The year of 2014 is the year of 175th anniversary of the birth of the great scientist, one of the most respected world travelers, the honorary member of the Russian Geographical Society Nikolai Mikhailovich Przewalski.
A number of events will be organized to celebrate the anniversary – scientific conferences, photo exhibitions, and even the release of a collection postage stamp, the solemn cancellation of which took place at the meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Russian Geographical Society on April 15, 2014. And in the homeland of the researcher – in Smolensk - a monument is planned to be fixed up.
This initiative was supported by President of the Russian Geographical Society Sergei Shoigu. On May 7 on the website of the Russian Geographical Society a fund raise campaign to spend on the monument was launched.
After that an open competition to design a monument to the traveler started. Application period ended December 1, 2014. 21 projects of the monument were presented to the experts.
The results of the creative competition will be announced in late December 2014 and published on the website of the Russian Geographical Society. The jury will select the aptest project and it will be realized in Smolensk.
Monuments to many famous people in Russia are “people’s”. One of the most famous monuments erected on people’s money is the monument to “citizen Minin and Prince Pozharsky” in Moscow, next to the Cathedral of St. Basil. Money for the monument to Pushkin in Pushkin Square in Moscow was gathered at the initiative of the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum graduates. The monument to Gogol in Nikitsky Boulevard in Moscow was also built on public donations. 50 thousand rubles required for the construction of the first monument to Lomonosov in Arkhangelsk was collected in two years. The Russian Geographical Society hopes that the monument to Przewalski will also be in this list soon.