Monument to Charles de Gaulle (Moscow)

The Monument to Charles de Gaulle (Russian: Памятник де Голлю) stands in front of the Cosmos Hotel on a square named after Charles de Gaulle in Moscow, Russia.

Description

The monument consists of a ten-metre high (33 ft) red granite base, topped by an eight-metre high (26 ft) bronze statue of De Gaulle, the leader of Free France and President of France.[1] Sculptor Zurab Tsereteli chose for the monument to be of such a height, due to the high building behind it.[2]

Tsereteli, a close friend of mayor of Moscow Yuri Luzhkov, said that he depicted De Gaulle as he had personally seen him in 1968.[3] He had been planning the monument since 2003.[4]

Inauguration

The monument was inaugurated on 9 May 2005 by French president Jacques Chirac and the President of Russia Vladimir Putin, on the 60th anniversary of Victory in Europe Day, the defeat of Nazi Germany.[3] Chirac used his speech to praise the Treaty of Lisbon for which the French were about to have a referendum: "Tomorrow, the treaty will be, for each of the States and peoples of the Union, the base on which they will together build their roads to peace".[5]

Reception

French newspaper La Dépêche du Midi reported that the work was controversial for its author and its appearance, being locally nicknamed "The Nightmare".[1] Magazine L'Obs wrote that "if the dimensions and the materials make you think of the large Asian, Turkmen or North Korean statues, its position [in front of the hotel] makes it not appear overwhelming".[3] In Le Figaro, Irina de Chikoff found it to look like a scarecrow or robot, and reported that the local press had mocked it as resembling French comic actor Louis de Funès in one of his roles as a gendarme.[6]

References
  1. "Un De Gaulle de 18 mètres pour Moscou" [An 18-metre De Gaulle for Moscow]. La Dépêche du Midi (in French). 9 May 2005. Retrieved 18 March 2022.
  2. "В Москве открыт памятник президенту Франции генералу Шарлю де Голлю" [Monument to French President General Charles de Gaulle unveiled in Moscow] (in Russian). Lenta.ru. 9 May 2005. Retrieved 18 March 2022.
  3. "Une statue de de Gaulle inaugurée à Moscou" [A statue of De Gaulle inaugurated in Moscow]. L'Obs (in French). 9 May 2005. Retrieved 18 March 2022.
  4. "De Gaulle statufié à Moscou ?" [De Gaulle to be immortalised in statue in Moscow?]. Courrier International (in French). 1 October 2003. Retrieved 18 March 2022.
  5. Soulé, Véronique (10 May 2005). "Pour Chirac, le traité est "le socle" d'un "avenir de paix"" [For Chirac, the treaty is "the base" of a "road to peace"]. Libération (in French). Retrieved 18 March 2022.
  6. De Chikoff, Irina (14 May 2005). "Как де Голль стал 'страшилой'" [How De Gaulle became a 'scarecrow'] (in Russian). inoSMI. Retrieved 18 March 2022.

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