Biography. Lev Kerbel: "I loved Soviet power" Lev Kerbel

- LEV EFIMOVICH, let me start with a question that journalists usually end their conversation with: what have you been working on lately and what are your plans for the future?

What do you call the end time?

- Among your new works, I remember the monument to Peter I, installed in Izmailovsky Park in Moscow ...

Well, no, this is not a new work, the monument was made five years ago, in 1998.

- And then?

Then... But first, about Peter, since you mentioned him. Now I am making a new figure for him - for Kaliningrad. However, the most important work of recent times, which is very dear to me, is the monument to the crew of the Kursk submarine, installed near the Museum of the Armed Forces. Farther. I dream of making a "Sea Soul" in the village of Polyarny. This is a figure of a sailor with a machine gun and with a branch of Victory. The sketch has been ready for a long time, they are going to erect the monument, but, unfortunately, there is no money ...

- Is the marine theme still among the main ones for you?

Best of the day

Otherwise it can not be. In 1942, I went to fight as a volunteer, ended up in the Northern Fleet, and for the rest of my life I took a liking to the sailors with my soul. It can be considered that my creative biography really began with the creation of sculptural portraits of heroes from the North Sea, pilots and sailors - Lunin, Safonov, Petrov, Fisanovich and many others. And I am proud that President Putin has recently conferred on me by his decree another military rank - captain of the 1st rank. As you understand, I have not been called up for military service for a long time, but it is still very pleasant ...

I never sculpted the main ones ...

- The Leninist theme runs through all your work. The sculptural images of Karl Marx created by you are widely known in Moscow and Karl-Marx-Stadt. You sculpted Ernst Thälmann and Fidel Castro, made many portraits of state, party and public figures Soviet Union, workers of literature and art, noble people of the country. But, as far as I remember, you do not have a single work dedicated to Stalin. But you lived at a time when not a single more or less well-known creative figure, be it a sculptor, artist, writer or composer, managed to avoid the honor of glorifying the leader in his works. What's the matter?

There is no need to look for any ideological or political reasons here. It just happened. No one offered me to make a sculpture of Stalin, especially since no one forced me to climb, and I myself could not climb: at that time, Stalin was a god to me. In general, I loved Soviet power. I was raised this way from childhood, and although we lived very poorly, we, as I remember now, were happy.

- And what about the works connected with other first persons of the state of those years? After all, in your gallery there is neither Khrushchev nor Brezhnev ...

I never sculpted the most important ones at all.

- But what about Lenin, Marx? Much more important...

They were not alive… I sculpted images, not specific people… As for Khrushchev, he is a very good person for me, he did a lot for me. Khrushchev was the first to say that it was necessary to erect a monument to Marx in Moscow exactly at the place where the temporary monument to Lenin stood, which was removed when the reconstruction of the center of the capital began, associated with the construction of the metro. The work was entrusted to me, the people with whom we were looking for material for the monument were assigned to help. And Khrushchev, by the way, said that the monument should be ready for the next party congress, so I didn’t have too much time. The difficulty was that a monolith was needed, I considered it impossible to make Marx out of pieces (and there were such proposals). We searched both in the country and abroad and finally found desired material in Ukraine, in Kudashevka, where there was an abandoned stone quarry. If you talk about how the monolith was cut down, how it was delivered to Moscow, how many people and sophisticated equipment were needed for this, then this will be a whole story. The result is important: the monument to Karl Marx was erected on the dates set by Khrushchev - by the 22nd Congress of the CPSU.

- Well, Brezhnev, what kind of relationship did you have with him?

Special - none.

In the CPSU - on the second attempt

- YOU, by your own admission, loved the Soviet government, and she, judging by your numerous awards and titles, responded to you in return. But here's the thing. In those not so distant times, non-partisan artists were not particularly encouraged. It was believed that a non-party member could not create works that would glorify the existing system and promote the general line of the CPSU. You joined the party when Leniniana was already created and a monument to the founder of the theory of communism was erected - in 1963. You were then in your fifth decade. How did it happen?

There is a whole story here too. I was going to join the party during the war, in the Northern Fleet. But the submarine, on which the commissioner was, perished. And I didn't apply anymore. But he always considered himself a member of the party.

- What is called "non-party communist". And why in 1963, twenty years later?

In 1963... Well, apparently, the time has come to formalize my involvement in the Communist Party, but I accepted these ideas. But it was not there. It turned out that people whom I considered my comrades had written slander about me, and in the district committee of the party they told me: “You are a laureate of the Lenin Prize, how can you behave like that? ..” And so on ... I could not restrain myself, I answered rudely . The matter reached the city committee. The secretary of the Moscow city committee, I don’t remember who he was then, also began to educate: how is it possible, Lev Efimovich, why do you talk to people like that? I say: invite other people, normal ones, they will tell you everything about me. He scratched his head: he should call Nikita Sergeevich. I called: such, they say, and such a thing. Khrushchev listened and said: send them all to ... You know, Nikita Sergeevich did not neglect strong expressions. This is how it all ended. I was immediately given a party card without any formalities ...

