Melenskii, Andrei

Born in 1766 in Moscow; died in 1833. Ukrainian architect, representative of the Empire style.

Melenskii began his training in Moscow in 1775, studying in the Department of Kremlin Construction in 1786. From 1787 to 1792 he studied with G. Quarenghi in St. Petersburg. As the chief architect of Kiev between 1799 and 1829, Melenskii, with V. I. Geste, planned the layout of Podol (Lower City) and directed its construction. He also supervised the building of some of Kiev’s main thoroughfares, including the present Kirov, Zhdanov, and Red Army streets. His most important works— a monument in honor of the restoration of Magdeburg law in Kiev (1802-08), the rotunda church at Askold’s Tomb (1809-10), and the Voskresenskaia church (also rotunda) at the St. Florus Monastery (1824)—are distinguished for their lapidary and majestic forms.