Irina Antonova

Irina Alexandrovna Antonova (Russian Ирина Александровна Антонова; born March 20, 1922 in Moscow) is a Russian art historian. From 1961 to 2013 she was Director and since 2013 President of the Moscow Pushkin Museum.

Life

Irina Antonova graduated from the Lomonosov Moscow State University under Boris Wipper 1945 and made their statements. In addition, it was formed during the Second World War as a nurse and worked in the hospital. Then she started as employees in the Pushkin Museum to work. There she was used to unload the incoming from Germany looted art. They also helped when unpacking and inventorying of Priamosschatzes and the collection of the Dresden Old Masters Gallery. The latter has been restored and returned to Dresden on June 3, 1956.

1961 Antonova was appointed by Nikita Khrushchev to the director of the museum. In this position, she founded in 1981, the music festival Svyatoslav Richter's December Nights, which is held annually. Antonova kept the existence of the gold of Troy and other " trophy art" in their museum for a long time secret and reacted furiously to relevant publications in the late 1980s and early 1990s. She refuses the return of cultural treasures and talks about it in the context that there would be no more claims. In a broadcast on 3sat and ZDF television documentary entitled The Lost Treasures of the Museum Island Irina Antonova gave to the question why they have been silent for so long about the looted art depots, the answer is: " You journalists have me but not asked a single time! " Despite its rigid stance on repatriation of cultural objects they made ​​many of the objects in the exhibitions opened to the public. On 1 July 2013, it was from the directorship at Marina Loshak and took over the newly created post of president of the Pushkin Museum.

Awards

  • Order of Merit for the Fatherland, third degree (1997)
  • Order of Merit for the Fatherland, second degree (2002)
  • Order of Merit for the Fatherland, first grade (2007)
  • Order of Merit for the Fatherland, fourth degree (2012 )
  • Order of the October Revolution
  • Order of the Red Banner of Labor
  • Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
  • Commander of the Legion of Honor
  • Order of Merit of the Italian Republic (2000)
Eastern Front (World War II) Priam's Treasure Order of the Red Banner of Labour Integrated Authority File
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