Most Expensive Award

- WHAT is your best work?

It's hard to judge... You know, it's like a mother: every child is dear to her. I can only say that I did any work from the heart.

- You have many different kinds of awards. Most expensive?

It's simple: the recognition of people. When I see flowers near the monuments or monuments I have created, I am sincerely happy. Of course, I understand that these flowers are not for me. This is who I pictured. But if there are flowers, it means that I conveyed to people the essence of these heroes, I managed to make sure that they were still alive after death. Agree, it's worth it.

- I agree. And yet - the most valuable, so to speak, material, tangible reward?

Perhaps the order "For Merit to the Fatherland", recently presented to me. To deserve the recognition of the Fatherland - what could be more honorable? .. Although I am proud of both the Order of Lenin and the Star of the Hero ...

Recipe for longevity

- LEV EFIMOVICH, you have almost nine decades behind you. You have a big family: a wife, three daughters, a granddaughter, a great-grandson… Life is full and, apparently, happy…

And difficult...

- Of course, the war ...

Not only war. After the war, my first wife, Tatyana, died, with whom we were at the front together, and in 1972, my son Vladimir. And my very first child, very small, died in Kyiv during the fascist bombing ... In a word, there were many losses in this life ...

- And yet, despite all this, you managed to maintain good spirits, optimism, efficiency. This year you will be 86 years old. Respectable age. How did you manage to live up to these years? Do you have any recipes for longevity? This question is not idle. I represent the newspaper "AiF. Long-liver”, the very name of which already speaks about our audience. So, how to become a long-liver?

Of course, I don't have any special recipes. Only work helped and helps me to live. And speaking of lifestyle... I smoked until my first daughter was born. From that moment I quit once and for all. Drank? Yes, in moderation. Well, at the front, you know, we were supposed to ... Yes, even now I can take a glass. As for food... I used to eat everything. Now, for example, I try not to eat meat, not because I don't like it, it's just impossible. I lean more on porridge, although they are tired of me - I have no strength. I eat fruits with pleasure. But I don't follow any strict diet. Yes, and it doesn't work. At home in the morning I’ll eat some porridge, I come here, to the workshop, and I’m already hungry. I send guys to buy sausages or something else that everyone eats. Although I know that this food is not very useful. But I'm getting fed up...

- How do you assess our current life?

In my opinion, the country as a whole is on the rise and, I am sure, will rise, but not earlier than in fifteen years. It depends not on the people, but on the leaders. The country needs to be put in order. I have very high hopes for our current President...

P.S. We were already finishing our conversation when the phone rang.

This is for you, - said Kerbel's assistant, handing him the phone, - from the commander of the Northern Fleet.

Lev Efimovich listened for a short time, said briefly:

Tell the commander that I am waiting for him and will be glad to see ...

People's Artist of the USSR and the RSFSR sculptor Lev Efimovich Kerbel is well known in our country and abroad, especially for older people. Listing all his titles, awards and positions would take too much space. However, we will name some: Hero of Socialist Labor, laureate of the Lenin and State Prizes, the Goethe Prize, vice-president and full member of the Russian Academy of Arts. Awarded the Orders of Lenin, the Red Banner of Labor, Patriotic War II degree, "For Merit to the Fatherland" III degree and many others. Medals: "For the defense of Moscow", "For the capture of Berlin", "For the defense of the Soviet Arctic". He has received awards from foreign countries...

As for the geography of his works, these are Moscow and Havana, Colombo and Rudnya of the Smolensk region, Ufa and Madrid, Berlin and Kazan...

Without retelling the entire biography of the sculptor, we will introduce readers to some of its little-known details.

sea soul

LEV EFIMOVICH, let me start with the question that journalists usually end their conversation with: what have you been working on lately and what are your plans for the future?

What do you call the end time?

Among your new works, I remember the monument to Peter I, installed in Izmailovsky Park in Moscow...

Well, no, this is not a new work, the monument was made five years ago, in 1998.

And then?

Then... But first, about Peter, since you mentioned him. Now I am making a new figure for him - for Kaliningrad. However, the most important recent work, which is very dear to me, is a monument to the crew of the Kursk submarine, installed near the Museum of the Armed Forces. Farther. I dream of making a "Sea Soul" in the village of Polyarny. This is a figure of a sailor with a machine gun and with a branch of Victory. The sketch has been ready for a long time, they are going to erect the monument, but, unfortunately, there is no money...

