“On a pedestal on which sculptures of fallen air pilots are shaped in a spiral form, a second pedestal stands, crowned by the statue of a winged Icarus, with majestically opened wings. The monument, impregnated with strength, is the work of art sculptors Lidia Kotzebue and Iosif Fekete”.

Lidia Kotzebue (b. 9 December 1885, Saratov, Russian Empire – d. 13 July 1944, Moara Domnească, Ilfov, Romania) was a Romanian sculptress with Russian origins, known especially for creating the The Monument to the Heroes of the Air in Bucharest.

The daughter of a public servant named Nicolae Suchaov, she studied at Belle Arte Academy in Moscow and graduated in 1914.

She married for the first time before the Russian Japanese war, a conflict in which she took part as a volunteer nurse in the war hospitals, but after the war she became a widow.

During this time, she met General Pavel Kotzebue, whom she treated for the injuries he suffered during the war. Later, after the general’s divorce, they got married.

At the end of the First World War she remained in Basarabia with her husband who was a general in the Russian army. After a few years they moved to Bucharest where Lidia Kotzebue opened a workshop.

She participated in the Official Salons of the Ministry of Art, organized between the 1924-1930. In 1926 she organized her own exposition in “Mozzart” hall situated on Calea Victoriei, quickly selling great artworks like J’y suis, j’y reste, representing a woman sitting on a man’s shoulders bought by a French family. Another work of art named “Sacagiul”  was bought by Cantacuzino family. Another one of her works, “Femeie cu copilul în furtună” was bought by Queen Marie of Romania who visited the exposition.

She transposed people’s suffering (Copil basarabean refugiat, Doi orfani, O pereche pe Griviţa), and aspects of the peasant life (Cioban, Copilă cu gâşte, Cal cu mânz), and lots of portraits.

She took part in an auction for the execution of The Monument to the Heroes of the Air alongside the most renowned sculptors of the time (Ion Dimitriu-Bârlad, Ion Faur, Spiridon Georgescu, Ion Jalea, Corneliu Medrea and Oscar Spaethe). The competition took place between 1925 and 1927 and she won first place.

According to the contract she signed on June 11,  1927, she agrees to take care of the base construction, the bronze pouring and the assembling of components. The model of the monument was completed by the sculptor József Fekete.

The construction started in 1930 and it took 5 years to complete. The monument on Jianu street (now Blvd. Aviatorilor) was shown to the public on July 20, 1935 in the presence of Carol II and the audience formed by officials representatives, foreigners and hundreds of locals.

“On a pedestal on which sculptures of fallen air pilots are shaped in a spiral form, a second pedestal stands, crowned by the statue of a winged Icarus, with majestically opened wings. The monument, impregnated with strength, is the work of art sculptors Lidia Kotzebue and Iosif Fekete”.

Composed of four trapezoidal prisms, united at the corners by arched volumes, the pedestal is supported by a round foundation and is surmounted by an obelisk. The entire architectural composition is 20 meters high and is made of concrete covered in white marble. At the base, on the front, right and left sides of the obelisk, there are three bronze sculptures representing aviators in allegorical positions.

The dominant element, the statue of Icarus, with spread wings, ready to fly, symbolizes the Romanian air pilots’ sacrifices during World War I and also the role played by Traian Vuia, Aurel Vlaicu and Henri Coanda – pioneers of world aviation – for the conquest of space. On the pedestal, there are 13 bronze tablets, where the names of over 260 Romanian air pilots who fell heroically in battle or in their brave attempts of conquering the air are written.
On the main façade there is written, in bas-relief, the dedication: “To the Heroes of the Air”.

However Lidia’s name was carved in the socle later, in 1983.