Novodevichy Cemetery

Novodevichy Cemetery (Russian: Новоде́вичье кла́дбище, Novodevichye kladbishche) is the most famous cemetery in Moscow. It lies next to the southern wall of the 16th-century Novodevichy Convent, which is the city's third most popular tourist site. It should not be confused with the Novodevichy Cemetery in Saint Petersburg.

History

The cemetery was designed by Ivan Mashkov and inaugurated in 1898. Its importance dates from the 1930s, when the necropoleis of the medieval Muscovite monasteries (Simonov, Danilov, Donskoy) were scheduled for demolition. Only the Donskoy survived the Joseph Stalin era relatively intact. The remains of many famous Russians buried in other abbeys, such as Nikolai Gogol and Sergey Aksakov, were disintered and reburied at the Novodevichy.

A 19th-century necropolis within the walls of the Novodevichy convent, which contained the graves of about 2000 Russian noblemen and university professors, also underwent reconstruction. The vast majority of graves were destroyed. It was at that time that the remains of Anton Chekhov were moved outside the monastery walls. His grave served as the kernel of the so-called "cherry orchard" - a section of the cemetery which contains the graves of Constantin Stanislavski and the leading actors of his company.

Interments

Under Soviet rule, burial in the Novodevichy Cemetery was second in prestige only to burial in the Kremlin Wall Necropolis. Among the Soviet leaders, only Nikita Khrushchevwas buried at the Novodevichy rather than at the Red Square. Since the fall of the Soviet Union, the Kremlin Wall is no longer used for burials and the Novodevichy Cemetery is used for only the most symbolically significant burials. For example, in April 2007, within one week both the first President of the Russian Federation Boris Yeltsin and world renowned cellist Mstislav Rostropovich were buried there.

Today, the cemetery holds the tombs of Russian authors, musicians, playwrights, and poets, as well as famous actors, political leaders, and scientists. More than 27,000 are buried at Novodevichy. There is scant space for more burials. A new national cemetery is under construction in Mytishchi north of Moscow.

 

The cemetery has a park-like ambiance, dotted with small chapels and large sculpted monuments. It is divided into the old (Divisions 1-4), new (Divisions 5-8) and newest (Divisions 9-11) sections; maps are available at the cemetery office.

Burials at the Novodevichy Cemetery

Notable burials: A-C

• Sergey Afanasyev (1918–2001), first Soviet space industry minister
• Ivan Agayants (1911–1968), a KGB officer and foreign spy
• Sergei Aksakov (1791–1859), a writer
• Boris Alexandrovich Alexandrov, (1905–1994), leader of the Alexandrov Ensemble
• Abraham Alikhanov, (1904–1970), a physicist
• Nadezhda Alliluyeva (1901–1932), wife of Joseph Stalin
• Daniil Andreev (1906–1959), a writer
• Averky Aristov (1903–1973), a politician and diplomat
• Pavel Batov (1897–1985), an army general
• Demyan Bedny (1883–1945), a writer
• Andrei Bely (1880–1934), a writer
• Pavel Belyayev (1925–1970), a cosmonaut
• Georgi Beregovoi (1921–1995), a cosmonaut
• Mark Bernes (1911–1969), an actor and singer
• Vladimir Bonch-Bruevich (1873–1955), a writer
• Sergei Bondarchuk (1920–1994), an actor and director
• Artyom Borovik (1960–2000), a journalist and businessman
• Mikhail Botvinnik (1911–1995), a chess champion
• Valeriy Brumel (1942–2003), an athlete champion
• Valery Bryusov (1873–1924), a writer
• Mikhail Bulgakov (1881–1940), a playwright and author
• Nikolai Bulganin (1895–1975), A Marshal and statesman
• Nikolai Burdenko (1876–1946), a neurosurgeon
• Rolan Bykov (1929–1998), an actor
• Feodor Chaliapin (1873–1938), an opera singer
• Anton Chekhov (1860–1904), a writer
• Vladimir Chelomei (1914–1984), a rocket engineer
• Pavel Alekseyevich Cherenkov (1904–1990), a Nobel laureate in Physics
• Ivan Chernyakhovsky (1906–1945), a General of the Army
• Georgi Chicherin (1872–1936), a statesman

