Lev Yefimovich Kerbel (; – 14 August 2003) was a Soviet and Russian sculptor of socialist realist works. Kerbel's creations included statues of

Karl Marx Karl Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, political theorist, economist, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. He is best-known for the 1848 pamphlet '' The Communist Manifesto'' (written with Friedrich Engels) ...

Vladimir Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov ( 187021 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin, was a Russian revolutionary, politician and political theorist. He was the first head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 until Death and state funeral of ...

Yuri Gagarin Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin; Gagarin's first name is sometimes transliterated as ''Yuriy'', ''Youri'', or ''Yury''. (9 March 1934 – 27 March 1968) was a Soviet pilot and cosmonaut who, aboard the first successful Human spaceflight, crewed sp ...

, which were sent by Soviet Government as gifts to socialist and the

Third World The term Third World arose during the Cold War to define countries that remained non-aligned with either NATO or the Warsaw Pact. The United States, Canada, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, the Southern Cone, NATO, Western European countries and oth ...

countries across the world. Kerbel was born to a

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

family in the village of Semyonovka in

Chernigov Governorate Chernigov Governorate was an administrative-territorial unit (''guberniya'') of the Russian Empire. It was officially created in 1802 from the disbanded Little Russia Governorate (1796-1802), Little Russia Governorate and had its capital in Cher ...

Russian Republic The Russian Republic,. referred to as the Russian Democratic Federative Republic in the 1918 Constitution, was a short-lived state which controlled, ''de jure'', the territory of the former Russian Empire after its proclamation by the Rus ...

(currently Semenivka,

Chernihiv Oblast Chernihiv Oblast (), also referred to as Chernihivshchyna (), is an administrative divisions of Ukraine, oblast (province) in northern Ukraine. The capital city, administrative center of the oblast is the city of Chernihiv. There are 1,511 sett ...

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

), on the day that the

Winter Palace The Winter Palace is a palace in Saint Petersburg that served as the official residence of the House of Romanov, previous emperors, from 1732 to 1917. The palace and its precincts now house the Hermitage Museum. The floor area is 233,345 square ...

Petrograd Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...

was stormed by the

Bolsheviks The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, were a radical Faction (political), faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split with the Mensheviks at the 2nd Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, ...

. Lev's family moved to the

Smolensk Smolensk is a city and the administrative center of Smolensk Oblast, Russia, located on the Dnieper River, west-southwest of Moscow. First mentioned in 863, it is one of the oldest cities in Russia. It has been a regional capital for most of ...

region, where he began sculpting as a child. He continued to sculpt and in 1934 he won an award from the

Komsomol The All-Union Leninist Young Communist League, usually known as Komsomol, was a political youth organization in the Soviet Union. It is sometimes described as the youth division of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU), although it w ...

(Young Communist League) for a plaque of Lenin. During

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 ...

, Kerbel helped build the defenses for the

Battle of Moscow The Battle of Moscow was a military campaign that consisted of two periods of strategically significant fighting on a sector of the Eastern Front during World War II, between October 1941 and January 1942. The Soviet defensive effort frustrated H ...

, then served in the Northern Fleet, gaining renown as a military artist. After the war, Kerbel's career took off with a wide range of commissions. In 1958 he sculpted a statue in

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

that depicted a huge Soviet and an equally large Chinese worker hand in hand. When Soviet-Chinese relations foundered a few years later, the statue was torn down by a mob. In the 1950s to 1970s Kerbel sculpted many portraits of Soviet and foreign intellectuals: writer Boris Lavrenyov and violinist

David Oistrakh David Fyodorovich Oistrakh (; – 24 October 1974) was a Soviet Russian violinist, List of violists, violist, and Conducting, conductor. He was also Professor at the Moscow Conservatory, People's Artist of the USSR (1953), and Laureate of the ...

, Canadian clergyman James Gareth Endicott, Giacomo Manzù (sculptor) and Pietro Orgento (orchestral conductor) from Italy and many others. Another example of Kerbel's sculptures is the Lenin Monument in the Parque Lenin area of

Havana Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union The Council of Ministers of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics ( rus, Совет министров СССР, r=Sovet Ministrov SSSR, p=sɐˈvʲet mʲɪˈnʲistrəf ˌɛsˌɛsˌɛsˈɛr), sometimes abbreviated as Sovmin or referred to as the ...

presented the Government of

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

the monument of Solomon Bandaranaike, the late Prime minister of the country, carved by Lev Kerbel. While some people dismiss Kerbel's works as a form of flat Communist

propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded l ...

, Kerbel himself said that he was always more interested in art than politics. Many people now view his few remaining statues with nostalgia, particularly in

Chemnitz Chemnitz (; from 1953 to 1990: Karl-Marx-Stadt (); ; ) is the third-largest city in the Germany, German States of Germany, state of Saxony after Leipzig and Dresden, and the fourth-largest city in the area of former East Germany after (East Be ...