Is the marine theme still among the main ones for you?

I never sculpted the main ones ...

THROUGH all your work passes the Leninist theme. The sculptural images of Karl Marx created by you are widely known in Moscow and Karl-Marx-Stadt. You sculpted Ernst Thälmann and Fidel Castro, made many portraits of statesmen, party and public figures of the Soviet Union, workers of literature and art, noble people of the country. But, as far as I remember, you do not have a single work dedicated to Stalin. But you lived at a time when not a single more or less well-known creative figure, be it a sculptor, artist, writer or composer, managed to avoid the honor of glorifying the leader in his works. What's the matter?

And what about the works associated with other first persons of the state of those years? After all, in your gallery there is neither Khrushchev nor Brezhnev ...

I never sculpted the most important ones at all.

But what about Lenin, Marx? What's more important...

They were not alive... I sculpted images, not specific people... As for Khrushchev, he is a very good person for me, he did a lot for me. Khrushchev was the first to say that it was necessary to erect a monument to Marx in Moscow exactly at the place where the temporary monument to Lenin stood, which was removed when the reconstruction of the center of the capital began, associated with the construction of the metro. The work was entrusted to me, the people with whom we were looking for material for the monument were assigned to help. And Khrushchev, by the way, said that the monument should be ready for the next party congress, so I didn’t have too much time. The difficulty was that a monolith was needed, I considered it impossible to make Marx out of pieces (and there were such proposals). We searched both in the country and abroad, and in the end we found the necessary material in Ukraine, in Kudashevka, where there was an abandoned stone quarry. If you talk about how the monolith was cut down, how it was delivered to Moscow, how many people and sophisticated equipment were needed for this, then this will be a whole story. The result is important: the monument to Karl Marx was erected on the dates set by Khrushchev - by the 22nd Congress of the CPSU.

Well, Brezhnev, what kind of relationship did you have with him?

Special - none.

In the CPSU - on the second attempt

YOU, by your own admission, loved the Soviet government, and she, judging by your numerous awards and titles, responded to you in return. But here's the thing. In those not so distant times, non-partisan artists were not particularly encouraged. It was believed that a non-party member could not create works that would glorify the existing system and promote the general line of the CPSU. You joined the party when Leniniana was already created and a monument to the founder of the theory of communism was erected - in 1963. You were then in your fifth decade. How did it happen?

What is called "non-party communist". And why in 1963, twenty years later?

In 1963... Well, apparently, the time has come to formalize my involvement in the Communist Party, but I accepted these ideas. But it was not there. It turned out that people whom I considered my comrades had written slander about me, and in the district committee of the party they told me: “You are a laureate of the Lenin Prize, how can you behave like that? ..” And so on ... I could not restrain myself, responded with rudeness. The matter reached the city committee. The secretary of the Moscow city committee, I don’t remember who he was then, also began to educate: how is it possible, Lev Efimovich, why do you talk to people like that? I say: invite other people, normal ones, they will tell you everything about me. He scratched his head: he should call Nikita Sergeevich. I called: such, they say, and such a thing. Khrushchev listened and said: send them all to ... You know, Nikita Sergeevich did not neglect strong expressions. This is how it all ended. I was immediately given a party card without any formalities ...

Most Expensive Award

WHAT is your best work?

It's hard to judge... You know, it's like a mother: every child is dear to her. I can only say that I did any work from the heart.

You have many different kinds of awards. Most expensive?

I agree. And yet - the most valuable, so to speak, material, tangible reward?

Perhaps, the order "For Merit to the Fatherland", recently presented to me. To deserve the recognition of the Fatherland - what could be more honorable? .. Although I am proud of both the Order of Lenin and the Star of the Hero ...

Recipe for longevity

LEV EFIMOVICH, you have almost nine decades behind you. You have a big family: a wife, three daughters, a granddaughter, a great-grandson... Life is full and, apparently, happy...

And difficult...

Of course the war...

Not only war. After the war, my first wife, Tatyana, died, with whom we were at the front together, and in 1972, my son Vladimir. And my very first child, very small, died in Kyiv during the Nazi bombing ... In a word, there were many losses in this life ...

And yet, despite all this, you managed to maintain good spirits, optimism, and efficiency. This year you will be 86 years old. Respectable age. How did you manage to live up to these years? Do you have any recipes for longevity? This question is not idle. I represent the newspaper "AiF. Long-Liver", the very name of which already speaks of our audience. So, how to become a long-liver?