Notable burials: D–G

• Yakov Dashevsky (1902–1972), an army general
• Kuzma Derevyanko (1904–1954), an army general
• Alexander Deyneka (1899–1969), a painter and sculptor
• Lev Dovator (1903–1941), an army general
• Isaak Dunayevsky (1900–1955), a composer and conductor
• Ilya Ehrenburg (1891–1967), a writer
• G. El-Registan (1899–1945), a poet
• Sergei Eisenstein (1898–1948), a film director
• Alexander Fadeyev (1901–1956), a writer
• Dmitri Furmanov (1891–1926), a writer
• Ekaterina Furtseva (1910–1974), a politician
• Shakir Geniatullin (1895–1946), an army general
• Sergei Gerasimov (1906–1985), a film director
• Reinhold Glière (1875–1956), a composer
• Valentin Glushko (1908–1989), a spacecraft and rockets designer
• Nikolai Gogol (1809–1852), a writer
• Raisa Gorbachyova (1932–1999), a former "First Lady" of the Soviet Union
• Andrei Gromyko (1909–1989), a politician and head of state of the Soviet Union
• Lyudmila Gurchenko (1935–2011), popular Soviet and Russian actress, singer and entertainer

Notable burials: H, K

• Nazim Hikmet (1901–1963), a Turkish poet
• Ilya Ilf (1897–1937), a writer
• Sergey Ilyushin (1894–1977), aircraft designer
• Dmitri Kabalevsky (1904–1987), a composer
• Lazar Kaganovich (1892–1991), a politician
• Leonid Kantorovich (1912–1986), a Nobel Prize–winning economist
• Lev Kassil (1905–1970), a writer
• Valentin Kataev (1897–1986), a writer
• Velimir Khlebnikov (1885–1922), a poet
• Nikita Khrushchev (1894–1971), Leader of the Soviet Union (1953–1964)
• Igor Kio (1944–2006), an illusionist
• Vladimir Kokkinaki (1904–1985), distinguished Soviet test pilot
• Andrey Kolmogorov (1903–1987), eminent mathematician
• Boris Korolev (1885–1963), avant-garde sculptor
• Olga Knipper (1868–1959), an actress
• Rustam Khan Khoyski (1888–1948), Minister of Social Security of Azerbaijan Democratic Republic
• Leonid Kogan (1924–1982), a violin virtuoso
• Alexandra Kollontai (1872–1952), a politician
• Pavel Korin (1892–1967), a Russian painter and art restorer
• Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya (1923–1941), a heroic partisan
• Pyotr Koshevoy (1904–1976), an Army Marshal
• Gleb Kotelnikov (1872–1944),the knapsack parachute inventor
• Ivan Kozhedub (1920–1991), an air force general
• Ivan Kozlovsky (1900–1993), an opera singer
• Ernst Krenkel (1903–1971), an explorer and radio operator
• Peter Kropotkin (1842–1921), Russia's foremost anarchist
• Lev Kuleshov (1899–1970), a film theorist and director

Notable burials: L–O

• Lev Landau (1908–1968), a Nobel laureate in Physics
• Alexander Lebed (1950–2002), an army General and politician
• Sergei Lebedev (1902–1974), a computer pioneer
• Vasily Lebedev-Kumach (1898–1949), poet and singer
• Pavel Lebedev-Polianskii (1881–1948), director of Glavlit
• Sergei Lemeshev (1902–1977), an opera singer
• Yevgeny Leonov (1926–1994), an actor
• Isaac Levitan (1860–1900), a painter
• Yuri Levitan (1914–1983), radio announcer
• Maxim Litvinov (1876–1951), a politician
• Matvey Manizer (1891–1966), Socialist realist sculptor
• Alexei Maresiev (1916–2001), a flying ace
• Samuil Marshak (1887–1964), a writer, translator and children's poet
• Vladimir Mayakovsky (1893–1930), a poet
• Victor Merzhanov (1919–2012), Russian pianist
• Anastas Mikoyan (1895–1978), a politician and head of state of the Soviet Union
• Vyacheslav Molotov (1890–1986), a politician
• Kirill Moskalenko (1902–1985), a former commander of Strategic Rocket Forces
• Vera Mukhina (1889–1953), a sculptor
• Alexander Nadiradze (1914–1987), a missile/weapon engineer and designer
• Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko (1858–1943), a theater director
• Yuri Nikulin (1921–1997), a clown and actor
• Alexander Novikov (1900–1976), an Air Force Marshal
• Sergey Obraztsov (1901–1992), a puppeteer
• Vladimir Obruchev (1863–1956), a geologist, geographer and explorer
• Nikolay Ogarev (1813–1877), a writer
• Nikolay Ogarkov (1917–1994), a Marshal and Chief of the Soviet General Staff (1977-1984)
• David Oistrakh (1908–1974), a violin virtuoso
• Aleksandr Oparin (1894–1980), a scientist
• Lyubov Orlova (1902–1975), an actress
• Nikolai Ostrovsky (1904–1936), a writer

