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Jimmy Somerville

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Past Events

Here are the most recent UK tour dates we had listed for Jimmy Somerville. Were you there?

September 2021

• Fri 10 Sep Leeds, Millennium Square 80s Classical 2021 Jimmy Somerville, Nik Kershaw, Go West, Carol Decker, John Parr
• Sat 4 Sep London, Brockwell Park Mighty Hoopla 2021 Becky Hill, Cheryl, Absolute., Atomic Kitten, Betty Boo…

August 2021

• Fri 20 Aug → Sun 22 Aug Remenham (Nr. Henley), Temple Island Meadows Rewind Festival - South 2021 Jimmy Somerville, Billy Ocean, Queen Symphonic, Trevor Horn, Nik Kershaw…
• Fri 6 Aug → Sun 8 Aug Macclesfield, Capesthorne Hall Rewind Festival - North 2021 Jimmy Somerville, Billy Ocean, Queen Symphonic, Trevor Horn, Roland Gift (Fine Young Cannibals)…
• Fri 23 Jul → Sun 25 Jul Perth, Scone Palace Rewind Festival - Scotland 2021 Jimmy Somerville, Billy Ocean, Marc Almond, Queen Symphonic, Trevor Horn…

November 2020

• Sat 14 Nov Brighton Centre 80s Classical Jimmy Somerville, Belinda Carlisle, Howard Jones, Carol Decker, Go West…
• Thu 12 Nov Utilita Arena Cardiff 80s Classical Jimmy Somerville, Belinda Carlisle, Howard Jones, Nik Kershaw, Carol Decker…
• Sat 7 Nov Manchester, The AO Arena Jimmy Somerville, Belinda Carlisle, Howard Jones, Nik Kershaw, Carol Decker, Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra, Gary Davies (1) …
• Thu 5 Nov Motorpoint Arena Nottingham Jimmy Somerville, Belinda Carlisle, Howard Jones, Nik Kershaw, Carol Decker, Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra, Gary Davies (1) …

October 2020

• Sat 31 Oct London, OVO Arena, Wembley Jimmy Somerville, Belinda Carlisle, Howard Jones, Nik Kershaw, Carol Decker, Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra, Gary Davies (1) …

August 2020

• Fri 14 Aug → Sat 15 Aug Remenham (Nr. Henley), Temple Island Meadows Rewind Festival - South 2020 Jimmy Somerville, Billy Ocean, Queen Symphonic, Trevor Horn, Nik Kershaw…
• Fri 31 Jul → Sun 2 Aug Macclesfield, Capesthorne Hall Rewind Festival - North 2020 Jimmy Somerville, Billy Ocean, Queen Symphonic, Trevor Horn, Roland Gift (Fine Young Cannibals)…
• Fri 17 Jul → Sun 19 Jul Perth, Scone Palace Rewind Festival - Scotland 2020 Jimmy Somerville, Billy Ocean, Queen Symphonic, Trevor Horn, Nick Heyward…
• Fri 3 Jul Online / Streaming Events Let's Rock The Retro Festival presents 80sLockdownFest 2 Jimmy Somerville, OMD, Marc Almond, Wet Wet Wet, Tony Hadley…
• Sat 6 Jun London, Brockwell Park Mighty Hoopla Allie X, Alphabeat, Anastacia, Artful Dodger, Atomic Kitten…

December 2019

• Fri 13 Dec London, OVO Arena, Wembley Let's Rock The Retro Winter Tour Tony Hadley, Marc Almond, Jimmy Somerville, Nik Kershaw, Boney M…

November 2019

• Fri 29 Nov Motorpoint Arena Nottingham Let's Rock The Retro Winter Tour Tony Hadley, Marc Almond, Jimmy Somerville, Nik Kershaw, Boney M…

September 2019

• Sat 7 Sep Chelmsford, Hylands Park Let's Rock Essex Status Quo, Jimmy Somerville, Tony Hadley, Midge Ure, Go West!…
• Fri 26 Jul Leeds, Millennium Square 80's Classical Jimmy Somerville, Howard Jones, Nik Kershaw, Johnny Hates Jazz, Carol Decker…

