On April, 9th, 1916, Bibikovskaya Street was given a new name of Derzhavinskaya in honor of the outstanding statesman, literary man and poet of the times of Empress Catherine II, first Tambov governor, Gavrila Derzhavin.
Despite his short governing term in Tambov, he managed to leave a significant mark in the history of the region. During his rule Tambov vicegerency was turned into Tambov province with Derzhavin himself as its first governor. Under Derzhavin the town started developing rapidly establishing a college, printing house, theatre, as well as first provincial newspaper.
Derzhavin wrote many of his works in Tambov – drama “Prologue”, odes “To the Death of Countess Rumyantseva”, “Autumn during the Siege of Ochakov”, “To the Potentates and Judges“, poems and epigrams.
The presentation of the monument authored by sculptor K.Y. Malofeyev and architect A.S. Kulikov took place in 1994.
