Resolution of the Council of Ministers of the USSR "On the Design and Placement of the New Building of Moscow State University," July 3, 1948

Source: Tom 18

Moscow, the Kremlin

July 3, 1948

No. 2409

The Council of Ministers of the USSR resolves:

1. To entrust the design of the new building of Moscow State University on the Lenin Hills to a group of architects consisting of: Comrades L.V. Rudnev (director), S.E. Chernyshev, P.V. Abrosimov, and A.F. Khryakov, relieving Comrade B.M. Iofan of this work.

Design work shall be carried out on the basis of the design workshop of the Administration for the Construction of the Palace of Soviets.

The head of the Administration for the Construction of the Palace of Soviets, Comrade Prokofiev, and Comrade Rudnev are obligated to submit the preliminary design of the new university building for approval to the Council of Ministers of the USSR by October 1, 1948.

2. The building of Moscow State University shall be located on the Lenin Hills on a site at the center of the bend of the Moscow River, at a distance of 700 meters from the existing Rublyovskoye Highway in the direction of the southwestern district.

Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR

I. Stalin

Manager of Affairs of the Council of Ministers of the USSR

Ya. Chadaev

Historical Archive. 2004. No. 1. Pp. 42-43.

GA RF. F. 5446 Op. 1. D. 338. L. 155.

Note

Yu.A. Zhdanov, who at that time was head of the Science Sector of the CC VKP(b), recalled: "The question of building a new complex of buildings for Moscow State University was examined in the Politburo. Present were the rector of MSU, Academician Alexander Nikolaevich Nesmeyanov, and myself. The Moscow authorities proposed building a four-story campus for MSU in the area of Vnukovo Airport. After a pause, Stalin addressed Beria:

'What is planned for construction on the Vorobyovy Hills?'

'A residential high-rise complex, Comrade Stalin,' Beria explained.

'Then it must be replanned and the university built there. This matter should be entrusted to Comrade Komarovsky.'
Komarovsky was at that time one of the biggest builders in Beria's system. And credit must be given to him: he carried out the assignment superbly" (Zhdanov Yu.A. A Look into the Past. Pp. 295-296). See: Resolution of the Council of Ministers of the USSR "On Strengthening the Construction of Moscow State University and the 32-Story Administrative Building in Zaryadye," October 14, 1948.

On April 8, 1949, by Resolution No. 1395 of the Council of Ministers of the USSR, the group of architects was awarded the Stalin Prize, First Class, for creating the design of the 26-story building of Moscow State University on the Lenin Hills.