Ligovsky People's House

Ligovsky People's House
Лиговский Народный дом
Ligovsky People's House in April 2014
Former names	Railway Workers' Palace of Culture
Alternative names	People's House of S. V. Panina
General information
Address	Tambovskaya ul. 63, 192007 Sankt-Peterburg
Town or city	Saint Petersburg
Country	Russia
Coordinates	59.9094°N 30.3512°E / 59.9094; 30.3512
Inaugurated	1904
Design and construction
Architect(s)	Julius Benois
Known for	Venue where Lenin addressed his first mass meeting on 9 May, 1906[1]

The Ligovsky People's House was built in 1901–1903 at the expense of Countess Sofia Panina. It is located at the junction of Tambovskaya and Prilukskaya streets. It was one of a number of People's Houses created across Imperial Russia aimed at providing facilities for making art and cultural appreciation available to the working classes. Similar projects also appeared across Europe. The building also contained a theatre.

Previous initiatives

Sofia Panina had been involved in a number of initiatives to support the local working class community: in1891, she had helped create a free children's canteen in rented premises was opened in the Alexander Nevsky District. Over the next decade this developed into a teahouse with a library and facilities for evening educational classes for adults and children. In 1901 she provided the land for the People's House and launched a petition to Saint Petersburg City Council for permission to build the current building. When permission was granted Julius Benois was engaged as the architect and the building was completed in 1903.[2]

References

1. Lindenmeyr, Adele (October 2001), "The First Soviet Political Trial: Countess Sofia Panina before the Petrograd Revolutionary Tribunal", The Russian Review, 60 (4): 505–525, doi:10.1111/0036-0341.00188
2. "ЛИГОВСКИЙ НАРОДНЫЙ ДОМ". VK. St Petersburg Archives. Retrieved 16 November 2021.