Of course, I don't have any special recipes. Only work helped and helps me to live. And speaking of lifestyle... I smoked until my first daughter was born. From that moment I quit once and for all. Drank? Yes, in moderation. Well, at the front, you know, we were supposed to... Yes, even now I can take a glass. As for food... I used to eat everything. Now, for example, I try not to eat meat, not because I don't like it, it's just impossible. I lean more on porridge, although they are tired of me - I have no strength. I eat fruits with pleasure. But I don't follow any strict diet. Yes, and it doesn't work. At home in the morning I’ll eat some porridge, I come here, to the workshop, and I’m already hungry. I send guys to buy sausages or something else that everyone eats. Although I know that this food is not very useful. But I'm getting fed up...

How do you rate our current life?

P.S. We were already finishing our conversation when the phone rang.

This is for you, - said Kerbel's assistant, handing him the phone, - from the commander of the Northern Fleet.

Lev Efimovich listened for a short time, said briefly:

Tell the commander that I am waiting for him and will be glad to see ...

L. E. Kerbel was born on October 25 (November 7), 1917 in the small village of Semyonovka (now the Chernihiv region of Ukraine), which was then located in the north of the Ukrainian lands of the Russian Republic. The father of the future sculptor - Kerbel Efim Abramovich, worked as a clerk, after the October Revolution he joined the RCP (b), served in the Rossnabsbyt system; mother - Kerbel Zinaida Iosifovna, housewife.

Lev Efimovich's interest and obvious abilities for artistic creativity were discovered in early childhood, at the age of about 6 years. The future sculptor recalled it like this:

At school, Kerbel continued to study art, especially modeling. At one of the school competitions of children's creativity, he received the first prize in the form of a Photokor camera for a comic clay composition “Me and my Masha at the samovar”. The first serious recognition of his artistic talent Lev Efimovich felt in the 9th grade (1933), when the bas-relief depicting V.I. Lenin of his work was highly appreciated at the regional stage of the amateur art competition. This creative success later played an important role in the life of the young Kerbel, it was then that he firmly decided to become a professional sculptor. After Leo graduated from high school, the Smolensk regional department of public education and the regional committee of the Komsomol sent petitions to the People's Commissariat of the RSFSR with a request to help the young man in obtaining a higher art education. As a result, the department considered it necessary to invite young man to Moscow.

In the winter of 1934, Lev Kerbel arrives in Moscow to show his prize work - a bas-relief of V. I. Lenin - at the People's Commissariat of Education of the RSFSR. There he was first received by the People's Commissar of Education A.S. Bubnov, and then Lenin's widow, Deputy People's Commissar of Education N.K. Krupskaya. She sent Lev Kerbel with a recommendation to the director of the Leningrad All-Russian Academy of Arts I. I. Brodsky, who almost immediately decided to show the young man to the sculptor S. D. Merkurov. The latter gave very good review for Kerbel's competition work, writing a note to Krupskaya:

In March 1935, Lev Kerbel arrived in Leningrad on the direction of the People's Commissariat of Education of the RSFSR, where he was enrolled in the preparatory class of the All-Russian Academy of Arts. In September 1937, he became a first-year student at the Faculty of Sculpture at the Moscow Institute of Painting, Sculpture, Architecture and Art History (the future Moscow State Art Institute named after V. I. Surikov). In the summer, the young artist worked part-time as the head of children's and art circles in pioneer camps, including Artek. In his student years, Kerbel performed a sculptural portrait of A. S. Pushkin (1937, Smolensk Art Museum), and erected a monument to Pioneer for Artek. In 1941, he took part in the competition for the monument to V. V. Mayakovsky and received the first prize in the first round. The second round was interrupted by the Great Patriotic War. The project remained unfinished. However, as the sculptor A.P. Kibalnikov later recalls, his famous monument to V.V. Mayakovsky on Triumfalnaya Square (until 1991 - Mayakovsky Square) in Moscow, opened in 1958 in honor of the poet’s 65th birthday, is partly based on the pre-war model of Kerbel monument.

There is no such genre of sculpture in which L. E. Kerbel did not work: he made portraits and monuments, monumental complexes and easel compositions.

In 1942, the sculptor went to the front. He served as a military artist in the Northern Fleet, participated in campaigns on the destroyers Rational and Thundering, went to sea on torpedo boats more than once, and was with the paratroopers who liberated the city of Petsamo. The service of L. E. Kerbel was held among the submariners and pilots of the Arctic, whose courage and heroism inspired the young sculptor.

In 1945, the command of the Soviet troops in Germany summoned Kerbel to Berlin, where, in collaboration with V. E. Tsigal, he completed work on a monument in memory of the heroes of the storming of Berlin, which it was decided to install in Berlin's Tiergarten park. It was the second time the memorial to the victorious soldiers was created after the monument in Königsberg. At the same time, Kerbel created and erected monuments to the Soviet liberator soldier in the city of Kustrin and on the Seelow Heights near Berlin.

