Novodevichy Cemetery () is a cemetery 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 ...

. It lies next to the southern wall of the 16th-century

Novodevichy Convent Novodevichy Convent, also known as Bogoroditse-Smolensky Monastery (), is probably the best-known cloister of Moscow. Its name, sometimes translated as the ''New Maidens' Monastery'', was devised to differ from the Ascension Convent, Old Maidens ...

, which is the city's third most popular tourist site.

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 Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

era relatively intact. The remains of many famous Russians buried in other abbeys, such as

Nikolai Gogol Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol; ; (; () was a Russian novelist, short story writer, and playwright of Ukrainian origin. Gogol used the Grotesque#In literature, grotesque in his writings, for example, in his works "The Nose (Gogol short story), ...

and Sergey Aksakov, were disinterred and reburied at the Novodevichy. A 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. It was at that time that the remains of

Anton Chekhov Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (; ; 29 January 1860 – 15 July 1904) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer, widely considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time. His career as a playwright produced four classics, and his b ...

were moved outside the monastery walls. His grave served as the kernel of the so-called "cherry orchard" – a section of the cemetery which contains the graves of

Konstantin Stanislavski Konstantin Sergeyevich Stanislavski ( rus, Константин Сергеевич Станиславский, p=kənstɐnʲˈtʲin sʲɪrˈɡʲejɪvʲɪtɕ stənʲɪˈslafskʲɪj, links=yes; ; 7 August 1938) was a seminal Russian and Sovie ...

and the leading actors of his company.

Interments

During the

Soviet Union 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 ...

, burial in the Novodevichy Cemetery was second in prestige only to burial in the

Kremlin Wall Necropolis The Kremlin Wall Necropolis is the former national cemetery of the Soviet Union, located in Red Square in Moscow beside the Moscow Kremlin Wall, Kremlin Wall. Burials there began in November 1917, when 240 pro-Bolsheviks who died during the Mosc ...

. Among the Soviet leaders,

Nikita Khrushchev Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (– 11 September 1971) was the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964 and the Premier of the Soviet Union, Chai ...

and

Mikhail Gorbachev Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (2 March 1931 – 30 August 2022) was a Soviet and Russian politician who served as the last leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 to dissolution of the Soviet Union, the country's dissolution in 1991. He served a ...

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 Nikolai Aleksandrovich Tikhonov ( – 1 June 1997) was a Soviet Russian-Ukrainian statesman during the Cold War. He served as Chairman of the Council of Ministers from 1980 to 1985, and as a First Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers, ...

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 The president of Russia, officially the president of the Russian Federation (), is the executive head of state of Russia. The president is the chair of the Federal State Council and the supreme commander-in-chief of the Russian Armed Forces. I ...

Boris Yeltsin Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin (1 February 1931 – 23 April 2007) was a Soviet and Russian politician and statesman who served as President of Russia from 1991 to 1999. He was a member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) from 1961 to ...

and cellist

Mstislav Rostropovich Mstislav Leopoldovich Rostropovich (27 March 192727 April 2007) was a Russian Cello, cellist and conducting, conductor. In addition to his interpretations and technique, he was well known for both inspiring and commissioning new works, which enl ...

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. More than 27,000 are buried at Novodevichy. There is scant space for more burials. A new national cemetery is under construction in

Mytishchi Mytishchi ( rus, Мыти́щи, p=mɨˈtʲiɕːɪ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Mytishchinsky District in Moscow Oblast, Russia, which lies 19 km northeast of Russia's capital Moscow o ...

north of Moscow. Notable burials include Dmitry Shostakovich,

Sergei Prokofiev Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev; alternative transliterations of his name include ''Sergey'' or ''Serge'', and ''Prokofief'', ''Prokofieff'', or ''Prokofyev''. , group=n ( – 5 March 1953) was a Russian composer, pianist, and conductor who l ...

and

. 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:BorisYeltsinMemorial.JPG,

File:Bulgakow Grab.JPG,

Mikhail Bulgakov Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov ( ; rus, links=no, Михаил Афанасьевич Булгаков, p=mʲɪxɐˈil ɐfɐˈnasʲjɪvʲɪdʑ bʊlˈɡakəf; – 10 March 1940) was a Russian and Soviet novelist and playwright. His novel ''The M ...

File:Novodevicij Cemetery Anton Chekhov.JPG,

File:Post-2009 gravesite of Nikolai Gogol in Novodevichy Cemetery, Moscow, Russia.jpg,

File:A grave of Dmitry Shostakovichi.jpg,

Dmitri Shostakovich Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich, group=n (9 August 1975) was a Soviet-era Russian composer and pianist who became internationally known after the premiere of his First Symphony in 1926 and thereafter was regarded as a major composer. Shostak ...

