PHOTO: Emperor Nicholas II, Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin
and Russian president Boris Yeltsin

This year – 2025 – marks the 155th anniversary of the birth of Vladimir Lenin, the 35th anniversary of the election of Boris Yeltsin as Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR and the 25th anniversary of the glorification of Tsar Nicholas II as a saint. In recognition of these three historical figures a joint monument entitled “The Great Three” will be erected in St. Petersburg.

The sculptors will create a bronze monument depicting the life-size figures of Nicholas II, Lenin and Yeltsin, which will be installed on the coast of the Gulf of Finland, opposite the flags of the Russian Empire, the USSR and the Russian Federation. They will be depicted holding each other by the shoulders and proudly looking towards the state symbols of the three eras.

The installation of the monument is supported by the Ministry of Culture, the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, the Russian Orthodox Church and the Yeltsin Center in Ekaterinburg. It is their hope that the monument will contribute to reconciliation in society and will become a symbol of the continuity of Russia’s national history.

Reconciliation is a noble ideal but Lenin’s hand on the last Tsar’s shoulder is somewhat disturbing. One simply cannot “reconcile” with the man who ordered the murder of Nicholas II and his family. The very idea of a monument depicting the Bolshevik leader standing next to the Tsar, with his hand on the Tsar’s shoulder is simply wrong!

The date and location of the installation of “The Great Three” monument has yet to be announced.

© Paul Gilbert. 20 March 2025