Felix Dzerzhinsky Statue

Public Art : Felix Dzerzhinsky Statue (aka Iron Felix)

Sculptor : ©Yevgeny Vuchetich (28 December 1908 – 12 April 1974)

Date: Iron Felix statue was erected in 1958 but was later toppled in 1991 after a failed coup.

Location : Originally erected in Lubyanka Square (AKA Dzerzhinsky Square from 1926–1990) in Moscow, near the KGB headquarters, it now resides  in the graveyard of fallen Soviet memorials at the Central House of Artists.

Description : 15 ton iron monument of a clench fisted Dzerzhinsky.

Background Of Felix Dzerzhinsky : Felix Dzerhinsky (1877–1926)  will always be remembered as the founder of the Soviet Union's secret police, which would later be known as the KGB. His early life was spent mainly in and out of jail for his revolutionary activities and he was sent to Siberia twice but escaped both times. He would later be acknowledged as a master of deception due to his amazing skill of successfully alluding capture.  In 1917, Dzerzhinsky, under the watchful eye of Lenin , became the founder of the Bolshevik secret police (Cheka) later to become known, amongst other names, as the KGB. Dzerhinsky believed "organised terror" was necessary in times of revolution and thus became notorious for torture, spying and mass executions especially of intellectuals, capitalists and priests.  Following the Russian Revolution it is believed he was behind the execution of around 500,000 people. Felix Dzerhinsky died of a heart attack after delivering a two hour speech to the Bolshevik Central Committee in which he dissed the United Opposition led by Leon Trotsky, Grigory Zinoviev, and Lev Kamenev.

Controversy Surrounding The Felix Dzerhinsky : Sculptor Yevgeny Vuchetich was a well known sculptor of the Soviet Union who was often commissioned to create heroic monuments in the allegoric style.In 1958 his statue of Felix Dzerzhinsky was erected near the KGB building.

The 15 ton iron statue stood high on a pedestal until the Soviet coup d'état (August Putsch) in August, 1991. The coup was organized by hard-line members of the Communist Party (CPSU) in an attempt to remove power from the then Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev. Despite the coup collapsing after only a few days, the incident played a key roll in the demise of the Communist party and the collapse of the Soviet Union.Following the coup the Dzerhinsky statue was toppled with the help of a crane while crowds cheered on. The statue was later taken to the graveyard of fallen Soviet memorials at the Central House of Artists.

In 2002 the city's Mayor, Yuri Luzhkov, created controversy when he suggested the statue of Iron Felix should be restored. Needless to say this was met with large opposition, mainly from liberals and the Kremlin.

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