Bishkek Revolutionaries – Lenin – Marx – Engels – Dzerzhinsky – Frunze – Red Guards – Revolutionary Martyrs

Posted on 26/06/2025 by Michael

The Red Star and the Hammer and Sickle

Bishkek Revolutionaries – Lenin – Marx – Engels – Dzerzhinsky – Frunze – Red Guards – Revolutionary Martyrs

For those interested in the Soviet (and Socialist) past of Bishkek and Kyrgyzstan there are still a few remaining statues and monuments to that period of a time when the people were attempting to make a better future for workers and peasants.

Unfortunately, as is becoming almost universal now, (as yet) I have few, if any, details about any of these statues or monuments.

VI Lenin – Bishkek

VI Lenin – standing, making a speech

This statue was originally in Lenin Square (now Ala-Too Square) on the other side of the Historical Museum. The statue was originally installed in Bishkek in 1984 and the statue stands 10 metres high.

Location;

In the park behind the State Historical Museum and across the road from the House of Government.

GPS;

42.877582 N

74.606187 E

VI Lenin – in school precinct, Bishkek

VI Lenin bust – with small garden

Location;

Razzakov Street 62/103. Behind the lyceum and seemingly part of a housing estate.

GPS;

42.873294 N

74.603402 E

Karl Marx and Frederick Engels – Bishkek

Karl Marx and Frederick Engels – seated, relaxed and in discussion

Location;

At the north-west edge of Central Square Park, across the road from the Supreme Courft of the Kyrgyz Republic.

GPS;

42.878999 N

74.605547 E

‘Iron Felix’ Dzerzhinsky – Bishkek

Felix Dzerzhinsky (‘Iron Felix’)

It might be surprising for some people to realise that Felix Dzerzhinsky, the first head of the Cheka, the organisation tasked with defeating counter-revolutionary elements within the young Socialist state, is still considered with great deal affection and respect by populations throughout the former Soviet Union.

Location;

In the small park on the west side of the National Library.

GPS;

42.881221 N

74.610105 E

Mikhail Frunze – Bishkek

Equestrian statue of Mikhail Frunze

This, I think, is unusual. The Soviets weren’t really into equestrian statues – or at least as far as I knew. The only other one I’m aware of is of Marshal Zhukov, in Revolution Square by Red Square, in Moscow – but that was installed in 1991, when Socialism had been ditched and the nascent capitalists were looking for some sort of justification for their miserable existence, piggy-backing on past Soviet/Socialist glory.

The city that is now known as Bishkek was called Frunze from 1926, on the founding of the Kirghiz Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (ASSR).

Location;

At the bottom end of Erkindik Boulevard, opposite the station building of Bishkek 2.

GPS;

42.865110 N

74.605887 E

Martyrs of the Revolutionary Movement – Bishkek

Martyrs of the Revolutionary Movement

This was inaugurated in 1978 and is the work of a local sculptor, Tinibek Sadykov. For this work he won the All Union Lenin Prize. The female figure at the top of the colon is of a young local woman, Urkuya Saliyeva, a Socialist organiser from the south of the country, who was murdered in 1924 by reactionary locals. The figures in the rest of the monument represent the ‘awakening’ workers and peasants.

Location;

In its own park opposite Chui Avenue 100

GPS;

42.876498 N

74.610505 E

Memorial to the Red Guards – Bishkek

Memorial for the Red Guards

This was erected in 1960 and marks the common grave of of the Bolshevik dead in the Belovodsk counter-revolutionary uprising of December 6, 1918. Unfortunately, the Eternal Flame has been extinguished by the local reactionary capitalists – the same breed they died fighting against in the early days of the Socialist Republic.

Translation of text on monument;

Eternal Glory to those who fell in the struggle for Soviet power – original in Russian. [Facing the eternal flame.]

For Soviet power Glory forever for the fighters – original in Turkman.

Two commanders are buried here. [On the left hand side]

Location;

In Dubovny Park, just behind the Russian Drama Theatre.

GPS;

42.87840 N

74.60840 E

Park of the Fallen/Muzeon Art Park, Moscow

Posted on 07/05/2024 by Michael

Soviet emblem

Park of the Fallen/Muzeon Art Park

Presented in the slide show below are images taken of some of those monuments and statues produced during the period of the construction of Socialism in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR).

Construction worker

With the victory of reaction against the (admittedly weak and already corrupted revisionist) Socialist state in the 1990s many of these monuments and statues were removed from public spaces and many were left to rot. However, a re-assessment of the role of Socialist leaders of the past and with a mix of opportunism from the ruling capitalists that they could easily create another tourist attraction in the city led to the re-erection of these statues in the vicinity of the modern art gallery – which also displays art produced during the Socialist period.