L. E. Kerbel is the author of more than 50 monuments and memorials installed in many domestic cities and abroad. He created a large number of sculptures of prominent figures of the Communist Party, the Soviet state, military leaders, heroes of the Soviet Union and Socialist Labor. Together with the vice-president of the Academy of Arts, M. G. Manizer, Kerbel performed the death mask of I. V. Stalin.

At all stages of his work, L. E. Kerbel implemented the principles of communist ideology in art. For example, in the works "Labor reserves", reliefs "Victory Parade", "Listening to Lenin" (gypsum), 1948-1949; Stalin Prize of the first degree (1950); portraits of astronauts; twice Hero of the Soviet Union V. S. Petrov (marble, 1951), Hero of Socialist Labor K. S. Mukhtarova (marble, 1954), J. Endicott (bronze, 1957) - all in the Tretyakov Gallery.

Lev Kerbel worked tirelessly on the image of V. I. Lenin, who occupied a leading place in the hierarchy of genres of socialist realism. Leniniana Karbelya is unusually diverse. It consists of all kinds of portraits of the leader and monuments, including compositions on revolutionary themes. According to his projects, monuments to V. I. Lenin were erected in Moscow on October Square, Smolensk, Gorki Leninsky, Kemerovo, Krasnoznamensk, Poltava, Syktyvkar, Lipetsk, Sofia, Havana (in collaboration with Antonio Quintana). Some of them have now been dismantled.

Another important social order for Kerbel was the image of Karl Marx. Monuments on Sverdlov Square in Moscow (Lenin Prize, 1962) and in the center of the German city of Karl-Marx-Stadt, for which he was awarded the Order of Karl Marx by the GDR government, and the USSR Academy of Arts awarded the sculptor a Gold Medal.

Among his works there are a number of tombstones: S. F. Bondarchuk, E. K. Tisse, E. A. Furtseva, M. I. Babanova, B. A. Lavrenev, Admiral A. G. Golovko, twice Hero of the Soviet Union D A. Dragunsky, D. F. Oistrakh and many other famous figures.

No matter how significant the achievements of the master, his creative plans always went further. In the spring of 1986, Kerbel completed his new great work - a monument in honor of the 100th anniversary of the birth of Ernst Thalmann, which became the center of the architectural ensemble of one of the working-class districts of Berlin. In 1998, a monument to Peter I was opened in Izmailovo.

Since 1962, Professor L. E. Kerbel led a sculpture workshop at the Moscow State Art Institute named after V. I. Surikov. He brought up a galaxy of talented craftsmen who successfully work in Russia and abroad.

In 1964, the film "To the First Communist" about the work of L. Kerbel was shot at the Tsentrnauchfilm film studio (directed by Tomberg, Vladimir Ernestovich).

In 1967, Kerbel was the sculptor of the monument to Lenin in Smolensk.

Kerbel was a member of many public organizations. He was a member of the Board of the Soviet Culture Fund, the Board of the Union of Artists of the RSFSR, the Presidium of the State Civil Construction of the USSR, the Chairman of the Artistic Expert Council of the Ministry of Culture of the RSFSR, and was a member of various councils and juries.

It should be noted that he allowed copies of his works, passing them off as originals. So, his last work - a monument to Peter I in front of the headquarters of the Baltic Fleet in Kaliningrad, erected for the 300th anniversary of the Russian fleet, turned out to be a copy of the monument erected in Moscow in 1998.

Awards

Hero of Socialist Labor (1985)
Order of Merit for the Fatherland, III degree (November 5, 1997) - for services to the state and a great personal contribution to the development of domestic fine arts
Order of Friendship of Peoples (May 6, 1993) - for great merits in the visual arts, strengthening international cultural ties and fruitful pedagogical activity (A moot point, since this is an order of the USSR and since the end of 1991 they have not been awarded, and the Russian Order of Friendship was established only in 1994 year)
The order of Lenin
Order of the Red Banner of Labor
Order of the Patriotic War II degree
Order of the Red Star
Lenin Prize (1962) - for the monument to K. Marx on the square named after Y. M. Sverdlov in Moscow (1961)
Stalin Prize of the first degree (1950) - for the sculptural bas-reliefs "V. I. Lenin and I.V. Stalin - the enslavers and leaders of the Soviet state "
People's Artist of the USSR (1977)
People's Artist of the RSFSR (1967)
Winner of the Goethe Prize (Germany)
Medal "For the Defense of Moscow"
Medal "For the Defense of the Soviet Arctic"
medal "For the Capture of Berlin"
awards of Israel, Sri Lanka, Germany.
Honorary citizen of the cities of Smolensk and Polyarny.