August 2018

• Fri 17 Aug → Sun 19 Aug Remenham (Nr. Henley), Temple Island Meadows Rewind Festival - South 2018 Kool & The Gang, OMD, Billy Ocean, Jimmy Somerville, Marc Almond…

August 2016

• Fri 19 Aug → Sun 21 Aug Remenham (Nr. Henley), Temple Island Meadows Rewind South Andy Bell, Rick Astley, Tony Hadley, Lloyd Cole, Jimmy Somerville…
• Sat 18 Jun Leeds, Temple Newsam House & Gardens Let's Rock Leeds! Billy Ocean, Jason Donovan, Soul II Soul, Jimmy Somerville, Toyah Willcox…
• Fri 3 Jun → Sun 5 Jun Bristol, Ashton Court Estate & Mansion House Let's Rock Bristol! Holly Johnson, Shalamar, Jason Donovan, Midge Ure, SNAP!…
• Sat 21 May Cookham, Marsh Meadow Let's Rock The Moor! Human League, Belinda Carlisle, Jason Donovan, Jimmy Somerville, Sinitta…

November 2015

• Sun 22 Nov Cardiff, Wales Millennium Centre The Welsh Pops Orchestra, Boy George, Kim Wilde, Jimmy Somerville, Howard Jones, Daphne Guinness, Lloyd Daniels …

September 2015

• Fri 11 Sep → Sun 13 Sep Norwich, Norfolk Showground Reload Festival UB40 Featuring Ali Astro and Mickey, Billy Ocean, M People, Marc Almond, Howard Jones…

August 2015

• Fri 7 Aug → Sun 9 Aug Macclesfield, Capesthorne Hall Rewind Festival North Human League, Soul II Soul, Kim Wilde, Belinda Carlisle, Howard Jones…
• Fri 7 Aug Lytham St Annes, Lytham Green Billy Ocean, Jimmy Somerville, FIVE, Chesney Hawkes, Sinitta, East 17, The Vengaboys …
• Fri 24 Jul → Sun 26 Jul Perth, Scone Palace Rewind Festival Scotland Thompson Twins' Tom Bailey, Bananarama, The Orchestra (2), Jimmy Somerville, Howard Jones…
• Sat 11 Jul Southampton Common Let's Rock Southampton! Thompson Twins' Tom Bailey, Kim Wilde, Jimmy Somerville, Nik Kershaw, Alexander O'Neal…
• Fri 5 Jun → Sun 7 Jun Bristol, Ashton Court Estate & Mansion House Let's Rock Bristol! Go West!, The Doctor (Doctor And The Medics), Brother Beyond, Jive Bunny & The Mastermixers, Thompson Twins' Tom Bailey…

August 2014

• Fri 29 Aug → Sun 31 Aug Macclesfield, Capesthorne Hall Rewind North Billy Ocean, Rick Astley, Jimmy Somerville, Marc Almond, Go West!…
• Sat 16 Aug Worksop, Clumber Park Flashback Festival 2014 Billy Ocean, Kim Wilde, ABC, Jimmy Somerville, Go West!…
• Fri 15 Aug → Sun 17 Aug Remenham (Nr. Henley), Temple Island Meadows Rewind South Holly Johnson, Rick Astley, Marc Almond, Sister Sledge, Jason Donovan…
• Fri 18 Jul → Sun 20 Jul Perth, Scone Palace Rewind Scotland Billy Ocean, Jimmy Somerville, Go West!, Midge Ure, Heaven 17…
• Wed 14 May London, BAFTA Jimmy Somerville, Christopher Biggins, Clive Anderson

August 2013

• Sat 17 Aug Worksop, Clumber Park Flashback Festival 2013 Go West!, Jimmy Somerville, Five Star, Rick Astley
• Fri 2 Aug Lytham St Annes, Lytham Green Tony Hadley, Jimmy Somerville, Marc Almond, Heaven 17, Odyssey, Altered Images, Sonia (1), Jason Donovan …
• Sat 1 Jun → Sun 2 Jun East Molesey, Imber Court Happy Days Festival 2013 The Fatback Band, Jocelyn Brown, Loose Ends, Carleen Anderson, Nate James…

