Fyodor Yefimovich Pronskikh

Fyodor Yefimovich Pronskikh – a Russian and Soviet artist, educator, member of the Union of Artists of Russia, Honored Worker of Culture of the Republic of Khakassia, and an honorary citizen of the city of Abakan. He was born on March 18, 1927 in the village of Mikhailovka, Altai Krai. In 1944 he was drafted into the army and sent to the Leningrad Aviation-Technical School, where he qualified as a master mechanic and technician of aircraft armament. After his service, in 1952–1954 he served in the town of Shchuchin, Grodno Region.

 

In 1960 Pronskikh graduated from the Vitebsk Art and Graphic School and moved to Prokopyevsk, and then to Abakan, where he took a job as a drawing and drafting teacher. In 1965, at his initiative, Abakan Children's Art School No. 1 was opened, where he served as director for 22 years. Beginning in 1966, Pronskikh collected works of art for the future city gallery.

 

Over thirty years he assembled an extensive collection of 1,600 works, which he donated to the city of Abakan in 1998. The gallery was officially established by mayoral decree, and Pronskikh became its chief custodian. Fyodor Yefimovich Pronskikh passed away on March 30, 2007 and was buried in Abakan.