Lev Kerbel (07.11.1917-14.08.2003) created more than 70 monuments erected in Russia and abroad. In particular, Kerbel is the author of the monument to the heroic submariners of the sunken nuclear-powered ship "Kursk" in Moscow. The monuments created by Kerbel to Shipbuilders at the River Station in Moscow, Professor I.M. Sechenov, Marshal F.I. Tolbukhin, militiamen of the Frunzensky district of Moscow, doctors - heroes of the Great Patriotic War in Moscow, Tatar poet Gabdulla Tukay - in Kazan, the founder of the Bashkir literature Mazhitu Gafuri and a memorial complex in memory of the exploits of A. Matrosov and M. Gubaidullin - in Ufa.

Monument to the first Prime Minister of the Republic of Sri Lanka, Solomon Bandaranaike - in Colombo, sculptural decoration of the church of Santa Maria de Cervellon in Madrid, Monument to commemorate the 600th anniversary of the city of Kaluga, a monument to civilians in the city of Rudnya, Smolensk region, who died at the hands of fascist invaders during the Great Patriotic War wars and many others. Among his works are a number of tombstones: S. Bondarchuk, E. Tisse, E. Furtseva, M. Babanova, B. Lavrenev, Admiral Golovko, twice Hero of the Soviet Union Dragunsky, D. Oistrakh and many other famous figures.

The creative achievements of the sculptor are associated with many years of work on the image of Karl Marx. Today it is difficult to imagine Sverdlov Square in Moscow and the center of the German city of Karl-Marx-Stadt without the monuments to Marx created by Kerbel. The grand opening of the monument in Moscow took place on October 29, 1961 with the participation of foreign guests representing communist and workers' parties from all over the world. For this work, Kerbel was awarded the Lenin Prize.

For the monument to Marx, built in 1971 in the city of Karl-Marx-Stadt, Lev Kerbel was awarded the Order of Karl Marx by the government of the GDR, and the Academy of Arts of the USSR awarded the sculptor a gold medal.

Among the portraits created by Kerbel are Heroes of Socialist Labor collective farmers P. A. Malinina and K. P. Mukhtarova, crane operator Maria Popova, twice Hero of the USSR V. S. Petrov, cosmonauts Yu. A. Gagarin, A. G. Nikolaev, P R. Popovich, A. S. Eliseev, writers B. A. Lavrenev and Chingiz Aitmatov, poet Rasul Gamzatov, composer T. N. Khrennikov, artist F. P. Reshetnikov, laureate of the international Lenin Prize "For strengthening peace between peoples" James Endicott, Italian sculptor Giacomo Manz, Canadian poet Joe Wallace, black singer Piana Panere, and Fidel Castro.

Throughout his creative life, Lev Kerbel has been working on the image of Lenin. Leninian Kerbel includes portraits of the leader, compositions on the themes of the revolutionary struggle of the people, and numerous monumental works. According to the projects of L. E. Kerbel, monuments to V. I. Lenin were erected in Moscow, Smolensk, Gorki Leninsky, Kemerovo, Poltava, Syktyvkar, Lipetsk, Sofia, Havana (in collaboration with Antonio Quintana).

In the spring of 1986, Kerbel completed his new great work - a monument in honor of the 100th anniversary of the birth of Ernst Thalmann, which became the center of the architectural ensemble of one of the working-class districts of Berlin. In 1998, a monument to Peter I was opened in Izmailovo.

Since 1962, Professor L. E. Kerbel has been leading a sculpture workshop at the Moscow Art Institute named after V. I. Surikov. He brought up a galaxy of talented craftsmen who successfully work in Russia and abroad. Among them are such well-known sculptors as Mikhail Pereyaslavets, Alexander Rukavishnikov, Anatoly Bichukov, Vladimir Koshelev, Alexander Wagner and others, as well as students who have become masters from Africa, China, Mongolia and other countries of the world.

For many years, Lev Kerbel was a member of the board of the Soviet Cultural Foundation, the Board of the Union of Artists of the RSFSR, the Presidium of the USSR State Civil Engineering, the chairman of the Artistic and Expert Council of the Ministry of Culture of the RSFSR, and was a member of a number of other councils and juries. Currently, he is co-chairman of the board of the Central House of Arts, a member of the Council of Veterans of the Northern Fleet. Lev Efimovich is one of the organizers of the Vereshchagin studio, a member of the artistic council of the M. B. Grekov studio.