The works presented here were produced over a period of about 50 years, representing the thinking of the revolutionary period as well as the period of revisionism and capitalist restoration. Those later works are included as they still represented a glimmer of the hope for a new future.

Included at images of VI Lenin, JV Stalin, Karl Marx, MI Kalinin and FE Dzerzhinsky, as well as Heroes of the Soviet Union.

Swords into ploughshares

Why some of these art works were considered controversial is difficult to understand. The Soviet leaders were the enemies of the new capitalist rulers so their removal can be understood. But why the references to peace or the statue of the female construction worker? Presumably it wasn’t what they are but the society that produced them and what they continue to represent.

Peace

The main concentration of the socialist art works are concentrated around the large metal emblem of the Soviet Union, in an area north west of the New Tretyakov Gallery. More contemporary sculptures are displayed in other parts of the park.

Related;

Socialist Realist Art in Albania

Museum of Socialist Art – Sofia, Bulgaria

Remnants of religious thinking in Albanian Socialist Art

The ‘Archive’ Exhibition at the Tirana Art Gallery

Socialist Realist Paintings and Sculptures in the National Art Gallery, Tirana

New Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow

Related – other statues of revolutionaries in Moscow

Ernst Thälmann – German Communist leader – statue in Moscow

Karl Marx monument, Moscow

Ho Chi Minh monument

Frederick Engels statue

Location;

In Muzeon Art Park, in which is also located the New Tretyakov Art Gallery (the gallery of 20th century Russian art).

How to get there;

The park is across the bridge over the River Moskva from the Park Kultury metro station and beside the main road that leads past the Oktyabrskaya metro station in the direction of the river. The main entrance to Muzeon Art Park is directly opposite the main entrance to Gorky Park.

GPS;

55°44′4.29″N

37°36′17.51″E

Writings of the Soviet Leadership

Posted on 18/03/2022 by Michael

Felix Dzerzhinsky – 1918

Writings of the Soviet Leadership

Some individuals are included here even though they might have fallen out of favour in subsequent years. Also included are a number of biographies which vary in their sympathy to the Socialist cause.

Lavrentiy Pavlovich Beria (1989-1953)

On the History of the Bolshevik Organizations in Transcaucasia, speech delivered at a meeting of Party functionaries July 21-22 1935, Laventri Beria, International Publishers, New York, 1935, 206 pages.

On the History of the Bolshevik Organizations in Transcaucasia, speech delivered at a meeting of Party functionaries July 21-22 1935, Laventri Beria, Lawrence and Wishart, London, 1939, 206 pages.

The Great Inspirer and Organizer of the Victories of Communism, written on the occasion of JV Stalin’s 70th birthday, FLPH, Moscow, 1950, 24 pages.

The 34th Anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution, speech delivered at a celebration meeting of the Moscow Soviet, November 6 1951, FLPH, Mosocw, 1951, 36 pages.

Nikolai Ivanovich Bukharin (1988-1938)

The ABC of Communism, a Popular Explanation of the Program of the Communist Party of Russia, translation by Eden and Cedar Paul, Nikolai Bukharin and Yevgeni Preobrazhensky, CPGB, London, 1922, 422 pages.

Nikolai Alexandrovich Bulganin (1895-1975)

USSR Builds for Peace, reports on the achievements of the Post-war Five-year Planand the USSR’s fight for peace, 33rd anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution, Nikolai Bulganin, Soviet News, London, 1950, 20 pages.

Felix Edmundovich Dzerzhinsky (1877-1926)

Prison Diary and Letters, Felix Dzerzhinsky, FLPH, Moscow, 1958, 306 pages.

Felix Dzerzhinsky – a biography, Progress Publishers, Moscow, 1988, 164 pages.

Mikhail Ivanovich Kalinin (1875-1946)

Stalin, sixty years, M Kalinin, FLPH, Moscow, 1939, 98 pages. Published to celebrate Stalin’s sixtieth birthday.

The Patriotic War of the Soviet People against the German invaders, M Kalinin, FLPH, Moscow, 1942, 32 pages.

On Communist Education, speeches and articles, MI Kalinin, FLPH, Moscow, 1950, 479 pages.

Lev Borisovich Kamenev (1883-1936)

Dictatorship of the Proletariat, The Toiler, Cleaveland, 1920, 14 pages.

Alexandra Mikhailovna Kollontai (1872-1952)

Alexandra Kollontai, selected articles and speeches, International Publishers, New York, 1984, 215 pages.

