Antonina Pirozhkova: Difference between revisions

| birth_place = Krasny Yar, [[Tomsk Governorate]], Siberia

| death_date = September 12, 2010 (aged 101)

'''Antonina Pirozhkova''' (1 July 1909 – 12 September 2010) was a [[Russians|Russian]]Soviet civil engineer and writer, best known for her contributions to the construction of the [[Moscow Metro]] and the preservation of the literary legacy of her husband [[Isaac Babel]].

Antonina Nikolaevna Pirozhkova was born on 1 July 1909 in the village of Krasny Yar,<ref>''Krasny Yar'' is nowadays a village in the [[Kemerovo region]] (these are not the villages ''Krasny Yar'', ''Krasnoyarsk Raid'' or ''Krasnoyarka'' in [[Zyryansky District|the district of Zyryanskoe]] of [[Tomsk region]], as the biographers of A.N. Pirozhkova are used to believe). For a long time researchers were misled by the fact that in the early 1960s Antonina Pirozhkova had a meeting with her brothers in the village of ''Krasnoyarka/Krasny Yar'' village in [[Zyryanskoe district]]. Between these different villages named «''Krasny Yar''» there is a distance of 80 kilometres in line. However, her brothers moved to live in ''Krasnoyarka'' after the [[World War II|WWII war]]. Places, which A.N. Pirozhkova, like the frequently visited villages adjacent to its ''Krasny Yar'', are places in the modern Izhmorsky district of the [[Kemerovo region]] now. Antonina Pirozhkova mentions in her memoirs that her native village ''Krasny Yar'' was located near the villages of ''Barsas'' and ''Iverka'': see her book “''About Babel - and not only about him: I am trying to restore features. Memories''”. (Russian edition: [[Moscow|M.]]: AST, 2013; pages 40-46). These settlements, ''Krasny Ya''r, ''Barsas'' and ''Iverka'', like the Zyryansk's ''Krasny Yar''s, in 1909 were part of the Mariinsky district/uezd of the [[Tomsk_Oblast#History|Tomsk province]]. 1909 they were not part of the ''Zyryansk county'' (volost), but it was the ''Zlatogorsk county'' (volost). Zlatogorsk county now is part of the modern territory of Izhmorsky district (county). She wrote: …in 1916 we left ''Krasny Yar'' to ''Barsas'' and lived from spring to fall, then we return to ''Krasny Yar'' (there is her text about the events of life in ''Barsas'').</ref> [[Tomsk Governorate]], [[Siberia]]. Her father died when she was fourteen, and she helped support her family by tutoring children at mathematics.<ref name=guardian>{{cite news|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/oct/31/antonina-pirozhkova-obituary|title=Antonina Pirozhkova obituary|first=Thomas|last=de Waal|date=October 31, 2010}}</ref> In 1926, she joined [[Tomsk Polytechnic University]] to study construction and engineering, graduating four years later.<ref name=nytobit>{{cite news|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/23/world/europe/23pirozhkova.html?_r=0|title=Antonina Pirozhkova, Engineer and Widow of Isaac Babel, Dies at 101|first=William|last=Grimes|date=September 22, 2010}}</ref>

In 1930, Pirozhkova was assigned to work at Kuznetskstroi, a metallurgical factory being built near [[Novokuznetsk]]. Her talents were so valued that the stationmaster of the local railway station was forbidden from selling her a ticket home.<ref name=october>{{cite journal|url=http://magazines.russ.ru/october/2011/9/pi3.html|journal=October|title=Антонина Пирожкова: Воспоминания|year=2011|number=9|last=Malayev-Babel|first=Andrei}}</ref> Following its construction, she transferred in 1934 to Moscow where she joined the Metroproekt, the institute responsible for the design and construction of the Moscow Metro.<ref name=nytobit/> She rose to the rank of chief designer, and was responsible for some of the major stations in the network: [[Mayakovskaya (Moscow Metro)|Mayakovskaya]], [[Ploshchad Revolyutsii (Moscow Metro)|Revolution Square]], [[Paveletskaya (Zamoskvoretskaya Line)|Paveletskaya]], [[Kiyevskaya (Filyovskaya Line)|Kievskaya]], and [[Arbatskaya (Filyovskaya Line)|Arbatskaya]].<ref name=mospravda>{{cite news|newspaper=Moscovskaya Pravda |url=http://mospravda.ru/book_moscow/article/antonina_pirojkova:_hranitelnica_naslediya/ |archive-url=https://archive.today/20140802070406/http://mospravda.ru/book_moscow/article/antonina_pirojkova:_hranitelnica_naslediya/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=August 2, 2014 |title=Антонина Пирожкова: хранительница наследия |language=Russian |date=April 17, 2014 |first=Andrei |last=Miroshkin }}{{dead link|date=July 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

Pirozhkova and her daughter were evacuated during the war to [[Abkhazia]].<ref name="guardian" /> During the Second World War, Pirozhkova headed an engineering team building railway tunnels in the Caucasus.<ref name>{{cite news|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|title=Antonina Pirozhkova, 101, preserved memory of husband, writer Isaac Babel|first=Matt|last=Schudel|url=httphttps://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/25/AR2010092503532.html|date=September 25, 2010}}</ref> In the 1950s, she was involved in the design and construction of palatial houses in the resorts of Caucasus.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://articles.latimes.com/2010/sep/23/local/la-me-antonina-pirozhkova-20100923|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=September 23, 2010|last=Nelson|first=Valerie J.|title=Antonina Pirozhkova dies at 101; common-law widow of Russian writer Isaac Babel}}</ref>

In 1996, she emigrated with Lidiya to the US.<ref name="nytobit" />

Pirozhkova's memoir of Babel titled ''By His Side'' was published in 1996, while a second volume which covered the rest of her remarkable life appeared posthumously in 2013.<ref name="guardian" />

* {{cite book|title=At His Side: The Last Years of Isaac Babel|url=https://archive.org/details/athisside00anpi|url-access=registration|publisher=Steerforth|year=1996|last=Pirozhkova|first=Antonina|isbn=978-1883642983|location=New York}}

[[Category:RussianSoviet civil engineers]]

[[Category:People from ZyryanskyTomsk DistrictOblast]]