Monument to Yuriy Gagarin

Type: Monuments
Country: RussiaUSA
Year of opening: 2012201120092008
Project Partners: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation«Russian World» Fund

In celebration of the 50th anniversary of the first manned space flight, the Fund installs monuments to the founder of Russian cosmonautics and space pioneer Yuriy Gagarin around the world.

On April 16, 2011 a monument to Yuriy Gagarin was opened in the territory of «ETNOMIR» Cultural and Educational Center. «Time Capsule» - a message to the future inhabitants of the Earth - was laid during the ceremony. In 2061, on the 100-year anniversary of the first manned flight into space, these messages will be transmitted to descendants.

Monument to Yuriy Gagarin in «ETNOMIR» Cultural and Educational Center

On April 16, 2011 a monument to Yuriy Gagarin was opened in the territory of «ETNOMIR» Cultural and Educational Center. «Time Capsule» - a message to the future inhabitants of the Earth - was laid during the ceremony. In 2061, on the 100-year anniversary of the first manned flight into space, these messages will be transmitted to descendants.

On October 15, 2012 the second copy of the monument to Yuriy Gagarin and a panel to J. Glenn were installed near the historic building of the first NASA Headquarters in Houston (Texas, USA).

The opening ceremony was attended by Director of the Space Department Charles Bolden, Mayor of Houston Annis Parker, Russia’s Ambassador General to the USA Sergei Kislyak, President of «Dialogue of Cultures - United World» Fund Ruslan Bayramov, Regional Director of Russian World Fund Nikolai Mikhailov, daughter and grandson of Yuriy Gagarin - Galina Gagarina and Yuriy Gagarin, as well as representatives of the American non-governmental organizations, research institutions of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation and organizations of Russian compatriots. A welcome letter by Governor of Kaluga region A.D. Artamonov was read at the ceremony, which is particularly symbolic since the history of the world space science started with Kaluga.

Monument to Yuriy Gagarin and a panel to J. Glenn in Houston, Texas

The event was preceded by a foundation stone ceremony, which took place four months earlier - on June 21, 2012. Then the ceremony was attended by the initiator of the idea to install the monument in Houston Ruslan Bayramov, Mayor of Houston Annis Parker, Consul General of the Russian Federation Alexander Zakharov, Deputy Director of NASA’s Mission Control Ellen Ochoa, members of the public and Russian Space Agency in Houston.

The third monument to Yuriy Gagarin was installed near the State Museum of Cosmonautics in Kaluga on April 9, 2011. In the same year, the same monument appeared on Korolev Avenue in the city of Rostov-on-Don.

Sculptor: Alexei Leonov.