File:Grave of Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev.jpg,

and his wife Mira Mendelson File:V Majakovskij.jpg,

Vladimir Mayakovsky Vladimir Vladimirovich Mayakovsky ( – 14 April 1930) was a Russian poet, playwright, artist, and actor. During his early, Russian Revolution, pre-Revolution period leading into 1917, Mayakovsky became renowned as a prominent figure of the Ru ...

File:02 serov.JPG, Valentin Serov File:Эйзенштейн.jpg,

Sergei Eisenstein Sergei Mikhailovich Eisenstein; (11 February 1948) was a Soviet film director, screenwriter, film editor and film theorist. Considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, he was a pioneer in the theory and practice of montage. He is no ...

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

Notable graves

The following noteworthy graves, among others, can be found at Novodevichy Cemetery: 1850s *

(1809–1852) * Sergey Aksakov (1791–1859) 1880s-1890s * Nikolai Rubinstein (1835–1881) * Maria Trubnikova (1835–1897) 1900s * Isaac Levitan (1860–1900) * Vladimir Solovyov (philosopher) (1853–1900) *

(1860–1904) *

Ivan Sechenov Ivan Mikhaylovich Sechenov (; – ) is a world-renowned medical scientist, physiologist, psychologist, academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and founder of Russian physiology and psychology, he is a pioneer in the field of central ner ...

(1829–1905) 1910s * Valentin Serov (1865–1911) * Alexander Scriabin (1872–1915) *

Sergei Taneyev Sergey Ivanovich Taneyev (, ; – ) was a Russian composer, pianist, teacher of musical composition, composition, music theorist and author. Life Taneyev was born in Vladimir, Russia, Vladimir, Vladimir Governorate, Russian Empire, to a cultur ...

(1856–1915) * Leopold Sulerzhitsky (1872–1916) * Vasili Altfater (1883–1919) 1920s * Pyotr Kropotkin (1842–1921) *

Yevgeny Vakhtangov Yevgeny Bagrationovich Vakhtangov (also spelled Evgeny or Eugene; ; 13 February 1883 – 29 May 1922) was a Russian actor and theatre director who founded the Vakhtangov Theatre. He was a friend and mentor of Michael Chekhov.Martin BanhamThe ...

(1883–1922) * Valery Bryusov (1873–1924) * Dmitry Furmanov (1891–1926) * Yevgeny Berens (1876–1928) 1930s *

(1893–1930) * Nikolay Andreyev (1873–1932) * Nadezhda Alliluyeva (1901–1932) * Eduard Bagritsky (1895–1934) * Georgy Chicherin (1872–1936) *

(1863–1938) * Boris Shchukin (1894–1939) 1940s *

(1891–1940) * Mikhail Kaganovich (1888–1941) * Ivan Shadr (1887–1941) *

Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko Vladimir Ivanovich Nemirovich-Danchenko (; – 25 April 1943) was a Soviet and Russian theatre director, writer, pedagogue Pedagogy (), most commonly understood as the approach to teaching, is the theory and practice of learning, and how t ...

(1858–1943) * Demyan Bedny (1883–1945) * Alexander Alexandrov (1883–1946) *

Nikolai Podvoisky Nikolai Ilyich Podvoisky (; ; 16 February Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="nowiki/>O.S. 4 February1880 – 28 July 1948) was a Russian Bolsheviks">Bolshevik revolutionary, Soviet Union">Soviet statesman and the first People's Co ...

(1880–1948) *

(1898–1948) * Yevgeniy Abalakov (1907–1948) 1950s * Vsevolod Vishnevsky (1900–1951) * Alexandra Kollontai (1872–1952) * Sergey Merkurov (1881–1952) *

Vera Mukhina Vera Ignatyevna Mukhina (; ; – 6 October 1953) was a Soviet sculptor and painter. She was nicknamed "the queen of Soviet sculpture". She was one of the members of the art association ‘ The Four Arts’, which existed in Moscow and Leningrad ...

(1889–1953) *

(1891–1953) * Aleksey Abrikosov (1875–1955) * Ivan Petrov (1896–1958) * Karo Halabyan (1897–1959) * Boris Lavrenyov (1891–1959) * Daniil Andreyev (1906–1959) 1960s * Vsevolod Aksyonov (1902–1960) * Nadezhda Kolesnikova (1882–1964) *

Nâzım Hikmet Mehmed Nâzım Ran (17 January 1902 – 3 June 1963), Note: 403 Forbidden error received 10 October 2022. commonly known as Nâzım Hikmet (), was a Turkish people, Turkish poet, playwright, novelist, screenwriter, director, and memoirist. ...

