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""The idea of creating a monument to the "Dictionary of the living Great Russian language", the words for which Vladimir Ivanovich Dahl began collecting back in the Orenburg region, when he served for 8 years as an official on special assignments under Governor A.V. Perovsky, belongs to the Orenburg Charitable Foundation "Eurasia". In 2010, this was discussed with the famous Russian sculptor Alexander Rukavishnikov, who came to Orenburg to show a model of the monument to Mikhail Rostropovich to local authorities. In 2008, Rukavishnikov sculpted a monument to Alexander Zass, commissioned by "Eurasia", erected in front of the Orenburg circus.
Despite the fact that the conversation about Dahl's dictionary was non-committal, the sculptor really liked the idea, and a month later he showed a model of the monument sculpted in plasticine. The idea proposed by the "Eurasia" Foundation, and even with a model executed by Rukavishnikov, a member of the Presidium of the Russian Academy of Arts, was enthusiastically accepted by the city's leadership, and the location for the unusual monument was determined immediately: in front of the central entrance to the Orenburg Regional Library named after N.K. Krupskaya. However, for a number of years there were no funds for the production of the monument.
"The "Cultural Footprint" competition announced in 2018 for the project of the best amazing monument in Russia became an urgent reason for the "Eurasia" Foundation to apply. According to the results of an online vote, which was attended by people from many countries of the world, the project "Monument to the dictionary of V.I. Dahl" was among the winners. According to the terms of the competition, the project was supposed to be implemented at the expense of its organizers, but in a few years prices have increased many times – and the required amount exceeded the capabilities of the competition operators.
Meanwhile, the scientific and educational union "Rodnoe Slovo", which has gained national fame, became interested in the project, which also really liked the idea itself and expressed its willingness to financially support the creation of such a monument. As a result, a compromise solution was found to turn to local Orenburg sculptors in order to implement the project at minimal cost. A.I. Rukavishnikov agreed to such a solution to the problem. The sculptor Alexander Sukmanov started the work. ""Based on" Rukavishnikov's project, the monument, cast in bronze, was unveiled in the presence of Denis Pasler, Governor of the Orenburg Region, and Konstantin Derevyanko, member of the Russian Language Council under the President of the Russian Federation, in a place long reserved for that place.
The four volumes of the first edition of the famous dictionary are arranged on a round table, one of the books is open, it is facing passersby. On one page there is a text telling about V.I. Dahl, his stay in Orenburg and the work begun here on recording unfamiliar words and their meanings. ""For the second time, the Eurasia Foundation collected four of the most interesting dictionary entries from the entire dictionary, marked "Orenburg", i.e. those words that, in Dahl's opinion, were of Orenburg origin. There is an inkwell with a goose quill on the table, and a portrait of V.I. Dahl in an oval frame, leaning against books, is facing the library. The doctor, writer and lexicographer is well recognizable on it: he is depicted not during his stay in Orenburg, but at an age when the main work of his life has already seen the light. The weight of the monument is 550 kilograms.
Text and photo from the book "In memoriam… Monuments of Orenburg" / I.V. Khramov. Orenburg: Orenburg Book Publishing House named after G.P. Donkovtsev, 2023
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