August 2012

• Fri 17 Aug → Sun 19 Aug Remenham (Nr. Henley), Temple Island Meadows Rewind - The 80s Festival The Bangles, Kool & The Gang, Grandmaster Flash, Rick Astley, Soul II Soul…
• Sat 4 Aug Saffron Walden, Audley End House & Gardens Rick Astley, Jimmy Somerville, Midge Ure, Nik Kershaw & His Band, T'Pau, Toyah Willcox, Wang Chung, Doctor And The Medics …
• Fri 20 Jul → Sun 22 Jul Perth, Scone Palace Rewind Scotland – The 80s Festival Average White Band, Big Country, Jimmy Somerville, Midge Ure, Five Star…

August 2011

• Sat 6 Aug Ascot Racecourse Jason Donovan, Jimmy Somerville, Paul Young (1), Kid Creole and The Coconuts, Odyssey, Toyah Willcox, China Crisis, Altered Images, Visage, Brother Beyond …
• Sat 2 Jul Brighton Centre Boy George, Jason Donovan, Jimmy Somerville, Belinda Carlisle, Midge Ure, Pepsi & Shirlie, A Flock of Seagulls …
• Fri 1 Jul London, The O2 Boy George, Jason Donovan, Jimmy Somerville, Belinda Carlisle, Midge Ure, Pepsi & Shirlie, A Flock of Seagulls …
• Thu 30 Jun Utilita Arena Sheffield Boy George, Jason Donovan, Jimmy Somerville, Belinda Carlisle, Midge Ure, Pepsi & Shirlie, A Flock of Seagulls …
• Wed 29 Jun Newcastle upon Tyne, Utilita Arena Newcastle Boy George, Jason Donovan, Jimmy Somerville, Belinda Carlisle, Midge Ure, Pepsi & Shirlie, A Flock of Seagulls …
• Sun 26 Jun Manchester, The AO Arena Boy George, Jason Donovan, Jimmy Somerville, Belinda Carlisle, Midge Ure, Pepsi & Shirlie, A Flock of Seagulls …
• Sat 25 Jun M&S Bank Arena Liverpool Boy George, Jason Donovan, Jimmy Somerville, Belinda Carlisle, Midge Ure, Pepsi & Shirlie, A Flock of Seagulls …
• Fri 24 Jun Birmingham, Resorts World Arena Boy George, Jason Donovan, Jimmy Somerville, Belinda Carlisle, Midge Ure, Pepsi & Shirlie, A Flock of Seagulls …

August 2010

• Fri 20 Aug → Sun 22 Aug Remenham (Nr. Henley), Temple Island Meadows 80s Rewind Festival Boy George, Rick Astley, Heaven 17, Weather Girls, Curiosity Killed The Cat…

February 2009

• Sat 28 Feb Glasgow, St Andrews In The Square Jimmy Somerville, No Shame, Easy Riders, Eletricat, Abolicao Capoeira, Barry McDonald …
• Sat 28 Feb Glasgow, St Andrews In The Square Jimmy Somerville, No Shame, Easy Riders, Electricat, Grupo Abolicao

September 2007

• Sat 1 Sep → Sun 2 Sep Maybole, Culzean Castle & Country Park Human League, Tony Hadley, The Blockheads, Go West!, ABC, Howard Jones, Bananarama, Jimmy Somerville, Hue & Cry …

• Jimmy Somerville

James William Somerville is a Scottish pop singer and songwriter. He sang in the 1980s with the pop groups Bronski Beat and The Communards, and has also had a solo career. He is known in particular for his powerful and soulful countertenor/falsetto singing voice. He is openly gay; many of his songs, such as Smalltown Boy , contain political commentary on gay-related issues.

About Jimmy Somerville

Genres: Pop , Electronic

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Jimmy Somerville Concert Setlists & Tour Dates

Jimmy somerville at rewind festival england 2021.

• You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)
• So Cold the Night
• For a Friend
• Smalltown Boy
• Never Can Say Goodbye
• You Are My World
• Don't Leave Me This Way
• I Feel Love / Highway to Hell
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Jimmy Somerville at Rewind North 2021

Jimmy somerville at let’s rock christmas – the retro show 2019, jimmy somerville at electric dreams weekender 2019, jimmy somerville at retro winter tour 2019, jimmy somerville at 80s classical london 2019, jimmy somerville at let's rock essex 2019, jimmy somerville at w-festival 2019.