, where his bust of Karl Marx is referred to as 'the head'. Among the monuments on the graves of the Soviet soldiers carefully preserved in Germany are Kerbel sculptures in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

and on Seelow Heights. In the 1990s following the collapse of the socialist bloc many of his works of art were destroyed. However, his enormous Karl Marx Monument has been preserved as a cultural monument. One of Kerbel's last works was the memorial to the crew of the ''Kursk'' submarine, inaugurated in Moscow on August 12, 2002.rian.ru // В столице состоится открытие памятного знака в честь погибшего экипажа подлодки «Курск»
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Honours and awards

Hero of Socialist Labour The Hero of Socialist Labour () was an Title of honor, honorific title in the Soviet Union and other Warsaw Pact countries from 1938 to 1991. It represented the highest degree of distinction in the USSR and was awarded for exceptional achievem ...

(1985) *

Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" The Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" () is a state decoration of the Russian Federation. It was instituted on 2 March 1994 by Presidential Decree 442. Until the re-establishment of the Order of St. Andrew in 1998, it was the highest order of ...

, 3rd class (5 November 1997) – for services to the state and personal contribution to the development of the national fine arts *

Order of Friendship of Peoples The Order of Friendship of Peoples () was an order of the Soviet Union, and was awarded to persons (including non-citizens), organizations, enterprises, military units, as well as administrative subdivisions of the USSR for accomplishments in s ...

(6 May 1993) – for the great achievements in art, to strengthen international cultural relations and fruitful pedagogical activity *

Order of Lenin The Order of Lenin (, ) was an award named after Vladimir Lenin, the leader of the October Revolution. It was established by the Central Executive Committee on 6 April 1930. The order was the highest civilian decoration bestowed by the Soviet ...

Order of the Red Banner of Labour The Order of the Red Banner of Labour () was an order of the Soviet Union established to honour great deeds and services to the Soviet state and society in the fields of production, science, culture, literature, the arts, education, sports ...

Order of the Patriotic War The Order of the Patriotic War () is a Soviet Union, Soviet military Order (decoration), decoration that was awarded to all soldiers in the Soviet armed forces, security troops, and to Partisan (military), partisans for heroic deeds in the Easte ...

, 2nd class *

Order of the Red Star The Order of the Red Star () was a military decoration of the Soviet Union. It was established by decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of 6 April 1930 but its statute was only defined in decree of the Presidium of the ...

Lenin Prize The Lenin Prize (, ) was one of the most prestigious awards of the Soviet Union for accomplishments relating to science, literature, arts, architecture, and technology. It was originally created on June 23, 1925, and awarded until 1934. During ...

(1962) – a monument to Karl Marx Square named after Sverdlov, in Moscow (1961) * Stalin Prize, 1st class (1950) – sculptural reliefs "Lenin and Stalin – founders and leaders of the Soviet state" * People's Artist of the RSFSR (visual arts) (1967) * People's Artist of the USSR (visual arts) (1977) * Order of Karl Marx (

East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

) *

Goethe Prize The Goethe Prize of the City of Frankfurt () is an award for achievement "worthy of honour in memory of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe" made by the city of Frankfurt am Main, Germany. It was usually an annual award until 1955, and thereafter has been ...

winner (Germany) * Medal "For the Defence of Moscow" * Medal "For the Defence of the Soviet Transarctic" * Medal "For the Capture of Berlin" * Honorary Citizen of

and Polyarny * Honorary Citizen of Karl-Marx-Stadt (presently

) * Honorary Citizen of

Sofia Sofia is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain, in the western part of the country. The city is built west of the Is ...

(

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

) * Medal "For the Victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945" * Jubilee Medal "Twenty Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945" * Jubilee Medal "Thirty Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945" * Jubilee Medal "Forty Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945" * Jubilee Medal "50 Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945" * Jubilee Medal "60 Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945"

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kerbel, Lev 1917 births 2003 deaths 20th-century Russian sculptors People from Chernihiv Oblast Communist Party of the Soviet Union members Full Members of the Russian Academy of Arts Full Members of the USSR Academy of Arts Heroes of Socialist Labour Socialist realist artists People's Artists of the RSFSR (visual arts) People's Artists of the USSR (visual arts) Recipients of the Stalin Prize Recipients of the Lenin Prize Recipients of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland", 3rd class Recipients of the Order of Friendship of Peoples Recipients of the Order of Lenin Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour Recipients of the Order of the Red Star Russian educators Jewish Russian artists Russian male sculptors Soviet educators Soviet Jews Soviet sculptors Burials at Novodevichy Cemetery