Gorky Square, Nizhnij Novgorod, Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, Russia
Perhaps the most prominent monument in Nizhny Novgorod, the monument to Maxim Gorky on Gorky Square is an essential part of your visit to the city. Aside from being a prolific Soviet author, the importance of visiting this monument is all the more so accentuated by the fact that Nizhny Novgorod, up until 1990, had been named Gorky in his honor.
The reason for this prestigious bestowment is that Maxim Gorky was the father of Socialist Realism, the literary style devised under Stalin that promoted the socialist ideals of the Soviet Union in a “realistic” manner by discussing the achievements of the common people.
Maxim Gorky was born Aleksei Peshkov in Nizhny Novgorod in 1868. Almost immediately, his life took a turn for the worst, with his father dying of cholera. This forced his mother to return to her parents’ household, where he was subjected to constant beatings at his grandfather’s hand.
When he began his literary career, these experiences influenced him to take up the pen name: Maxim, in honor of his father, and Gorky, which means “sour” in Russian, used to represent his assessment of life in Russia at the time. By this time, near the turn of the century, Gorky was actively involved in Marxist organizations in Russia, namely the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party, which in 1903 would split into two parties, the Bolsheviks and the Mensheviks
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