• There's More to Love Than Boy Meets Girl

Jimmy Somerville at 80s Classical Leeds 2019

Jimmy somerville at forever young festival 2019.

• Turn the Beat Around
• You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)

Jimmy Somerville

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Most played songs

• Smalltown Boy ( 24 )
• You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real) ( 21 )
• Don't Leave Me This Way ( 20 )
• Why? ( 17 )
• Never Can Say Goodbye ( 15 )

More Jimmy Somerville statistics

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Artists covered

Bee Gees Bronski Beat Merry Clayton The Communards Dead or Alive The Jacksons Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes Vicki Sue Robinson Sylvester

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Gigs seen live by

137 people have seen Jimmy Somerville live.

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Jimmy Somerville interview: 'I wanted people to love me'

The eighties star talks about his personal and musical rebirth, article bookmarked.

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If Jimmy Somerville had one of the most powerful pop voices of the 1980s, then his words carried even more of an impact. As frontman of synth-pop bands Bronski Beat and the Communards, Somerville’s soprano tones were unmistakable.

But almost more than his musical talent, it was his political zeal that made him stand out from the crowd. At a time when musicians such as Boy George and Freddie Mercury kept their sexuality ambiguous, Somerville was one of the first truly out-and-proud gay pop stars, addressing homophobia head-on in songs such as Bronski Beat’s “Smalltown Boy” while also nailing his socialist colours to the mast on such tracks as the Communards’ anti-Thatcher screed “Breadline Britain”. You’d be unlikely to hear chart acts today making a similar stand.

However, Somerville’s success was shortlived: in 1985, the Glaswegian left Bronski Beat to form the Communards, but the band split just three years later. And though he then pursued a solo career, he slowly withdrew from public life.

When we meet for coffee at the Sanctum Hotel in Soho, Somerville, 53, says it’s been almost 20 years since he’s done any “proper press”. He explains: “I’ve always been making music, but I sort of went under the radar. I kind of disappeared ... I was never really that comfortable with the music industry. I loved the idea of being able to express myself creatively – but the rest of it never really sat well with me.”

The reason for his emergence now is a new album that’s he’s truly happy with: Homage , a joyous old-school disco record complete with horn sections, big backing vocals, strings and the odd cow bell. It comes in the wake of the recent disco revival led by Nile Rodgers and Daft Punk; Somerville says that society needs the genre more than ever. “When disco came around the first time, there was this real core of progressive thinking and a positive lyrical content – about freedom, the possibilities of love, change and expression. I think we live in such fearful times at the moment [that] we start to close in on ourselves. [Disco is the] antidote to that.”

The album also appears to be Somerville’s way of casting off the darkness that has plagued him for decades. In the 1980s, at the height of his success, he struggled to cope with both the pressures of fame – “I was painfully self-obsessed and self-aware. I wanted people to love me but at the same time I was terrified of them,” he says – and the scourge of Aids that was decimating the gay community.

Somerville was best friends with Mark Ashton, the activist and co-founder of Lesbian and Gays Support the Miners, who was the hero of recent film Pride . Ashton died from an Aids-related illness in 1987; and despite the fact that his songs feature in the film, Somerville says he couldn’t bear to watch it at the cinema as it would “make him bawl his eyes out”.

His way of filling the void within was hedonism: Communards bandmate Richard Coles, now better known as Radio 4 presenter the Rev Richard Coles, documented their high-rolling lifestyle in his recent autobiography Fathomless Riches. Both were heavily into the trappings of the party scene – Somerville says “everything” when I ask what that involved – and it was only two and a half years ago that he finally accepted that he was an addict, and that “whatever it is that I [consume], especially chemical substances, once I start, I can’t stop ... it’s a case of either active addiction and possible death or abstinence and life. So I’ve chosen abstinence and life.”

Rock and pop highlights of 2015

In 1987, when the Communards were imploding, Coles broke the news to Somerville that he was HIV positive; a few years later, he revealed that he had made the whole thing up. The second revelation ripped apart their friendship: “When he confessed, I didn’t react in a constructive way,” says Somerville.

