Chapayev monument, Equestrian monument in Samara, Russia

The Chapayev monument is a bronze multi-figure equestrian group on a stepped pedestal of dark grey stone, set on Chapayev Square in front of the drama theatre. It shows Chapayev on a rearing horse with a sabre, surrounded by a commissar, a Bashkir soldier, a partisan peasant, a Tatar in a torn shirt, a woman in a headscarf, a sailor and a Red Army soldier. The bronze weighs 12 tonnes and the figures are 1.5 times human height.

Erected in 1932 for the 15th anniversary of the October Revolution on what had been Paris Commune Square, it was designed by architect Iosif Langbard and sculptor Matvey Manizer. Manizer used real Civil War participants as models: Chapaev's son Alexander posed for the face, and Bashkir poet Gaisa Yusupov for the rising Bashkir soldier. The pedestal was faced with polished black labradorite in 1963.

The seven figures were modelled on real Civil War participants: Chapaev's son Alexander posed for his father's face, Bashkir poet Gaisa Yusupov for the rising Bashkir soldier, and weaver Tkacheva for the machine-gunner Anka. The group also includes a commissar, a partisan peasant, a Tatar porter in a torn shirt and a sailor.

The monument stands on central Chapayev Square directly in front of the drama theatre, making it easy to find. You can view and photograph it from all sides since it is freely accessible.

The surname on the 1932 monument read Chepaev, Chapaev's real name; it was later changed to Chapaev after Furmanov's novel spread the altered spelling. A copy cast in 1933 stands in Saint Petersburg, before the Budyonny Military Academy of the Signal Corps, because Kirov saw the work in Leningrad and asked Manizer for a duplicate.