Penza, 30 May 2014. PenzaNews. The opening ceremony of the renovated monument to Karl Marx, which was transferred from Sovetskaya square to the intersection of Lermontova and Kuybysheva Streets due to the restoration of the Saviour Cathedral, was held in Penza on Friday, May 30.

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The first vice-speaker of the State Duma of Russia, first deputy chairman of the Central Committee of the Communist Party Ivan Melnikov, governor Vasily Bochkarev and other officials took part in the ceremony.

Addressing the audience, the head of the region suggested that the new location of the monument is more beneficial.

“The chosen location is more frontal compared to where it used to be. This place is more crowded,” Vasily Bochkarev said.

In turn, Ivan Melnikov said that Penza is now a model for other regions.

“Today is a momentous event not only for the region but for the whole of Russia. The opening of the monument to Karl Marx is a shining example for the entire country, an example of respect for the history, all its pages and its symbols,” the first vice-speaker of the State Duma explained.

He added that at the moment, the attitude to Karl Marx is ambiguous.

“For me — a member of the Communist Party — Marx he is the founder of the most powerful ideology, an alternative to capitalism, the creator of the theory of surplus value in the economy and class struggle in politics. For some it is simply a great personality who made a significant contribution to the history of our country,” Ivan Melnikov said.

He reminded that based on foreign media polls conducted in 1999, Karl Marx was recognized as the greatest thinker of the millennium, and in Russia, over one thousand streets are named after him.

“A great number of monuments are devoted to him in our country. But Penza is special. Once again I would like to remind you that it is here by May 1, 1918, on the eve of the 100th anniversary of the thinker, they opened the first monument to Karl Marx in the world,” the Communist said.

At the end of the official part of the ceremony, the participants laid wreaths at the monument.

First public monument to Karl Marx, made of clay, gypsum and sand, was established in Penza in Sovetskaya square in April 1918.

A monument of bronze was opened in Sovetskaya square on November 5, 1960.

In July 2011 it was dismantled due to the start of work on the restoration of the Saviour Cathedral.

On August 29, 2013 a ceremony of laying a memorial stone at the new place of installation of the bust of Karl Marx — at the crossroads of Lermontova and Kuybysheva Streets — was held.