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“I’d known lots of people who had died, people who were ill. I was in my own dark place of trying to deal with everything that was happening so I put a barrier up and we didn’t speak for a long time.” The two are now back in friendly contact – Coles emailed Somerville and asked him if he wanted to read his book before publication, though he declined. I ask him what he thinks about Coles being something of a national treasure now: “He’ll be in his element. He always wanted to be a big celebrity,” he laughs.

The new album might not push Somerville into the stratosphere in which the Rev currently resides, but it’s a rich collection. So, alongside the feel-good vibe, there’s social comment, as on the song “Travesty”, a damning indictment of the current government’s welfare policies (“Wake up/it’s a welfare war”).

As a working-class boy, he joins the current chorus of despair about the increasing elitism of the arts. “The industry doesn’t work how it used to work. I come from a place where, without the benefit system, I probably wouldn’t have had the opportunity to experiment. I had a system that allowed me and a generation of creative artists to do that. That’s why we were an incredibly explosive, creative country. We had that youth culture explosion in the Sixties but I believe the early Eighties was the second wave of that. We had a system that encouraged that. But now, our culture and arts scenes are under threat.”

More hopeful to him is the increasing number of gay stars in mainstream pop, the latest being recent Grammys and Brits hero Sam Smith. But he would like to see singers like Smith push things forward by choosing to use same-sex pronouns in their songs, as he did many years ago.

“I guess it’s up to the individual to sing and write that but I don’t believe for one minute that none of those artists have a desire to sing ‘he’ or ‘him’. But we’ll never really know if they did decide to change that, if they would be as successful.”

Somerville’s own focus, for now, is to spread some of the positivity from his album: “These songs come from someone who’s found some personal freedom.” And while he is single at the moment, he is not without love, he says. “I believe now that love is letting people in. Love is bigger than all of us. I’ve had a real struggle in the past, but I’ve finally connected my heart and head.”

‘Homage’ is released on 9 March

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Omsk: Garrison city on the Irtysh

Omsk. Irtysh River, morning panorama with rainbow. Foreground: K. A. Batiushkin mansion (residence of Admiral Alexander Kolchak in 1919). September 19, 1999

At the beginning of the 20th century, Russian chemist and photographer Sergey Prokudin-Gorsky developed a complex process for vivid color photography. His vision of photography as a form of education and enlightenment was demonstrated with special clarity through his images of architectural monuments in the historic sites throughout the Russian heartland.

Yalutorovsk. Construction of Tobol River railroad bridge leading to Omsk. Summer 1912

In June 1912, Prokudin-Gorsky ventured into western Siberia as part of a commission to document the Kama-Tobolsk Waterway, a link between the European and Asian sides of the Ural Mountains. The town of Tyumen served as his launching point for productive journeys that included Shchadrinsk (established in 1662 on the Iset River) and Yalutorovsk (on the Tobol River).

Omsk origins

Omsk. Cossack Cathedral of St. Nicholas, southwest view. September 15, 1999

Founded in 1659 at a former Tatar settlement, Yalutorovsk was the construction site of a massive railroad bridge across the Tobol River, part of the new Tyumen-Omsk rail link that opened on the Trans-Siberian Railway in October 1913 (Before then, the railroad to Siberia went through the southern Urals town of Chelyabinsk ).

Omsk. Cathedral of the Elevation of the Cross, south view. September 15, 1999

Although Prokudin-Gorsky did not travel to Omsk, his photographs of Yalutorovsk show the making of a crucial rail link to the “capital” of western Siberia. I, however, reached Omsk in the late Summer of 1999.

Cathedral of the Elevation of the Cross. Interior view southeast toward icon screen. September 15, 1999

Omsk (current population around 1,110,000) was founded in 1716 as a fort on the middle reaches of the Irtysh River. During the 18th century, its primary purpose was to protect Russia’s southern border and establish authority over the aboriginal steppe tribes.             

