason and the Enlightenment) was a Europe, European Intellect, intellectual and Philosophy, philosophical movement active from the late 17th to early 19th century. Chiefly valuing knowledge gained th ...

. A 1982

alumnus Alumni (: alumnus () or alumna ()) are former students or graduates of a school, college, or university. The feminine plural alumnae is sometimes used for groups of women, and alums (: alum) or alumns (: alumn) as gender-neutral alternatives. Th ...

and long-term professor of

Moscow Architectural Institute Moscow Architectural Institute (State Academy) - MArchI () is a famous architecture school located in Moscow, Russia. Since 1994, the Institute has been accredited by the Royal Institute of British Architects The Royal Institute of Briti ...

, Shvidkovsky was appointed its rector in 2007.

Biography

Dmitry Shvidkovsky was born in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

. He is the son of historian Oleg Shvidkovsky, author of ''General History of Arts'' and ''Building in the U.S.S.R., 1917-1932''; his mother hails from the Mamontov dynasty. Shvidkovsky is the author of the definitive biography of Charles Cameron and a series of essays on contemporary British artists (

William Hastie William Hastie MA DD (7 July 1842 – 31 August 1903) was a Scottish clergyman and theologian. He produced the first English translation of the '' Universal Natural History and Theory of Heaven'', by Immanuel Kant. Hastie led the General Assemb ...

, Adam Menelaws) in Russia and their role in Russian art. In 1997 Shvidkovsky was awarded the medal of the

Russian Academy of Arts Russian Academy of Arts (RAA / rus. РАХ, Росси́йская акаде́мия худо́жеств) is the State scientific Institution of Russian Federation, eligible heir to the USSR Academy of Arts. A founder of RAA is the Governmen ...

for his 1996 books ''St. Petersburg: Architecture of the Tsars'' and ''The empress & the architect: British architecture and gardens at the court of Catherine the Great'', both printed overseas. The topic of Western influence continued with the 2007 edition of ''Russian architecture and the West'', illustrated by Yekaterina Shorban (Shvidkovsky's wife). Adam Wilkinson of the '' Architects Journal'' summarized: "his thesis sthat Russian architecture is the product of waves of European influence filtered through Russian conditions - a brave move, given Russia's proud architectural historical tradition... The result is a thrilling architectural grand tour, not dry scholarship". Shvidkovsky is a full member of the Russian Academy of Arts and its secretary for History of Arts since 1998, and vice-president since 2004. Shvidkovsky is also a full member of the Russian Academy of Architecture and Construction and a corresponding fellow of the

British Academy The British Academy for the Promotion of Historical, Philosophical and Philological Studies is the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and the social sciences. It was established in 1902 and received its royal charter in the sa ...

. Asked in 2009 about the role of independent

preservation Preservation may refer to: Heritage and conservation * Preservation (library and archival science), activities aimed at prolonging the life of a record while making as few changes as possible * ''Preservation'' (magazine), published by the Nat ...

groups, Shvidkovsky said "I frequently admire what they do, but this is not enough. We must raise a new type of architects who would fight to preserve historic environment... his is whythis year we make

historic preservation Historic preservation (US), built heritage preservation or built heritage conservation (UK) is an endeavor that seeks to preserve, conserve and protect buildings, objects, landscapes or other artifacts of historical significance. It is a philos ...

courses mandatory for all architecture students, not only restorators." ().

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shvidkovsky, Dmitry 1959 births Living people Russian art historians 21st-century Russian educators Writers from Moscow Corresponding fellows of the British Academy Academic staff of Moscow Architectural Institute