Communism and the Family, Alexandra Kollantai, Pluto, London, 1971, 24 pages.

The plight, struggle and liberation of women, Selected Works 1907-1947, Alexandra Kollontai, November 8th Publishing House, Ottawa 2022, 364 pages.

Nadezhda Krupskaya (1869-1939)

Bride of the Revolution, Krupskaya and Lenin, Robert H McNeal, Ann Arbor, University of Michigan Press, 1972, 326 pages.

On Education, selected articles and speeches, NK Krupskaya, November 8th Publishing House, Ottawa 2022, 274 pages.

Maxim Maximovich Litvinov (1876-1951)

Against Aggression, Speeches, 1934-1938, together with texts of treaties and of the Covenant of the League of Nations, Maxim Litvinov, Lawrence and Wishart, London, 1939, 208 pages.

Maxim Litvinoff, a biography, AU Pope, Secker and Warburg, London, 1943, 530 pages.

Maxim Litvinov, Sheinis Zinovy, translated by Vic Schneierson, Progress Publishers, Moscow, 1988, 356 pages. (A Revisionist appreciation.)

Georgy Maksimilianovich Malenkov (1901-1988)

Report to the Nineteenth Party Congress of the work of the Central Committee of the CPSU(B), G Malenkov, FLPH, Moscow,1952, 147 pages.

Malenkov, a biographical study of Stalin’s successor, Martin Ebon, Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London, June 1953, 152 pages.

Speech by G. M. Malenkov, Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the U.S.S.R. at the session of the U.S.S.R. Supreme Soviet, August 8, 1953, Soviet News, London, 1953, 41 pages.

Speech at the Session of the USSR Supreme Soviet, August 8 1953, Soviet News, London, 1953, 28 pages. (Digitised version.)

Anastas Ivanovich Mikoyan (1895-1978)

The camp of Socialism and the camp of capitalism, AI Mikoyan, FLPH, Moscow, 1950, 63 pages.

The Memoirs of Anastas Mikoyan, Volume 1, The Path of Struggle, Sphinx Press, Madison, 1988, 583 pages.

Vyacheslav Mikhaylovich Molotov (1890-1986)

The Constitution of Socialism, Speech delivered at the Eighth Congress of Soviets of the USSR, Vyachesla Molotov, Cooperative Publishing Company of Foreign Workers in the USSR, Moscow, 1937, 31 pages.

Statement in the Supreme Soviet USSR on the ratification of the Soviet-German Non-Aggression Pact, August 31 1939, Modern Books, London, 1939, 14 pages.

Speech to the Sixth Session Supreme Soviet USSR, March 29th 1940, with an introduction by William Rust, Vyachesla Molotov, Modern Books, London, 1940, 20 pages.

Soviet Peace Policy, Vyachesla Molotov, with a foreword by DN Pritt and a biographical sketch by WP and Zelda Coates, Anglo-Russian News Bulletin, Lawrence and Wishart, London, 1941, 101 pages.

Note Submitted by V Molotov, People’s Commissar of Foreign Affairs of the USSR, concerning the universal robbery and despoliation of the population, and the monstrous atrocities perpetrated by the German authorities on occupied Soviet territory, FLPH, Moscow, 1942, 20 pages.

The Molotov Notes on German Atrocities, notes sent by VM Molotov, People’s Commissar for Foreign Affairs, to all governments with which the USSR has diplomatic relations, issued on behalf of the Embassy of the USSR in London, His majesty’s Stationary Office, London, 1942, 20 pages.

The life story of V Molotov, George Gay, Pilot Press, London, nd., 1940s?, 92 pages.

The Armed Forces of the United Nations on Foreign Territory, speeches in Committee 1 of the General Assembly of the United Nations, November 1946, Information Bulletin of the Embassy of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, Washington, 1946, 31 pages.

VM Moltov’s Speeches and Statements made at the Moscow Session of the Council of Foreign Ministers, March10-April 34 1947, Soviet News, London, 1947, 124 pages.

30th anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution, speech delivered at the celebration meeting of the Moscow Soviet on November 6 1947, Soviet News, London, 1947, 20 pages.

For a democratic peace with Germany, speeches and statements made at the London session of the Council of Foreign Ministers, November 25-December 15, 1947, Soviet News, London, 1948, 99 pages.

Molotov Remembers, inside Kremlin Politics by Vyacheslav Molotov, conversations with Felix Chuev, edited with an introduction and notes by Albert Resis, Ivan R Dee, Chicago, 1993, 463 pages.