Notable burials: P, R

• Ivan Panfilov (1892–1941), an army general
• Anatoli Papanov (1922–1987), an actor
• Valentin Parnakh (1891–1951), a poet and jazz musician
• Lyudmila Pavlichenko (1916–1974), a female sniper
• Ivan Petrov (1896–1958), an army general
• Ivan Petrovsky (1901–1973), a mathematician
• Nikolai Podgorny (1903–1983), a politician and head of state of the Soviet Union
• Aleksandr Ivanovich Pokryshkin (1913–1985), an Air Force marshal
• Boris Polevoy (1908–1981), a writer
• Pyotr Pospelov (1898–1971), a high-ranked Communist Party functionary
• Sergei Prokofiev (1891–1953), a composer
• Aleksandr Ptushko (1900–1973), a film director
• Vyacheslav Ragozin (1908–1962), a chessplayer
• Arkady Raikin (1911–1987), a stand up comedian
• Aleksandr Razumny (1891–1972), a film director
• Sviatoslav Richter (1915–1997), a pianist
• Mikhail Romm (1901–1971), a film director
• Mstislav Rostropovich (1927–2007), a cellist
• Nikolai Rubinstein (1835–1881), a Russian pianist and composer
• Lidiya Ruslanova (1900–1973), a folk singer

Notable burials: S

• Alexander Saburov (1908–1974), an army general and politician
• Ivan Samylovsky (1905–1971), a diplomat
• Otto Schmidt (1891–1956), a scientist
• Alfred Schnittke (1934–1998), a composer
• Alexander Scriabin (1872–1915), a composer
• Ivan Sechenov (1829–1905), a physiologist
• Nikolai Semashko (1874–1949), a politician
• Yuri Senkevich (1937–2003), an explorer
• Valentin Serov (1865–1911), a writer and artist
• Alexey Shchusev (1873–1949), an architect
• Vissarion Shebalin (1902–1963), a composer
• Dmitri Shepilov (1905–1995), a politician
• Dmitri Shostakovich (1906–1975), a composer
• Vladimir Shukhov (1853–1939), a civil engineer
• Vasily Shukshin (1929–1974), a writer and actor
• Innokenty Smoktunovsky (1925–1994), an actor
• Leonid Sobinov (1872–1934), a tenor and Director of the Bolshoi Theatre
• Sergei Sokolov (1911–2012), a Marshal and Minister of Defense of the Soviet Union
• Vladimir Solovyov (1853–1900), a philosopher
• Konstantin Stanislavski (1863–1938), a theater director
• Leopold Sulerzhitsky (1872–1916), a theater practitioner
• Mikhail Arkadyevich Svetlov (1903–1964), a poet
• Georgy Sviridov (1915–1998), a composer

Notable burials: T–Z

• Viktor Talalikhin (1918–1941), a heroic army lieutenant
• Sergei Taneyev (1856–1915), a composer
• Yelizaveta Tarakhovskaya (1891–1968), a poet and playwright
• Yevgeny Tarle (1874–1955), a historian
• Vladimir Tatlin (1885–1953), a painter and architect
• Vasily Tikhomirov (1876–1956), a choreographer
• Nikolai Tikhonov (1905–1997), a politician
• Gherman Titov (1935–2000), a cosmonaut, second man in space
• Aleksey Tolstoy (1882–1945), a writer
• Pavel Tretyakov (1832–1898), a businessman and art collector
• Andrei Tupolev (1888–1972), an aircraft designer
• Aleksandr Tvardovsky (1910–1971), a writer
• Galina Ulanova (1909–1998), a prima ballerina
• Vasili Ulrikh (1889–1951), a military judge
• Mikhail Ulyanov (1927–2007), an actor
• Yevgeny Vakhtangov (1883–1922), a theater director
• Arkady Volsky (1932–2006), a politician and businessman
• Sergey Vavilov (1891–1951), a physicist
• Vladimir Vernadsky (1863–1945), a mineralogist and a geochemist
• Alexander Vertinsky (1889–1957), a singer
• Dziga Vertov (1896–1954), a filmmaker
• Ivan Vinogradov (1891–1983), a mathematician
• Lev Semeonovich Vygotsky (1896–1934), a psychologist
• Boris Yeltsin (1931–2007), the first President of the Russian Federation
• Yevgeniy Yevstigneyev (1926–1992), an actor
• Yakov Yurovsky (1878–1938), chief executioner of Russia's last Tsar, Nicholas II and his family
• Nikolay Zabolotsky (1903–1958), a poet
• Nikolay Zelinskiy (1861–1953), a chemist
• Georgiy Zhzhonov (1915–2005), an actor