Alexander Kokorinov
Encyclopedia
Rector
The word rector has a number of different meanings; it is widely used to refer to an academic, religious or political administrator...
(1769) of the Imperial Academy of Arts
Imperial Academy of Arts
The Russian Academy of Arts, informally known as the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts, was founded in 1757 by Ivan Shuvalov under the name Academy of the Three Noblest Arts. Catherine the Great renamed it the Imperial Academy of Arts and commissioned a new building, completed 25 years later in 1789...
in Saint Peterburg. Kokorinov has been house architect of the Razumovsky
Razumovsky
Razumovsky , originally Rozumovsky , formerly transliterated as Rasumowski, Rasumofsky and Rasoumofsky) is a Ukrainian noble family from Russian Empire. Surviving branch remains in Austria.-History:...
family and Ivan Shuvalov
Ivan Shuvalov
Ivan Ivanovich Shuvalov was called the Maecenas of the Russian Enlightenment and the first Russian Minister of Education...
, the first President of the Academy. Kokorinov's surviving architectural legacy, once believed to be substantial, has been reduced by recent research to only two buildings, the Imperial Academy of Arts and Kirill Razumovsky
Kirill Razumovsky
Count Kirill Grigorievich Razumovsky was a Ukrainian Registered Cossack from the Kozelets regiment in north-eastern Ukraine, who served as the last Hetman of Left- and Right-Bank Ukraine until 1764; Razumovsky was subsequently elected Hetman of the sovereign Zaporozhian Host in 1759, a position...
palace in Saint Petersburg. The Academy was designed by Jean-Baptiste Vallin de la Mothe
Jean-Baptiste Vallin de la Mothe
thumb|St. Petersburg's [[Imperial Academy of Arts]]Jean-Baptiste Michel Vallin de la Mothe was a French architect whose major career was spent in St...
based on an earlier proposal by Jacques-François Blondel
Jacques-François Blondel
Jacques-François Blondel was a French architect. He was the grandson of François Blondel , whose course of architecture had appeared in four volumes in 1683 -Biography:...
, while Kokorinov managed the construction in its early phases (1764–1772).
Biography
Alexander Kokorinov was born in TobolskTobolsk
Tobolsk is a town in Tyumen Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Tobol and Irtysh Rivers. It is a historic capital of Siberia. Population: -History:...
in the family of a government clerk. At the age of 14 he began training with Johann Blank (father of Karl Blank
Karl Blank
Karl Blank was a Russian architect, notable as one of the last practitioners of Baroque architecture and the first Moscow architect to build early neoclassical buildings. His surviving, undisputed legacy consists of three baroque churches and Moscow Orphanage...
), a self-proclaimed architect exiled from Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
for his involvement in the alleged conspiracy of Artemy Volynsky (1740). With the ascension of Elisabeth in 1741 survivors of the Volynsky affair were amnestied
Amnesty
Amnesty is a legislative or executive act by which a state restores those who may have been guilty of an offense against it to the positions of innocent people, without changing the laws defining the offense. It includes more than pardon, in as much as it obliterates all legal remembrance of the...
and the Blanks returned to Moscow, taking Kokorinov with them.
Kokorinov and Karl Blank studied arts and architecture in Moscow under Ivan Korobov, and in 1749 Kokorinov was hired by prince Dmitry Ukhtomsky
Dmitry Ukhtomsky
Prince Dmitry Vasilyevich Ukhtomsky, Дмитрий Васильевич Ухтомский was the chief architect of Moscow, Russia during the reign of Empress Elizabeth.-Biography:...
, then the leading Moscow architect of Elisabethan Baroque
Baroque
The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...
and dean of an architectural school based in Moscow Kremlin
Moscow Kremlin
The Moscow Kremlin , sometimes referred to as simply The Kremlin, is a historic fortified complex at the heart of Moscow, overlooking the Moskva River , Saint Basil's Cathedral and Red Square and the Alexander Garden...
. He received the degree of Master of Mathematics from Moscow University and in 1754 Kokorinov passed professional examination as a junior architect, joined the staff of Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli
Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli
Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli was an Italian architect naturalized Russian. He developed an easily recognizable style of Late Baroque, both sumptuous and majestic...
and relocated to Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
where he made contact with count Ivan Shuvalov
Ivan Shuvalov
Ivan Ivanovich Shuvalov was called the Maecenas of the Russian Enlightenment and the first Russian Minister of Education...
, founder of Moscow State University
Moscow State University
Lomonosov Moscow State University , previously known as Lomonosov University or MSU , is the largest university in Russia. Founded in 1755, it also claims to be one of the oldest university in Russia and to have the tallest educational building in the world. Its current rector is Viktor Sadovnichiy...
(1755) and the Imperial Academy of Arts
Imperial Academy of Arts
The Russian Academy of Arts, informally known as the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts, was founded in 1757 by Ivan Shuvalov under the name Academy of the Three Noblest Arts. Catherine the Great renamed it the Imperial Academy of Arts and commissioned a new building, completed 25 years later in 1789...
(1757). Kokorinov joined the staff of the Academy since its first days.
