Yuri Gagarin Statue - London, UK
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Metro2
N 51° 30.399 W 000° 07.752
30U E 699222 N 5710076
This statue of Russia's space hero is located outside the headquarters of the British Council near the Admiralty Arch in London.
Waymark Code: WMDX4C
Location: London, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 03/04/2012
Views: 13
This statue of Gagarin was unveiled to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first man in space. Although Gagarin actually made his first orbit of Earth on April 12,1961, the sculpture was unveiled July 14, 2011. A small plaque at the site reads:
"Anatoly Novikov
Yuri Gagarin
1934-68
Aluminum and zinc, 1984
This statue is a gift from
the Russian Federal Space Agency
to mark the 50th Anniversary
of Manned Space Flight"
Novikov is the sculptor.
Wikipedia (
visit link) informs us:
"The Yuri Gagarin Statue is a zinc statue depicting the cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin standing on top of a globe wearing a spacesuit. The figure was unveiled on July 14, 2011 and rests in the Mall in London, close to Admiralty Arch and facing opposite of the Statue of Captain Cook.
The 3.5m high statue is a replica of an original in Lyubertsy, where Gagarin was trained as a foundry worker. The statue was a gift to the British Council from the Russian space agency Roscosmos as a part of several cultural events commemorating the 50th anniversary of the first manned spaceflight. The location of the statue was chosen to be where Gagarin first met then Prime Minister Harold MacMillan."
A photo of the original in Lyubertsy, Russia can be seen at (
visit link)