Translation. Region: Russian Federation –
Source: Saint Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering –
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January 18, 2026, marks 83 years since the lifting of the Siege of Leningrad—one of the most important and tragic chapters in the history of the Great Patriotic War. On this day in 1943, troops from the Leningrad and Volkhov Fronts, during Operation Iskra, linked up near Workers' Settlements No. 1 and No. 5, breaking the siege and restoring land connections between the besieged city and the rest of the country. A year later, on January 27, 1944, the siege was completely lifted. This day became Russia's Day of Military Glory.
The dates of January are forever etched in the history of Leningrad as symbols of inhuman trials, mass heroism, and the unparalleled resilience of its residents. For nearly 900 days, the city lived and fought amid hunger, cold, and constant artillery shelling and bombing. The price of liberation was terrible: hundreds of thousands of dead, destroyed neighborhoods, and shattered lives. But Leningrad endured.
The contribution of the Leningrad Civil Engineering Institute, now the Saint Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering, holds a special place in the history of the besieged city. During the war and the siege, students, faculty, and staff of the Leningrad Civil Engineering Institute fought on the front lines, worked in besieged Leningrad, participated in the evacuation and restoration of the national economy, making a significant contribution to the defense and preservation of the city.
From the first days of the Great Patriotic War, the institute's faculty and laboratory staff were engaged in work serving the needs of the front and the home front. LISI scientists completed over two dozen military defense research projects and developed designs for mass-produced military equipment. Gun steel was tested in the mechanical and chemical laboratories, and components for anti-tank weapons were manufactured.
The institute's architects and engineers examined buildings damaged by bombing and shelling, assessed their continued use, and developed structural reinforcement and restoration projects. LISI specialists contributed to camouflaging industrial, military, and civilian facilities, as well as protecting Leningrad's historical and architectural monuments.
A plan to camouflage the city's most important landmarks was developed pre-war by a group of architects led by Chief Architect Nikolai Varfolomeevich Baranov (a 1931 graduate of the Leningrad Institute of Civil Engineering (now St. Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering)) and his deputy, Alexander Ivanovich Naumov (a 1936 graduate of the Leningrad Institute of Civil Engineering (now St. Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering). Smolny's camouflage was designed by Alexander Ivanovich Gegello (a 1920 graduate of the Institute of Civil Engineering (now St. Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering). Large-scale camouflage work in the city began as early as June 26, 1941, the fifth day of the war.
Even during the siege, the institute continued its work. In January 1942, during the most difficult period, LISI held the defense of its diploma theses. A small group of employees remained in the city, entrusted with preserving the institute's buildings, equipment, archives, and library. This dedicated work became one of the most memorable chapters in LISI's wartime history.
More than 220 students, faculty, and staff members of the institute died at the front, from exhaustion in besieged Leningrad, or during the evacuation. Their names are listed in the Book of Remembrance, which is kept in the SPbGASU History Museum, and will forever remain a part of the university's history.
After the siege was broken and completely lifted, the institute continued to fulfill its vital mission: training engineering personnel for the country. As early as 1943, LISI was one of the first Leningrad universities to resume operations in its home city, despite the enemy still being on its borders. Hardened by hardship, faculty and students participated in the restoration of the institute's buildings, dormitories, and academic buildings, preparing the university for the return of the bulk of its staff from evacuation.
Alexander Sergeevich Nikolsky was an architect, a 1912 graduate of the Institute of Civil Engineering (IGI), and a lecturer at the Leningrad Institute of Civil Engineering (LIGI) (now St. Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering) from 1927 to 1931. The "Leningrad Album" contains his drawings, engravings, and wartime projects. During the siege, A.S. Nikolsky led a team tasked with camouflaging industrial facilities and kept a diary in which he recorded and sketched the everyday life of the besieged city.
The memory of the siege and wartime is carefully preserved by the scientific and technical library of St. Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering. Its collection contains unique documents—authentic testimonies of the selfless work of scientists, architects, artists, editors, and printers during the siege of Leningrad. These materials allow us to see the war through the eyes of those who continued their scientific and creative work amidst hunger and constant threats to their lives.
One of the most valuable exhibits is the book "Proportionality in Architecture" by IGI/LISI Professor Herman Davidovich Grimm, published in 1935. During the winter of 1941–1942, the architect, while in besieged Leningrad, worked on revisions and additions for a subsequent reprint of the textbook: he added handwritten notes in the margins and supplemented the text with materials typed on notebook sheets. These pages became living testimony to the scholarly work that continued under inhumane conditions. Herman Davidovich Grimm died on March 23, 1942.
The library also houses documents related to the preparations for the institute's centennial anniversary. On November 28, 1942, Acting Director of LISI Konstantin Petrovich Sergeev created a Jubilee Commission to commemorate this significant anniversary. The commission's materials, created in the besieged city, today form an important part of the university's historical legacy.
Of considerable interest are the creative works from 1943–1944 by Alexander Mikhailovich Sokolov, a lecturer at the Leningrad Institute of Civil Engineering and one of the architects behind the architectural design of the Technological Institute metro station. During the war, he served on the commission to establish and investigate the atrocities of the Nazi invaders and conducted approximately 500 scientific assessments of Leningrad buildings damaged by artillery shelling and bombing.
The anniversary of the lifting of the Siege of Leningrad is an opportunity to revisit history, reflect on the scale of the heroism of the city's defenders and residents, and remember the contribution of Leningrad's universities to the common cause of Victory. The Saint Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering cherishes the memory of its students, faculty, and staff who survived the Siege and made an invaluable contribution to the rescue, preservation, and restoration of Leningrad, passing this memory on to future generations.
Please note: This information is raw content obtained directly from the source. It represents an accurate account of the source's assertions and does not necessarily reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.