Lev Efimovich Kerbel - Hero of Socialist Labor, People's Artist of the USSR and the RSFSR, laureate of the Lenin and State Prizes of the USSR, laureate of the Goethe Prize (Germany), vice-president and full member of the Russian Academy of Arts. He was awarded the Orders of Lenin, the Red Banner of Labor, the Order of the Patriotic War II degree, the Red Star, the Friendship of Peoples, "For Services to the Fatherland" III degree, many medals, including "For the Defense of Moscow", "For the Defense of the Soviet Arctic", "For capture of Berlin", as well as awards from Israel, Sri Lanka, Germany.

Kerbel - Honorary citizen of the cities of Smolensk and Polyarny. Until recently he lived and worked in Moscow.

He was awarded the Orders of Lenin, the Red Banner of Labor, the Order of the Patriotic War of the 2nd degree, the Red Star, the Friendship of Peoples, "For Merit to the Fatherland" 3rd degree (November 5, 1997), many medals, including "For the Defense of Moscow", " For the defense of the Soviet Arctic”, “For the capture of Berlin”, the badge “For escorting transport with food and ammunition”, as well as awards from Israel, Sri Lanka, Germany.

Ranks

Positions

Biography

Kerbel Lev Efimovich - Soviet and Russian sculptor.

Born October 25 (November 7), 1917 in the village of Semyonovka, now a city in the Chernihiv region (Ukraine). Jew.

In 1925 he went to study at the 5th Smolensk nine-year school named after N.K. Krupskaya (former gymnasium). At school he studied art, especially modeling. At one of the school competitions of children's creativity, he received the first prize in the form of a camera. In 1933, a bas-relief depicting V.I. Lenin, his work was highly appreciated at the regional stage of the Olympiad of amateur art. In the winter of 1934, he came to Moscow to show his prize work - a bas-relief of V.I. Lenin - in the People's Commissariat for Education of the RSFSR. There he was received first by the People's Commissar of Education A.S. Bubnov, and then by the widow of V.I. Lenin, Deputy People's Commissar of Education N.K. Krupskaya.

After graduating from high school, the Smolensk regional department of public education and the regional committee of the Komsomol sent petitions to the People's Commissariat of Education of the RSFSR with a request to help the young man in obtaining a higher art education. In March 1935, L.E. Kerbel was enrolled in the preparatory class of the All-Russian Academy of Arts in Leningrad (today St. Moscow State Academic Art Institute (MGAHI) named after V.I. Surikov).

As a student, he made a sculptural portrait of A.S. Pushkin (1937, Smolensk Art Museum), erected a monument to the Pioneer for the Artek pioneer camp. In 1941 he took part in the competition for the monument to V.V. Mayakovsky. According to the results of the first round, he received the first prize. But the project remained unfinished due to the outbreak of World War II.

In 1942, he volunteered for the front. He served as a military artist in the Northern Fleet, participated in campaigns on the destroyers Rational and Thundering, went to sea on torpedo boats, and was with the paratroopers who liberated the city of Petsamo. He worked on the creation of sculptural portraits of the North Sea heroes, pilots and sailors - N.A. Bokiya, I.A. Kolyshkin, N.A. Lunin, B.F. Safonov, A.I. Lebedev, I.I. .D.Klimov and many others.

In 1945, the command of the Soviet troops in Germany summoned L.E.Kerbel to Berlin, where, in collaboration with V.E.Tsigal, he completed work on a monument in memory of the heroes of the storming of Berlin, which it was decided to install in Berlin's Tiergarten park. Also, L.E. Kerbel created and erected monuments to the Soviet soldier-liberator in the city of Kustrin (Kostszyn, Poland) and on the Seelow Heights west of Berlin.

In 1948 he graduated from the Moscow State Academic Art Institute named after V.I. Surikov and defended his diploma with the genre composition “Labor Reserves” with “excellent” marks.

Together with the vice-president of the Academy of Arts M. Manizer, he performed the death mask of I.V. Stalin.

L.E.Kerbel implemented the principles of communist ideology in art throughout the entire course of his work (works in the Tretyakov Gallery: "Labor Reserves", relief "Victory Parade", "Listening to Lenin" and others). He devoted a lot of time to work on the images of the leaders of Soviet Russia. He is the author of monuments to V.I. Lenin in Moscow on Oktyabrskaya (today - Kaluga) Square, Smolensk, Gorki Leninsky, Kemerovo, Krasnoznamensk, Poltava, Syktyvkar, Lipetsk, Sofia, Havana (in collaboration with Antonio Quintana). Some of them have been dismantled today. He is also the author of monuments to Karl Marx on Sverdlov Square (today - Theater Square) in Moscow (Lenin Prize, 1962) and in the center of the German city of Karl-Marx-Stadt (Order of Karl Marx from the Government of the GDR, gold medal of the Academy of Arts of the USSR). Since 1962, he led a sculpture workshop at the Moscow State Academic Art Institute named after V.I. Surikov. Member of the CPSU since 1963.

