Golden Boy () is a sculpture created by Mikhail Anikushin, a celebrated Soviet sculptor honored with the titles People's Artist of the USSR and recipient of both the Lenin Prize and I. E. Repin State Prizes of the RSFSR. The work was conceived as part of the larger , dedicated to those who endured the siege of the city during World War II. The memorial itself was unveiled in 1975 in Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg) and was designed by architects Valentin Kamensky and Sergei Speransky. The model for the sculpture was Anikushin's own grandson, Adrian Anikushin.
Both existing versions of Golden Boy were executed in bronze and covered with gold leaf, and were lost. The Mikhail Anikushin Workshop, a branch of , displays a plaster model of the sculpture.
Sculpture The sculpture is part of the collection of the State Museum of Urban Sculpture in St. Petersburg and is displayed in the permanent exhibition of the Mikhail Anikushin Workshop, a branch of the museum. It is exhibited in the hall dedicated to the creation of the monument To the Heroic Defenders of Leningrad. The sculpture measures 98.5 cm in height and 30 cm in width, with the inventory number NVF-98. In the exhibition summary, it is titled Golden Boy. 1975.
The work is a plaster model of a now-lost bronze sculpture originally covered with gold leaf. Metal frame elements are visible beneath the plaster on the backs of both hands. The sculpture depicts a completely nude boy, approximately 5–6 years old, with his head slightly raised and eyes gazing forward. His right foot is planted, while the left is extended forward with toes spread, suggesting movement. The figure stands on a small round pedestal, bearing the inscription "1975. M. Anikushin," scratched into the wet plaster behind the feet. The boy's arms are raised in front of his abdomen, slightly away from the body, with elbows bent and positioned behind him.
Sculpture’s history
Mikhail Anikushin's plan Elena Litovchenko, corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Arts, noted that Mikhail Anikushin “suffered from the impossibility of speaking sincerely about the tragedy of Leningrad”. His concept for the Monument to the Heroic Defenders of Leningrad aimed to combine tragic, solemn, and lyrical elements, emphasizing sincerity and symbolism over pathos and conventional realism. Anikushin described the memorial’s “sincerity and individuality” as a protest against generalized monumentality. Known for constant improvisation, he sought to imbue the ensemble with emotional depth.
The composition of the memorial is divided into three parts: a staircase with sculptural groups and an obelisk, an open-air hall in the form of a broken ring, and an underground memorial museum.See the external images. According to the author's plan, the tour of the memorial complex should begin at the staircase. The contrast between the dynamic sculptures and the balanced, static architectural structure imbues the staircase ensemble with “excitement and spirituality”. Currently, the composition of the staircase includes 26 figures facing the front line during the blockade.Including 2 figures at the stele and 6 characters of the Blockade group, there are 34 of them in all compositions of the memorial. Another figure was created as a plaster model and later cast in metal in accordance with the sculptor's original vision.
Mikhail Anikushin wrote in his diary about the work on the Golden Boy:There were three projects for the monument. In the second project, I thought for a long time about what to place at the center of the composition. And suddenly, I realized: the symbol was found! It is the a small child figure — his striving for life should connect all these big and courageous people. We fought not for glory; we fought for life. And the child, for me, symbolizes this invincible life. But they wouldn’t let me. I cried for a week [...].The third one was approved.Art historian Alexander Zamoshkin noted that the early memorial mockups featured 15 cm figures, allowing full visualization of the composition.Sources claim that in the very first version of the monument there was only one figure. For example, Lyubov Slavova, a senior researcher at the State Russian Museum, wrote that Anikushin's idea was initially limited to a single female figure. At the 1972 exhibition, Golden Boy stood at the edge of the elliptical site, symbolizing renewal and peace. Other groups portrayed the suffering and resilience of Leningraders. The final design, shaped by public feedback, was more monumental. A central Victory statue, inspired by classical heroism, was later replaced with The Winners, a more concrete representation of Leningrad's defenders. The child figure was initially retained but no longer appeared in later versions of the composition.
Elena Lezik, director of the State Memorial Museum of the Defense and Siege of Leningrad, wrote that the earliest version placed the boy directly on the ground, representing the human cost of war. She confirmed that this model was displayed at the State Russian Museum as early as May 1972. Art historian Igor Bartenev described an alternate version featuring a mother lifting the child atop the obelisk, symbolizing future generations.
Journalist Yuri Trefilov, a close associate of Anikushin, recounted that Golden Boy emerged during the final design phase. Initially intended to crown the 48-meter obelisk, the figure was repositioned at the top step of the staircase at the suggestion of Leningrad party leader Grigory Romanov. Romanov interpreted the boy as a symbol of life for whom the heroes had fought — with the statues Soldier and Worker standing protectively behind.