Rising regional importance 

Omsk Fortress. Tobolsk Gate (originally built in 1792), the only one of the historic Omsk fortress gates to have survived. September 15, 1999

Although administratively subordinate to Tobolsk throughout the 18th century, Omsk gained increasing power in the 19th century. From 1808 until 1917, Omsk served as the headquarters of all Siberian Cossack troops and, in 1822, a separate Omsk Province was formed.  

Headquarters of Omsk Fortress (Taube Street), originally built in 1810s, modified in 1997. Red brick building on right (1915-17): Staff of Omsk Military District. September 15, 1999

Shortly thereafter, construction began on the Cossack Cathedral of St. Nicholas (1833-1840), based on a plan by the noted Russian architect Vasily Stasov. The St. Nicholas Cathedral was severely disfigured during the Soviet period, but has now been restored. It is, once again, the repository of one of the area’s great relics, the banner of Yermak , the late 16th-century Cossack leader who first established Muscovy’s presence in Siberia.

Siberian Cadet Corps building (Lenin Street 26), built in 1820s. In the prerevolutionary period, the street was known as Chernavin Prospekt, after a popular progressive mayor. September 15, 1999

In 1865-1870, Omsk witnessed the construction of another cathedral, dedicated to the Elevation of the Cross. It, too, survived the devastation of the 1930s and was reopened for worship in November 1943. In addition to its Orthodox churches, Omsk has mosques (the administration of the Iman of Siberia is located in Omsk), a remarkable wooden synagogue and a large Baptist church built in 1907.            

Omsk’s dark history

Residence of Governor-General of Western Siberia (Lenin Street 23), built in 1859-62 by Friedrich Wagner for Governor Gustav Gasford. Now one of the three buildings of Omsk Museum of Art. September 18, 1999

Its pervasive military presence linked Omsk with the Siberian exile system. The most famous of the fortress’ exiles was the writer Fyodor Dostoevsky, condemned in 1849 for associating with intellectual “radicals” in St. Petersburg. In January 1850, Dostoevsky arrived under guard at the Omsk fort and, for the most part of three years (1850-54), he lived the harrowing existence of a convict sentenced to hard labor, which included unloading barges on the Irtysh River. 

City Trade Building (Lenin Street 3), built in 1914 by Andrei Kriachkov. Now the main building of Omsk Museum of Art. September 16, 1999

When his health broke down under the physical and psychological strain, Dostoevsky was hospitalized under the care of a sympathetic medic. It was during his stay in the infirmary that Dostoevsky began the writing of one of his seminal works, ‘Notes from the House of the Dead’. A few buildings still survive from that time, including one of the fortress gates.          

Railroad revolution

"Salamander" Insurance Company building, K. Liebknecht (formerly Gasford) Street 3, built by Nikolai Verevkin in 1913-14. Now one of the three buildings of Omsk Museum of Art. September 15, 1999

During the latter part of the 19th century, Omsk began a period of heady expansion, as the town became a transportation center for Russia’s vast interior. Regular steamboat service along the Irtysh River to Tobolsk began in 1862.  

Omsk Drama Theater, Lenin Street 8A. September 15, 1999

But, it was the railroads that made Omsk a boomtown. In 1894-1895, Omsk was linked by the Trans-Siberian Railroad to Chelyabinsk in the west and Novonikolaevsk (later Novosibirsk) in the east. In 1913, another rail line was completed from Omsk to Tyumen in what would become the new Siberian mainline. By the beginning of the 20th century, the population of Omsk had tripled to over 60,000 inhabitants.

"Rossiya" Hotel (Lenin Street 18). Built by Iliodor Khvorinov in 1905-07; expanded in 1915. September 15, 1999

This development as a transportation nexus led to a surge in the city’s commercial district.  What had formerly been a provincial garrison town consisting primarily of wooden structures punctuated with large churches, now became a preeminent site for banks, educational institutions, industry and retail trade in Siberia.  

International appeal

Brothers Ovsiannikov-Ganshin & Sons building (Lenin Street 12), originally completed in 1906 for a major textile company. Now the Omsk Medical Academy. September 15, 1999

In addition to branch offices for major banks and firms in Moscow and St. Petersburg, Omsk received investment from companies in the United States, Germany and Great Britain. The central part of Omsk had buildings whose design rivaled Moscow’s business district. Many of the new commercial projects were built in styles derived from the Florentine Renaissance.