Author of more than 70 monuments and memorials installed in many cities of the country and abroad. The monuments he created to shipbuilders near the River Station in Moscow, to Professor I.M. Sechenov, Hero of the Soviet Union Marshal F.I. Tolbukhin, to the militiamen of the Frunzensky district of Moscow, to doctors - heroes of the Great Patriotic War in Moscow, to the Tatar poet Gabdulla Tukay - in Kazan are widely known. , the founder of Bashkir literature Mazhit Gafuri and a memorial complex in memory of the exploits of A. Matrosov and M. Gubaidullin - in Ufa. He is also the author of the monument to the first Prime Minister of the Republic of Sri Lanka, Solomon Bandaranaike - in Colombo, the sculptural decoration of the Santa Maria de Cervellon temple in Madrid, the monument to commemorate the 600th anniversary of the city of Kaluga, the monument to civilians in the city of Rudnya, Smolensk region, who died at the hands of fascist invaders during the Great Patriotic War and many others.

Created portraits of cosmonauts Yu.A. Gagarin, A.G. Nikolaev, P.R. Popovich, A.S. Eliseev, twice Hero of the Soviet Union V.S. Mukhtarova (marble, 1954), P.A. Malinina and crane operator M.G. Popova, writer Chingiz Aitmatov, poet Rasul Gamzatov, composer T.N. Khrennikov, artist F.P. Reshetnikov, laureate of the International Stalin Prize "For strengthening peace between nations” in 1952 by J. Endicott (bronze, 1957), Italian sculptor D. Manzu, Canadian poet D. Wallace, Negro singer Piana Panere, leader of the Cuban revolution Fidel Castro. Among his works - a number of tombstones: Hero of Socialist Labor director S.F. Bondarchuk, cameraman E. Tisse, Minister E.A. Furtseva, actress M.I. Babanova, writer B.A. Lavrenev, Admiral A.G. Golovko, twice Hero of the Soviet Union D.A. Dragunsky, D.F. Oistrakh and many other famous figures.

By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of March 26, 1985, for great services in the development of Soviet art, Karbel Lev Efimovich was awarded the title of Hero of Socialist Labor with the Order of Lenin and the Hammer and Sickle gold medal.

In the spring of 1986, he completed a monument in honor of the 100th anniversary of the birth of the leader of the German Communists, E. Thalmann, which became the center of the architectural ensemble of one of the working-class districts of Berlin.

In 1998, a monument to Peter I of his work was opened in Izmailovo in Moscow. The author of the monument to the heroes-submariners of the sunken nuclear-powered ship "Kursk" in Moscow.

He did a lot of social work. He was a member of the Board of the Soviet Cultural Fund, the Board of the Union of Artists of the RSFSR, the Presidium of the State Civil Construction of the USSR, Chairman of the Artistic and Expert Council of the Ministry of Culture of the RSFSR, Co-Chairman of the Board of the Central House of Artists (TsDRI), a member of the Council of Veterans of the Northern Fleet, one of the organizers of the Vereshchagin Studio, a member of the Arts Council Studios named after M.B. Grekov.

Laureate of the Lenin (1961) and State Prizes of the USSR (1950), laureate of the Goethe Prize (Germany), corresponding member of the Academy of Arts of the USSR (1962), full member of the Academy of Arts of the USSR (1975), vice-president of the Academy of Arts of the USSR (1988, since 1992 - Russian Academy of Arts), People's Artist of the USSR (1977) and the RSFSR (1967).

Lived in Moscow. Died August 19, 2003. He was buried in Moscow at the Novodevichy Cemetery (plot 4).

Retired 1st rank captain. He was awarded the Orders of Lenin, the Red Banner of Labor, the Order of the Patriotic War of the 2nd degree, the Red Star, the Friendship of Peoples, "For Merit to the Fatherland" 3rd degree (November 5, 1997), many medals, including "For the Defense of Moscow", " For the defense of the Soviet Arctic”, “For the capture of Berlin”, the badge “For escorting transport with food and ammunition”, as well as awards from Israel, Sri Lanka, Germany.

Honorary citizen of the cities of Smolensk and Polyarny.

Among his students are such famous sculptors as M.V. Pereyaslavets, A.I. Rukavishnikov (the author of the monument to V.S. Vysotsky), A.A. Bichukov, V.P. Koshelev, A.E. as well as students who have become masters from Africa, China, Mongolia and other countries of the world.

Biography provided by Sergey Kashcheev