Leo Tolstoy bust unveiled at UN Geneva

Russia donated the writer's monument to the United Nations Office at Geneva. The unveiling took place at the Palais des Nations on October 13.

The bust was placed near the Russian Room. Director-General Tatiana Valovaya, Russian Permanent Representative Gennady Gatilov and Moscow external relations department head Sergey Cheremin attended the ceremony.

Sculptor Grigory Pototsky, who created the work, also traveled to the unveiling. Gatilov linked the location to Tolstoy's ideas about peace and the role of international cooperation.

The writer's connection with the present UN grounds has a historical basis. Tolstoy visited the Villa Le Bocage in Geneva in 1857, an episode also described in UN Geneva's 2019 annual report.

Valovaya called the bust a valuable gift and noted the approaching bicentenary of Tolstoy's birth in 2028. The assessments expressed at the ceremony concern the monument's cultural significance.