(1902–1963) * Mira Mendelson (1915–1963) * Ilya Ehrenburg (1891–1967) * Ivan Agayants (1911–1968) *

Lev Landau Lev Davidovich Landau (; 22 January 1908 – 1 April 1968) was a Soviet physicist who made fundamental contributions to many areas of theoretical physics. He was considered as one of the last scientists who were universally well-versed and ma ...

(1908–1968) * Vasily Azhayev (1915–1968) 1970s * Abram Isaakovich Alikhanov (1904–1970) * Nikolai Basistiy (1898–1971) * Sergey Konenkov (1874–1971) *

(1894–1971) * Andrey Tupolev (1888–1972) * Andrei Abrikosov (1906–1973) * Averky Aristov (1903–1973) * Yevgeny Vuchetich (1908–1974) * Vasily Shukshin (1929–1974) * Yekaterina Furtseva (1910–1974) * Nikolay Kuznetsov (1904–1974) *

Nikolai Bulganin Nikolai Alexandrovich Bulganin (; – 24 February 1975) was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 1955 to 1958. He also served as Minister of Defense (Soviet Union), Minister of Defense, following service in the Red Army during World War II. ...

(1895–1975) *

(1906–1975) * Pyotr Koshevoy (1904–1976) * Sergey Ilyushin (1894–1977) * Sergei Lemeshev (1902–1977) * Roman Karmen (1906–1978) * Anastas Mikoyan (1895–1978) * Lyudmila Pavlichenko (1916–1974) 1980s * Filipp Golikov (1900–1980) *

Nikolai Podgorny Nikolai Viktorovich Podgorny ( – 12 January 1983) was a Soviet statesman who served as the Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet, the head of state of the Soviet Union, from 1965 to 1977. Podgorny was born to a Ukrainian working-c ...

(1903–1983) * Yuri Levitan (1914–1983) * Nikolai Tomsky (1900–1984) * Pavel Batov (1897–1985) * Kirill Moskalenko (1902–1985) *

Vyacheslav Molotov Vyacheslav Mikhaylovich Molotov (; – 8 November 1986) was a Soviet politician, diplomat, and revolutionary who was a leading figure in the government of the Soviet Union from the 1920s to the 1950s, as one of Joseph Stalin's closest allies. ...

(1890–1986) * Anatoli Papanov (1922-1987) *

Yakov Zeldovich Yakov Borisovich Zeldovich (, ; 8 March 1914 – 2 December 1987), also known as YaB, was a leading Soviet people, Soviet Physics, physicist of Belarusians, Belarusian origin, who is known for his prolific contributions in physical Physical c ...

(1914–1987) *

Arkady Raikin Arkady Isaakovich Raikin (; – 17 December 1987) was a Soviet stand-up comedian, stage and film actor, theater director, screenwriter and satirist. He led the school of Soviet and Russian humorists for about half a century. He is the father of ...

(1911–1987) *

Andrey Kolmogorov Andrey Nikolaevich Kolmogorov ( rus, Андре́й Никола́евич Колмого́ров, p=ɐnˈdrʲej nʲɪkɐˈlajɪvʲɪtɕ kəlmɐˈɡorəf, a=Ru-Andrey Nikolaevich Kolmogorov.ogg, 25 April 1903 – 20 October 1987) was a Soviet ...

(1903-1987) * Valery Legasov (1936–1988) *

Sergey Gorshkov Sergey Georgyevich Gorshkov (; 26 February 1910 – 13 May 1988) was an admiral of the fleet of the Soviet Union. Twice awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union, he oversaw the expansion of the Soviet Navy into a global force during the Cold ...

(1910–1988) * Andrei Gromyko (1909–1989) * Kirill Mazurov (1914–1989) * Valentin Petrovich Glushko (1908-1989) 1990s * Vasili Kuznetsov (politician) (1901–1990) * Vasily Margelov (1908–1990) * Boris Shcherbina (1919–1990) * Semyon Kurkotkin (1917–1990) * Matvey Blanter (1903–1990) *

Lazar Kaganovich Lazar Moiseyevich Kaganovich (; – 25 July 1991) was a Soviet politician and one of Joseph Stalin's closest associates. Born to a Jewish family in Ukraine, Kaganovich worked as a shoemaker and joined the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party ...

(1893–1991) * Yevgeny Ivanovsky (1918–1991) * Viktor Grishin (1914–1992) * Grigori Abrikosov (1932–1993) *

Nikolai Ogarkov Nikolai Vasilyevich Ogarkov (; 30 October 1917 – 23 January 1994) was a prominent Soviet military personality. He was promoted to Marshal of the Soviet Union in 1977. Between 1977 and 1984, he was Chief of the General Staff of the Soviet Union, ...

