Konstantin Thon

Architect, founder of the Russo-Byzantine style. Born in St Petersburg in the family of a German jeweller called Andreas Thon (1794). Designed private houses and churches in and around St Petersburg and the landing wharf at the Imperial Academy of Arts (1832–34). Reconstructed the Raphael and Titian Rooms and the Chapel at the Imperial Academy of Arts. Awarded a silver medal (1839) for restoring the interiors of the Winter Palace after the fire (1837). Designed the Nicholas (Moscow) Railway Station in St Petersburg (1851). Taught at the Imperial Academy of Arts (from 1831). Professor (1833), rector of architecture (1854–71). Died in St Petersburg and buried at the Volkovo Lutheran Cemetery (1881).