Alexei Beketov (1890s)
Oleksiy Mykolaovych Beketov (Ukrainian : Олексій Миколайович Бекетов ; 3 March 1862, Kharkiv , Russian Empire — 23 November 1941, Kharkiv , Ukrainian SSR ) was a ukrainian architect, Honored Artist of Ukraine [ 1] in the Classical style. He was an honorary Professor at the St. Petersburg Imperial Academy of Arts from 1894.
Biography
Beketov was of Russian ancestry ; on his father's side he came from a Russian noble family with roots from the Penza Governorate . His mother Elena Beketova was born in St. Petersburg . Alexei Beketov was the son of Nikolay Beketov ,[ 2] a noted Professor of chemistry at the Imperial University of Kharkov . He studied at the local realschule and a private art school, operated by Maria Raevskaia-Ivanova .[ 3] In 1882, he enrolled in the Imperial Academy of Arts , where he studied with David Grimm and Alexander Krakau [ru ] ; graduating in 1888 with a degree in architecture.
Alexei Beketov in vyshyvanka (1900s)
During that same period, he worked with Maximilian Messmacher on several projects, including the palace of Grand Duke Michael Mikhailovich . From 1890, he taught at the Kharkiv Practical Technological Institute [ru ] .[ 4] In 1894, he was awarded the title of "Academician" for his work on what is now known as the Kharkiv Korolenko State Scientific Library .
He designed over one hundred buildings throughout the region, including approximately forty in Kharkhiv. Several large projects, including an opera house, were never realized due to World War I and the Russian Civil War . In addition to his architectural designs, he was an amateur artist. Many of his landscape paintings are in private collections. Alexey Dushkin , Yakov Lichtenberg [ru ] , and Vasyl Krychevsky are some of his best-known students. He was married to Anna Alchevska (1868-1931), daughter of the industrialist, Aleksey Alchevsky and his wife, Khrystyna , an advocate for national education.
In 1939, he was named an Honored Artist of Ukraine [uk ] . He died in 1941, during the German occupation, aged seventy-nine. Streets in Kharkiv and Salavat have been named after him. In 1995, a new subway station on the Kharkiv Metro was named the Arkhitektora Beketova . Two monuments have been dedicated to him; at the Kharkiv National University of Construction and Architecture [ru ] (2007), and at the Kharkiv National Academy of Urban Economy (2016). His dacha in Alushta is now a museum.
Selected buildings
Legacy
Monument to Beketov in Kharkiv unveiled in 2016. Kharkiv National University of Urban Economy after
Russian rocket strike , February 5, 2023
References
Further reading
External links