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Zaire AzgurSoviet and Belarusian sculptor, People's Artist of the USSR
Date of Birth: 15.01.1908
Country:  Belarus |
Content:
Early Life and Education
Zaïr Israilevich Azgur was a Soviet and Belarusian sculptor. He was born on January 2 (15), 1908, in the village of Molchany, which is now part of the village of Zastadolie in the Sennensky District of the Vitebsk Oblast in Belarus. Azgur studied at the Vitebsk Art and Practical Institute, where he was taught by Marc Chagall and Mstislav Dobuzhinsky, and later at the Academy of Arts in Leningrad (1925-1928) and the Kyiv Art Institute (1928-1929).
Artistic Career
Azgur's artistic career spanned several decades. He became a member of the Communist Party in 1943 and received the title of People's Artist of the USSR in 1973. He was also awarded the Hero of Socialist Labor in 1978. Azgur's work focused on monumental sculptures and busts of famous figures, including portraits of Lenin, Marx, and Gorky. He also created numerous works of art honoring the Belarusian people and their history.
Notable Works
Among his most notable works are:The Monument to Lenin in Minsk (1938)
The Motherland Monument in Minsk (1979)
The sculptural portrait of Maxim Gorky (1947)
The bust of Dmitri Mendeleyev (1955)
The monument to the victims of the Mogilev ghetto (1977)
Recognition and Legacy
Azgur's contributions to the arts were widely recognized. He was a member of the Academy of Arts of the USSR from 1958 and served as the head of the Sculpture Workshop of the Academy in Minsk from 1980. He was also a member of the Supreme Soviet of the Belarusian SSR from 1947 to 1967 and again from 1971.
Azgur passed away on February 18, 1995, and was buried at the Eastern Cemetery in Minsk. His museum-workshop in Minsk, which contains a large collection of his works, remains a testament to his legacy as one of the most renowned sculptors of the 20th century.
