Carlo di Giovanni Rossi was an Italian architect, who worked the major portion of his life in Russia.
Background
Carlo Rossi was born 18 December 1775 in Naples (his stepfather was the famous ballet artist Charles le Picq) and was brought to Russia in his childhood when his mother Guertroude Rossi-Le Picq, a well-known ballerina, was invited into Russia to perform.
Education
From 1802 to 1803 Rossi studied in Italy.
Career
He was the author of many classical buildings and architectural ensembles in Saint St. Petersburg and its environments. From youth he was connected with the world of the arts He trained in the studio of architect Vincenzo Brenna.
In 1795 he entered the service of the admiralty board of architecture.
As the assistant to Brenna, together with whom, it is assumed, he participated in the construction of Saint Michael"s Castle in Saint St. Petersburg. In 1806 he obtained the title of architect and an office.
In 1808 he was dispatched to the Kremlin archaeological expedition in Moscow, where he built Saint Catherine"s Church of the Ascension Convent and the theater at Arbat Square, which burned to the ground during Napoleon"s invasion of Russia. He was rewarded with the Vladimir of IV degree.
In 1814, he obtained the rank of Collegiate Councilor.
In 1815, he returned to Saint St. Petersburg. In 1816, he was appointed to a position on the committee of structures and hydraulic works. The buildings of Rossi are characteristic of the empire style, which combines grandeur with noble simplicity.
These include: the with the hothouse and the pavilions (1816-1818), Saint Michael"s Palace, General Staff Building, the buildings of the Senate and Synod (1829-1833), the façade of the Russian National Library that faces Alexandrinskaya Square, the pavilions of Anichkov Palace, the arch of the General Staff Building, the Alexandrine Theatre and the buildings of the Board of Theaters and Ministry of Internal Affairs.
In Pavlovsk, Rossi built the palace library. One of the last buildings of Rossi was the belfry of the Yurevskogo monastery near Velikiy Novgorod.
On 18 April 1849, he died of Cholera in Saint St. Petersburg, according to available data - in complete oblivion and in poverty. The Tsar gave a small sum for the funeral and Rossi was buried in the Volkov Lutheran cemetery.
During the Soviet period, he was reburied at the necropolis Saint Lazarus of the Alexander Nevsky Monastery under the same tombstone.