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Statue of Friedrich Engels, Manchester

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Coordinates: 53°28′24″N 2°14′49″W / 53.47338°N 2.24702°W / 53.47338; -2.24702
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Statue of Friedrich Engels
Пам'ятник Ф.Енгельсу
Map
53°28′24″N 2°14′49″W / 53.47338°N 2.24702°W / 53.47338; -2.24702
LocationTony Wilson Place, Manchester, United Kingdom
TypeStatue
MaterialConcrete[1]
Height3.7 m (12 ft)[2]
Completion date~1970s
Restored date2017
Dedicated toFriedrich Engels

The statue of Friedrich Engels is a 12 ft (3.7 m) concrete statue of German philosopher Friedrich Engels currently located at Tony Wilson Place in Manchester, England.

The Soviet-era statue depicts Engels in a standing pose with his arms crossed, and stands on a pedestal bearing the Cyrillic inscription "Ф. ЕНГЕЛЬС" ("F. ENGELS").

History

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First constructed in the 1970s, the statue was originally installed in the village of Mala Pereschepyna in the Poltava Oblast of the Ukrainian SSR. In 2015 Ukraine passed a series of laws that outlawed the public display of Soviet symbols, and the statue was consequently removed from its original position and discarded in a field, having been cut in half at the waist.[3]

The removal of so many Soviet-era monuments in Ukraine prompted the artist Phil Collins to begin searching for a statue of Engels to bring to Manchester, the city in which Engels had been living when he wrote The Condition of the Working Class in England between 1842 and 1844. After two years of searching for a suitable statue of Engels, Collins discovered the statue in its abandoned state and after eight months of negotiations was able to secure permission to transport the statue to England.[4][5]

The statue was temporarily displayed at several locations across Europe on the journey to England. It was unveiled in its new location in front of HOME on the last day of the 2017 Manchester International Festival.[6][7]

  • The statue in its original location in Poltava Oblast, Ukraine
    The statue in its original location in Poltava Oblast, Ukraine
  • The statue in its current location on Tony Wilson Place, Manchester
    The statue in its current location on Tony Wilson Place, Manchester

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Michael, Mosbacher (9 March 2022). "Engels mustn't fall". thespectator.co.uk. The Spectator. Retrieved 14 August 2023.
  2. ^ Tyldesley, Jordan (4 March 2022). "Tearing down the statue of Friedrich Engels won't help Ukraine". newstatesman.com. The New Statesman. Retrieved 9 August 2023.
  3. ^ "Soviet Engels Statue – Manchester, England". atlasobscura.com. Atlas Obscura. 19 February 2018. Retrieved 14 August 2023.
  4. ^ Higgins, Charlotte (30 June 2017). "Phil Collins: why I took a Soviet statue of Engels across Europe to Manchester". theguardian.com. The Guardian. Retrieved 14 August 2023.
  5. ^ Boardman, David (August 2018). "Friedrich Engels". manchesterhistory.net. Retrieved 14 August 2023.
  6. ^ Davis, Zephira (6 August 2017). "A Communist Icon Toppled in Ukraine Is Restored. In England". nytimes.com. The New York Times. Retrieved 14 August 2023.
  7. ^ "Statement from HOME regarding the artwork installation of Friedrich Engels". homemcr.org. HOME Manchester. 4 March 2022. Retrieved 14 August 2023.
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