Stalin’s Letters to Molotov 1925-1936, editors Lars T Lih, Oleg V Naumoy, Annals of Communism Series, Yale University Press, New Haven, 1995, 276 pages.

Molotov Stalin’s Cold Warrior, Geoffrey Roberts, Potomac Books, Washington, 2012, 254 pages.

Yevgeni Alekseyevich Preobrazhensky (1886-1937)

Maksim Zakharovich Saburov (1900-1977)

Report on the directives of the XIXth Party Congress relating to the Fifth Five-year Plan for the development of the USSR in 1951-1955, M Saburov, FLPH, Moscow, 1952, 72 pages.

Yakov Mikhailovich Sverdlov (1985-1919)

Yakov Sverdlov, a biography, Klavdiya Sverdlova, November 8th Publishing House, Ottawa 2023, 184 pages.

Andrei Yanuaryevich Vyshinskiy (1883-1954)

The peace and friendship of nations against the instigators of a new war, speech delivered at the Second General Assembly of the United Nations, September 18 1947, Embassy of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, Washington, 1947, 38 pages.

The Law of the Soviet State, Macmillan Company, New York, 1948, 749 pages.

The teachings of Lenin and Stalin on Proletarian Revolution and the State, Soviet News, London, 1948, 120 pages.

The Soviet position on Prohibition of Atomic Weapons and International Control of Atomic Energy, speeches at the Fourth Session of the United Nations General Assembly, November 1949, Information Bulletin of the Embassy of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, Washington, 1949, 56 pages.

Lenin and Stalin, the great organizers of the Soviet State, FLPH, Moscow, 1949, 71 pages.

JV Stalin’s Doctrine of the Socialist State, FLPH, Moscow, 1951, 38 pages.

Andrei Alexandrovich Zhdanov (1896-1948)

Amendments to the Rules of the CPSU(B), Report to the 18th Congress of the CPSU(B), Andrei Zhadanov, FLPH, Moscow, 1939, 64 pages.

On The History of Philosophy, Andrei Zhdanov, np., nd., 1947?, 28 pages.

Selected Works, Andrei Zhdanov, November 8th Publishing House, Ottawa 2023, 341 pages.

On literature, music and philosophy, Lawrence and Wishart, London, 1950, November 8th Publishing House, Toronto, 2022, 112 pages.

Collections

Reports to the Nineteenth Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, Soviet Leaders Speak for Communism and Peace, Vyacheslav Molotov, Lavrenty Beria, Nikolai Bulganin, Lazar Kaganovich, Kliment Voroshilov, New Century Publishers, New York, 1952, 49 pages.

The Stalin Heritage, speeches given at the funeral of JV Stalin, March 9 1953, by Georgy Malenkov, Lavrenty Beria, and Vyacheslav Molotov, New Century, New York, 1953, 15 pages.

Bishkek Revolutionaries – Lenin – Marx – Engels – Dzerzhinsky – Frunze – Red Guards – Revolutionary Martyrs

VI Lenin – standing, making a speech

Location;

GPS;

VI Lenin bust – with small garden

Location;

GPS;

Karl Marx and Frederick Engels – seated, relaxed and in discussion

Location;

GPS;

Felix Dzerzhinsky (‘Iron Felix’)

Location;

GPS;

Equestrian statue of Mikhail Frunze

Location;

GPS;

Martyrs of the Revolutionary Movement

Location;

GPS;

Memorial for the Red Guards

Location;

GPS;

Park of the Fallen/Muzeon Art Park

Related;

Related – other statues of revolutionaries in Moscow

Location;

How to get there;

GPS;

Writings of the Soviet Leadership

Lavrentiy Pavlovich Beria (1989-1953)

Nikolai Ivanovich Bukharin (1988-1938)

Nikolai Alexandrovich Bulganin (1895-1975)

Felix Edmundovich Dzerzhinsky (1877-1926)

Mikhail Ivanovich Kalinin (1875-1946)

Lev Borisovich Kamenev (1883-1936)

Alexandra Mikhailovna Kollontai (1872-1952)

Nadezhda Krupskaya (1869-1939)

Maxim Maximovich Litvinov (1876-1951)

Georgy Maksimilianovich Malenkov (1901-1988)

Anastas Ivanovich Mikoyan (1895-1978)

Vyacheslav Mikhaylovich Molotov (1890-1986)

Yevgeni Alekseyevich Preobrazhensky (1886-1937)

Maksim Zakharovich Saburov (1900-1977)

Yakov Mikhailovich Sverdlov (1985-1919)

Andrei Yanuaryevich Vyshinskiy (1883-1954)

Andrei Alexandrovich Zhdanov (1896-1948)

Collections

Directory