Two versions of the sculpture were cast in metal and gilded to the highest standards. The broader monument was executed in dark red granite from Vyborg and Priozersk, and patinated bronze, creating a solemn, traditional palette in line with Leningrad’s commemorative architecture.In the book on the work of Mikhail Anikushin by the candidates of historical sciences Remma Mikhailova and Anta Zhuravlevova, it is stated that red granite (with quartz and feldspar) was extracted from the Borodino deposit near Vyborg and used to make the obelisks and pedestals of all the sculptural groups, except for the Blockade, for which black granite with blue sparkle from Ukraine was used.
Model Mikhail Anikushin's grandson, Adrian, claimed to be the prototype for the Golden Boy sculpture.Adrian Anikushin was born in 1969, and his age at the time of the memorial's unveiling was indeed the same as that of the Golden Boy. However, he offered a different interpretation of its placement within the memorial’s overall design. Adrian noted that instead of the boy being centrally located, a large obelisk had been placed there, which obscured the child's significance. He believed the boy should have stood behind the Soldier and Worker sculptures, where the stele was, symbolizing life returning to the city after the war. Adrian further explained that the child represented vitality and rebirth, intended to descend the stairs as a living symbol of the city’s resurgence.Аникушин А. «Моего деда можно было застать дома только в субботу и воскресенье». Собака.ru. Дата обращения: 2 January 2021.
Adrian's view aligns with a passage from Anikushin's article Pain and Courage, published in the May 1975 issue of Avrora magazine before the memorial’s official opening. Anikushin described his inspiration for the Golden Boy:I spent a long time thinking about what to put in the center of the composition. Once, while I was working on the monument, my five-year-old grandson Adriyashka came running to the studio. Suddenly, it became clear to me: I found the symbol! It was a figure of a small child, his tiny life, which should connect all these great and courageous people. The Nazi officers urged their soldiers: "Destroy, crush, hack for the glory of the Fuhrer — and let your conscience be clear [...]" We weren't fighting for glory, we were fighting for the life. And for me, the child symbolizes this invincible life.Soviet poet Vsevolod Azarov recalled a moment when he and Anikushin were discussing the first draft of the memorial in the artist's studio. During the conversation, Anikushin's grandson, in light, quick steps, ran into the room. Azarov jokingly asked if the central child figure was inspired by the boy, to which Anikushin simply smiled.
Destination Journalist Yuri Trefilov, a close associate of Mikhail Anikushin and familiar with the planning of the Monument to the Heroic Defenders of Leningrad, believed that Grigory Romanov, then First Secretary of the Leningrad Regional Committee, reversed his decision to include the Golden Boy sculpture at the last moment. According to Trefilov, Romanov, preparing for a promotion to Moscow, was unwilling to risk his political career over an ideologically sensitive artistic choice. The figure of a nude child at the forefront of a World War II memorial could have been seen as controversial, especially with Mikhail Suslov, Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee and ideological overseer, scheduled to attend the opening. Known for his strict moral views, Suslov might have disapproved of the sculpture’s prominence and form.
Trefilov noted that the Golden Boy, only 1.5 meters tall and without a pedestal, stood at eye level, making it easily accessible to viewers and visually distinct from the larger, 3.5-meter figures of the composition. Its shining, idealized form contrasted sharply with the emaciated, solemn figures representing the Blockade within the inner memorial ring. According to Trefilov, the local Party organization advised delaying the sculpture’s installation with vague promises to resolve the matter after the unveiling. Ultimately, the sculpture was never installed, and its whereabouts remain unknown. Anikushin’s student, Vladimir Gorevoi, recalled that after the memorial’s opening, one of the two bronze versions of the Golden Boy was returned to the sculptor’s studio, though its fate remains unclear
Anikushin was unaware of the decision to exclude the sculpture. On the day of the opening, May 4, 1975, he believed the Golden Boy would be delivered in time for the ceremony.Vadim Bass, Andrei Gusarov, and others have dated the memorial's official opening to the public to May 9, 1975. He repeatedly tried to contact the director of the Monument Sculpture factory from his nearby hotel but was told the director was away seeking clarification from Party officials. Eventually, Anikushin went to the factory himself and found the director, V. P. Stepanov. According to Trefilov, in a scene he personally witnessed, the enraged sculptor chased Stepanov around a table until the latter confessed that Romanov had ordered the sculpture not be erected. Anikushin rarely spoke of the incident afterward, and the story became widely known only posthumously.Артефакты скульптора Аникушина: в Петербурге открылась выставка к 100-летию мастера. Санкт-Петербург (19 September 2017). 2 January 2021. Trefilov’s account is supported by art historian Nina Veselitskaya-Ignatius, whose article in the May 1975 issue of Tvorchestvo does not mention the Golden Boy. However, an illustration accompanying the text clearly shows the child’s figure as part of the original composition.