Can you guess who these monuments in Samara are dedicated to?

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Answers:

1. Soldier Švejk

Alexandra Guzeva

In 1918, Jaroslav Hašek, author of the novel 'The Good Soldier Švejk', lived in Samara. There is also a memorial plaque on the house where the Czech writer stayed. Read more about it here.

2. The Aksakovs & the scarlet flower

Alexandra Guzeva

In 2021, a public garden dedicated to the Aksakovs and a sculptural composition were opened in Samara. A bronze sculpture of writer Sergei Aksakov stands on the beach, while behind him stands his son Grigory, who was the Samara governor. His granddaughter Olga, meanwhile, stands in front of him, holding out a scarlet flower. This is a reference to Aksakov's fairy tale of the same name, inspired by the folk story about the Beauty and the Beast.

3. Barge haulers of the Volga

Alexandra Guzeva

Ilya Repin's famous painting ‘Barge Haulers on the Volga’ can be seen in the bronze frame on the easel. The artist saw the subjects for his masterpiece there, in the vicinity of Samara. In 2014, to mark the writer's birthday anniversary, his painting was immortalized in bronze on the Volga River embankment.

4. Comrade Sukhov

Alexandra Guzeva

Have you ever watched the Soviet movie ‘White Sun of the Desert’? Its main character, Comrade Sukhov, was from Samara and he says at one point:  "Now, I’ll get to the Volga and, from there, it’s a stone’s throw to Samara." And now, there is a monument to the Red Army soldier on the Volga River embankment.

5. Uncle Stepa

Yury Strelets/Sputnik

On the pedestrian zone of Leningradskaya Street in Samara, an almost six-meter statue of the famous literary hero from Sergei Mikhalkov's children's poem can be seen from all sides. The kind giant policeman Uncle Stepa is surrounded by children looking up to him.

6. Buratino

Anar Movsumov/Sputnik

Soviet writer Alexei Tolstoy wrote a Russian version of ‘Pinocchio’ and his children's book is called 'The Golden Key', in which the main character is a wooden boy named ‘Buratino’. To mark the writer's 130th birthday anniversary, a bronze monument to the instantly recognizable wooden boy with a long nose was erected in his native Samara.

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