Timiryazev monument in Moscow, Memorial statue in Presnensky District, Russia

The Timiryazev monument is a dark grey Swedish granite statue of plant physiologist Kliment Timiryazev, carved from two blocks and set on a pedestal of cubical forms. He wears the mantle of a Cambridge doctor, and the pedestal bears a relief curve of assimilation versus sunlight plus the inscription "K. A. Timiryazev — warrior and thinker". Granite microscopes stand at the boulevard entrance.

Soviet sculptor Sergei Merkurov created this monument in 1923 as part of Lenin's monumental propaganda campaign. It replaced a demolished building at Tverskoy Boulevard and commemorated a pioneer of plant research.

The pedestal bears the inscription "K. A. Timiryazev — warrior and thinker" and a relief of the assimilation curve Timiryazev derived in his plant physiology work. The monument's 1923 unveiling included a speech by biologist N. K. Koltsov and was filmed by Dziga Vertov. Some Muscovites criticized the choice, and Ilf and Petrov satirized it in a story.

The monument stands at the end of Tverskoy Boulevard by Nikitsky Gate Square, next to the entrance of the boulevard, where stylized granite microscopes flank the path. The square is open around the clock and level, so it can be visited on foot at any hour. Look for shrapnel scars at the bottom of the mantle and near the left foot, left by the 1941 bomb blast.

The sculptor used natural imperfections in Swedish granite blocks to determine the statue's elongated proportions, following techniques used by ancient craftsmen. This hands-on approach gives the monument an organic quality rarely seen in Soviet monumental works.