The memorial plaque of graduate of Kharkiv Imperial University, painter Henry Semiradsky was unveiled at the library building of the V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University (KNU) on October 27th, reported the website of Kharkiv City Council.
The opening ceremony was attended by the principal architect of Kharkiv Sergey Chechelnitsky, Consul General of Poland in Kharkiv Stanislaw Lukasik, rector of V.N. Karazin KNU Vil Bakirov, people of art, and members of the public.
The memorial plaque was opened at the initiative of public organization “Kharkiv club “General” and created by sculptor Alexander Ridnyi.
Wil Bakirov told that Henry Semiradsky studied very well. As a result, he glorified Kharkiv throughout Europe and became a member of the academies of art in many cities around the world.
Stanislaw Lukasik said that Semiradsky didn’t live in Poland so he wasn’t very popular in his time. According to him, Kharkiv has made a huge contribution to the development of painter’s talent. The Consul General thanked the city authorities and members of the public for the initiative to open a memorial plaque to the outstanding person who became a citizen of Europe.
It should be noticed that today in a northern campus building of V.N. Karazin KNU a gallery was opened which bears the name of Henry Semiradsky.
Reference. Henry Semiradsky is a painter, one of the leading representatives of late academism. He studied in Kharkiv and St.Petersburg but most of the active creative life was spent in Rome. Academician and professor at the Imperial Academy of Arts, Academy of Art in Berlin, Stockholm, Rome, Turin, corresponding member of the French Academy of Fine Arts. His works are mainly in museums in Poland, Ukraine, Russia and in private collections.
