- Fyodor Kon
Fyodor Savelyevich Kon (fl. 1585-1600) was a sixteenth century Russian
military engineer andarchitect , the builder ofSmolensk Kremlin (1597—1602) and theBely Gorod fortification ring ofMoscow (1585—1593).Exact year and circumstances of his birth and early years remain unknown. Kon, as a mature man, and his relatives living in Moscow appear to be affiliated with the
Boldino Monastery nearDorogobuzh , as evidenced by records of their donations to the monastery. Thus it is assumed that Kon's ancestors came to Moscow from Dorogobuzh area.The architect used nickname "Kon" (Russian for
stallion ) as early as 1584, as evidenced by his written plea toIvan Grozny . According to this account, Kon ran away to "foreign land", learned construction crafts there, specifically emphasizing his skills in fortifications like city walls, dams, ponds, moats and "secrets" (underground tunnels). Kon received a public beating for his defection but was soon assigned to lead the construction ofBely Gorod - a 10-kilometer outer ring of Moscow fortress that stood on the path of present-dayBoulevard Ring . His best known project, the Kremlin ofSmolensk , was launched byBoris Godunov in 1597.Fyodor Kon has been the subject of an eponymous poem by
Dmitry Kedrin (1940).References
* [http://books.google.com/books?id=X9euSbo6q3MC&printsec=frontcover&dq=%22Fyodor+Kon%22#PRA2-PA282,M1 Richardson, Dan. "The Rough Guide to Moscow: The Rough Guide." Page 282. Rough Guides. 2001. ISBN 1858287006, 9781858287003 Online. Google Books. September 7, 2008]
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