The bronze bust of Nikolai Ivanovich Kuznetsov, created by the sculptor Pavel Ivanovich Bondarenko, was presented in 1953 by Dmitry Nikolaevich Medvedev — commander of “The Winners” partisan detachment — to representatives of the Talitsky District. The Nikolai Kuznetsov Museum in Talitsa holds a photograph capturing the moment of this handover. The image was taken by Ivan Nikolaevich Tyufyakov, who later published a book in the series “Our Countrymen”, featuring numerous photographs; however, this particular photo was not included in the publication.
On the reverse of the photograph — published here for the first time — the members of the delegation are identified as follows: Dmitry Vasilyevich Molodtsov, Chairman of the District Executive Committee; Zyryanov, Head of the Department of Culture; G. Maltsev, staff member of the newspaper “For Communism”; Vasily Vasilyevich Malyshkin, Head of the Organizational Department of the District Party Committee; Yevgeny Petrovich Konovalov, Deputy Chairman of the District Executive Committee; and an unnamed elderly man referred to only as “the grandfather from Zyryanka” (his identity remains unknown, though he likely knew Nikolai Kuznetsov personally).
Initially, the bronze bust was placed in the office of Maria Fyodorovna Arzhakina, Chairwoman of the Talitsa City Executive Committee. In 1953, the square adjacent to Kuznetsov Street was renamed in his honor. That same year, the Talitsa City Council’s Executive Committee resolved to install the bust in the newly designated park. The construction of the monument was assigned to the city’s Repair and Construction Committee, with funding provided by the City Council. Despite material and logistical challenges, the work was completed swiftly — largely thanks to local volunteers who enthusiastically contributed to its erection.
On July 11, 1954, the first monument to Nikolai Kuznetsov was unveiled in Talitsa. The ceremony was attended by representatives of the Sverdlovsk Regional Committee and Regional Executive Committee, staff from the Sverdlovsk Film Studio, officials from the regional Department of Culture, and delegations from Tyumen and other cities. The event was filmed, and the resulting newsreel was subsequently shown in cinemas across the Sverdlovsk region and beyond. In a powerful display of public reverence, so many wreaths and flowers were laid at the monument that it was nearly obscured beneath them.
Over time, trees were planted in the park — now named after the legendary spy — and grew into a shaded alley. However, the original bust soon proved too small, and its wooden pedestal failed to reflect the stature of either the monument or the hero it commemorated. Consequently, a decision was made to replace it.
The new monument was commissioned from the renowned Tyumen sculptor Alexei Ivanovich Klyukin, a veteran of the Great Patriotic War. On March 29, 1964, the renovated monument was ceremonially unveiled in Talitsa. Among the attendees were Kuznetsov’s relatives — his brother and sister — former comrades from his partisan detachment, and classmates from both the Talitsa seven-year secondary school and the Forestry College.
Unlike the original, the new bust was cast in plaster but painted to resemble bronze and mounted on a substantial granite pedestal, giving it a far more dignified and imposing presence. Following the unveiling, the first bust was transferred to the Nikolai Kuznetsov Museum, where it remains on display to this day.