Russo-Asiatic Bank (Gagarin Street 34), built in 1915-17 by Fyodor Chernomorchenko. Now Omsk City Hall. September 16, 1999

Cultural institutions also took root. In 1901-05, a large theater was built in a florid Beaux Arts style designed by the architect Iliodor Khvorinov. The theater still stands as an object of civic pride. Wooden houses with decorative detailing also grace the city, but their number has steadily decreased under the pressures of urban development and inadequate maintenance.

Soviet era…

"Treugolnik" (Russian-American Rubber Co.) Building, K. Liebknecht (formerly Gasford) Street 4, built by Nikolai Verevkin in 1914-15. September 15, 1999

During World War I, the then strategically located Omsk grew still further and, by 1917, the city’s population had reached 100,000. Following the October Revolution, Bolshevik power was proclaimed almost immediately in Omsk, but, with little local support, the Bolsheviks were driven from the city in June 1918. 

Omsk Railroad Administration (Karl Marx Street 35), de factor headquarters of western Trans-Siberian Railway. Built in 1914-16 by Fyodor Lidval. September 18, 1999

Opposition to the Bolsheviks was fatally divided and, in November 1918, a military coup installed a dictatorship headed by Admiral Alexander Kolchak (1874-1920), a renowned polar explorer and gifted naval commander, but incapable of dealing with the chaos of the Russian civil war (The mansion where Kolchak had his headquarters is a prominent landmark).

Omsk Synagogue (Marshal Zhukov Street 53). Known as "Soldiers Synagogue," built in 1855. September 18, 1999

For almost a year, Omsk could be considered the “capital” of the White forces in the Russian Civil War. In November 1919, Kolchak’s forces were driven from Omsk. In 1921, Omsk became one of the centers of the American Relief Agency during the terrible famine that afflicted vast territories in the Volga basin.

Hodja Akhmed Mosque (Marshal Zhukov Street 97). September 18, 1999

With its economy shattered and the countryside still recovering, Omsk struggled through the 1920s and achieved renewed industrial growth in the 1930s. Like many Siberian cities, it expanded rapidly during World War II as an evacuation haven and as a center of transportation and production. 

…and beyond

Philip Shtumfp house (Valikhanov Street 10), built at turn of 20th century for a prominet agronomist, entrepreneur, civic activist. September 19, 1999

Development of the city’s military-industrial complex continued after the war and, by the end of the 1970s, the population exceeded 1,000,000 – a benchmark of major significance. Omsk also became a center of the oil and gas industry.

Omsk River Station & Hotel "Mayak". Excellent example of "neo-Constructivist architecture, built on site of original Omsk fortress in 1958-64 by Leningrad architect Timofei Sadovsky. September 15, 1999

The city’s major cultural institutions include a leading state university, established in 1974 and, since 2004, named in honor of Fyodor Dostoevsky. Omsk also has one of the largest regional libraries in Siberia and a major art museum--named in honor of painter Mikhail Vrubel, an Omsk native – that now occupies three landmark buildings in the center of the city.            

Omsk Regional Library. Built in 1986-95 by Omsk architects Galina Naritsina & Yury Zakharov. September 18, 1999

In the early 20th century, Russian photographer Sergey Prokudin-Gorsky developed a complex process for color photography. Between 1903 and 1916, he traveled through the Russian Empire and took over 2,000 photographs with the process, which involved three exposures on a glass plate. In August 1918, he left Russia and ultimately resettled in France, where he was reunited with a large part of his collection of glass negatives, as well as 13 albums of contact prints. After his death in Paris in 1944, his heirs sold the collection to the Library of Congress. In the early 21st century, the Library digitized the Prokudin-Gorsky Collection and made it freely available to the global public. A few Russian websites now have versions of the collection. In 1986, the architectural historian and photographer William Brumfield organized the first exhibit of Prokudin-Gorsky photographs at the Library of Congress. Over a period of work in Russia beginning in 1970, Brumfield has photographed most of the sites visited by Prokudin-Gorsky. This series of articles juxtaposes Prokudin-Gorsky’s views of architectural monuments with photographs taken by Brumfield decades later.

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