The monument to Fyodor Dostoevsky was erected in 1918. But the idea was hatched by sculptor S. Merkurov since 1905. This work embodies the artist's reflections on the role of space and time in plastic art. The sculptor defined the monument to Dostoevsky as a figure with two axes and one center located outside the statue. The writer's silhouette changes along with the change in angle, like a pantomime actor in front of us. It is no coincidence that A. Vertinsky was invited as a model. Merkurov recalled: “He immediately learned my idea, took the right posture. And how he held his amazing plastic hands!”

When the Soviet government adopted a decree on monuments to historical figures in 1918, Merkurov proposed a statue of Dostoevsky to a special commission. Initially, the monument was erected on Tsvetnoy Boulevard, then, in 1936, when tram tracks were laid there, the monument was moved to the square of the Mariinsky Hospital, where the writer's father once worked and Dostoevsky himself was born. Today, the left wing of this hospital houses the Dostoevsky Apartment Museum.

The sculpture stood on the ground for 20 years. In 1956, architect I. Frenchuz raised it to a pedestal made of dark granite. Since then, this “moving statue” has found its “scaffolding”.