(1917–1994) * Yevgeny Leonov (1926–1994) * Boris Alexandrovich Alexandrov (1905–1994) * Alexander Shelepin (1918–1994) *

Viktoria Brezhneva Viktoria Petrovna Brezhneva (, ; [], ; 11 December 1907 – 5 July 1995) was the wife of Soviet people, Soviet politician and longtime General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev. She was the ...

(1908–1995) * Dmitry Shepilov (1905–1995) * Pyotr Lushev (1923–1997) * Mikhail Anikushin (1917–1997) *

(1905–1997) * Yuri Nikulin (1921–1997) *

Raisa Gorbacheva Raisa Maximovna Gorbacheva (, , Титаренко; 5 January 1932 – 20 September 1999) was a Soviet and Russian activist and philanthropist who was the wife of Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. She raised funds for the preservation of Russi ...

(1932–1999) 2000s * Gherman Titov (1935–2000) * Sergey Afanasyev (1918–2001) * Alexander Lebed (1950–2002) * Lev Kerbel (1917–2003) *

(1927–2007) *

(1931–2007) * Lyudmila Zykina (1929–2009) * Vyacheslav Tikhonov (1928–2009) * Yegor Gaidar (1956–2009) 2010s *

Vladimir Arnold Vladimir Igorevich Arnold (or Arnol'd; , ; 12 June 1937 – 3 June 2010) was a Soviet and Russian mathematician. He is best known for the Kolmogorov–Arnold–Moser theorem regarding the stability of integrable systems, and contributed to s ...

(1937–2010) *

Viktor Chernomyrdin Viktor Stepanovich Chernomyrdin (, ; 9 April 19383 November 2010) was a Soviet and Russian politician and businessman. He was the Minister of Gas Industry of the Soviet Union (13 February 1985 – 17 July 1989), after which he became first chairm ...

(1938–2010) * Lyudmila Gurchenko (1935–2011) * Pavel Grachev (1948–2012) * Victor Merzhanov (1919–2012) *

Galina Vishnevskaya Galina Pavlovna Vishnevskaya (, Ivanova, Иванова; 25 October 1926 – 11 December 2012) was a Russian soprano opera singer and recitalist who was named a People's Artist of the USSR in 1966. She was the wife of cellist Mstislav Rostropo ...

(1926–2012) * Sergey Sokolov (1911–2012) * Viktor Kulikov (1921–2013) *

Yevgeny Primakov Yevgeny Maksimovich Primakov (29 October 1929 – 26 June 2015, ) was a Russian politician and diplomat who served as Prime Minister of Russia from 1998 to 1999. During his long career, he also served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1996 to ...

(1929–2015) * Lev Durov (1931–2015) * Vladimir Etush (1922–2019) * Yury Mikhailovich Luzhkov (1936–2019) 2020s * Sergei Khrushchev (1935–2020) * Vladimir Dolgikh (1924–2020) *

Vasily Lanovoy Vasily Semyonovich Lanovoy (16 January 193428 January 2021) was a Soviet Union, Soviet and Russia, Russian actor who worked in the Yevgeny Vakhtangov, Vakhtangov Theatre, Moscow. He was also known as the President of Artek (camp), Artek Festiv ...

(1934–2021) *

Vladimir Zhirinovsky Vladimir Volfovich Zhirinovsky (, , né Eidelstein, ; 25 April 1946 – 6 April 2022) was a Russian right-wing populist politician and the leader of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) from its creation in 1992 until his death in 20 ...

(1946–2022) *

(1931–2022) * Inna Churikova (1943–2023) * Vera Vasilyeva (1925–2023) * Igor Yasulovich (1941–2023) *

Gleb Panfilov Gleb Anatolyevich Panfilov (; 21 May 1934 – 26 August 2023) was a Russian film director noted for a string of mostly historical films starring his wife, Inna Churikova. Biography In the 1980s Panfilov, a chemist by profession, moved to thea ...

(1934–2023) * Nikolai Dobronravov (1928–2023) * Ninel Artsimovich (1927–2023) * Vyacheslav Lebedev (1943–2024)

References

External links

Unofficial site. Hi-resolution photos
*
Famous and picturesque (24) memorials photographed June 2005

Novodevichii Cemetery
– article from the ''

Great Soviet Encyclopedia The ''Great Soviet Encyclopedia'' (GSE; , ''BSE'') is one of the largest Russian-language encyclopedias, published in the Soviet Union from 1926 to 1990. After 2002, the encyclopedia's data was partially included into the later ''Great Russian Enc ...