Shuvalov initially proposed to set up the Academy in Moscow and commissioned Jacques-François Blondel
Jacques-François Blondel
Jacques-François Blondel was a French architect. He was the grandson of François Blondel , whose course of architecture had appeared in four volumes in 1683 -Biography:...
to design the new campus there. Empress Elisabeth insisted that the Academy must be based in Saint Petersburg, and the task of adapting Blondel's plans was awarded to Kokorinov, who has already designed Shuvalov's own house in Saint Petersburg. Kokorinov, firmly trained only in Baroque
Baroque
The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...
styling, struggled with Blondel's French neoclassical
French Rococo and Neoclassicism
18th-century French art was dominated by the Rococo and neoclassical movements. In France, the death of Louis XIV lead to a period of licentious freedom commonly called the Régence. The heir to Louis XIV, his great grandson Louis XV of France, was only 5 years old; for the next seven years France...
design and in 1759 Shuvalov hired another Frenchman to assist Kokorinov. Jean-Baptiste Vallin de la Mothe
Jean-Baptiste Vallin de la Mothe
thumb|St. Petersburg's [[Imperial Academy of Arts]]Jean-Baptiste Michel Vallin de la Mothe was a French architect whose major career was spent in St...
, Blondel's cousin and a recent graduate of the Royal Academy of Architecture
Académie d'architecture
The Académie royale d'architecture was a French learned society founded on December 30, 1671 by Louis XIV, king of France under the impulsion of Jean-Baptiste Colbert...
, became Kokorinov's peer on the Academy project and soon surpassed him. Design of the building is traditionally credited by Kokorinov and de la Mothe, but recent research in French archives indicate that it was de la Mothe's own work, while no drafts by Kokorinov were ever found. The Academy, a complex structure measuring 140 by 125 meters, bears traces of Blondel's style yet, according to Dmitry Shvidkovsky
Dmitry Shvidkovsky
Dmitry Shvidkovsky is a Russian educator and historian of architecture of Russia and the United Kingdom during the Age of Enlightenment. A 1982 alumnus and long-term professor of Moscow Architectural Institute, Shvidkovsky was appointed its rector in 2007....
, "is more up to date ... especially noticeable in plan. Where Blondel specified a corinthian order
Corinthian order
The Corinthian order is one of the three principal classical orders of ancient Greek and Roman architecture. The other two are the Doric and Ionic. When classical architecture was revived during the Renaissance, two more orders were added to the canon, the Tuscan order and the Composite order...
, the stricter Roman Doric
Doric order
The Doric order was one of the three orders or organizational systems of ancient Greek or classical architecture; the other two canonical orders were the Ionic and the Corinthian.-History:...
was actually used. The cupola
Cupola
In architecture, a cupola is a small, most-often dome-like, structure on top of a building. Often used to provide a lookout or to admit light and air, it usually crowns a larger roof or dome....
too is more laconic than as designed by Blondel. The complete building turned out even more austere than it appears in de la Mothe's drawings."
In 1761 Kokorinov was appointed director of the Academy (subordinate to its President), but it was not until 1765 when he became its professor
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
. He taught elementary architectural theory and history of architecture, while de la Mothe taught advanced architectural subjects.
While the architects finalized their proposal, Russia was shaken by a brief reign (5 January 1762 – 9 July 1762) and murder of emperor Peter III
Peter III of Russia
Peter III was Emperor of Russia for six months in 1762. He was very pro-Prussian, which made him an unpopular leader. He was supposedly assassinated as a result of a conspiracy led by his wife, who succeeded him to the throne as Catherine II.-Early life and character:Peter was born in Kiel, in...
, succeeded by Catherine II
Catherine II of Russia
Catherine II, also known as Catherine the Great , Empress of Russia, was born in Stettin, Pomerania, Prussia on as Sophie Friederike Auguste von Anhalt-Zerbst-Dornburg...
. The new empress sent Shuvalov to a de facto
De facto
De facto is a Latin expression that means "concerning fact." In law, it often means "in practice but not necessarily ordained by law" or "in practice or actuality, but not officially established." It is commonly used in contrast to de jure when referring to matters of law, governance, or...
exile
Exile
Exile means to be away from one's home , while either being explicitly refused permission to return and/or being threatened with imprisonment or death upon return...
in his country estate and installed Ivan Betskoy
Ivan Betskoy
Ivan Ivanovich Betskoi or Betskoy was a Russian school reformer who served as Catherine II's advisor on education and President of the Imperial Academy of Arts for thirty years...
as the new President of the Academy. March 18, 1764 she authorized financing for construction in earnest and set up construction board, headed by Kokorinov. De la Mothe, who always shied away from practical construction, was not actively involved on site; for the first time in Russian history, architectural profession was split into architectural design and construction management.
During Russian-Turkish war of 1768–1774 financing of the project virtually stopped, while Betskoy initiated a criminal case against alleged fraud
Fraud
In criminal law, a fraud is an intentional deception made for personal gain or to damage another individual; the related adjective is fraudulent. The specific legal definition varies by legal jurisdiction. Fraud is a crime, and also a civil law violation...
on the site. Kokorinov, blamed with cost overruns, died in 1772; unofficial opinion held it that he committed suicide. De la Mothe left Russia in 1775, the building was completed by Yury Felten
Yury Felten
Yury Matveyevich Felten was a court architect to Catherine the Great, Empress of Russia.Yuri Felten was born Georg Veldten, into a family of German immigrants in Russia. His father worked for the Russian Academy of Sciences...
in 1788.