Stefan Erzia

Erzyan sculptor. Born as Stepan Nefyodov in the family of an Erzyan peasant called Dmitry Nefyodov in the village of Bayevo in Simbirsk Province (1876). Adopted the name of his ethnic group as a pseudonym. Studied under Sergei Volnukhin and Prince Paolo Troubetzkoy at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture (1902–06). Contributed to exhibitions (from 1906), including international exhibitions in Venice and Milan and the Salon d’Automne in Paris (1912). Lived and worked in Italy and France (1906–14). Sculpted a statue of John the Baptist for the Chiesa di San Giovanni Battista in the village of Fezzano near La Spezia in Italy (1914). Lived and worked in the village of Mramorskoe and the city of Ekaterinburg in the Urals (1918–21), Novorossiisk (1921–22), Batumi (1922) and Baku (1923–25). Sculpted a scandalous statue of a naked worker for the May Day celebrations on 1905 Square in Ekaterinburg (1920). Emigrated to Argentina (1927), where he worked with such exotic strains of wood as algarrobo and quebracho (1927–50). Returned to Moscow (1950). Died in Moscow and buried in the town of Saransk in the Republic of Mordovia (1959).