Vladimir Winkler

Vladimir Winkler (born František Winkler; ; 1 June 1885 – 1956) was a Czech sculptor. He is best known for early 20th century buildings' facades in Russian Siberia.

Biography František Winkler was born on 1 June 1885 in Přerov, Moravia, Austria-Hungary (today the Czech Republic). Since his childhood he was interested in art, and his father sent him to an Industrial Arts school in Prague, after graduating from which, František entered the Prague School of Applied Arts, where he studied in the class of Professor Stanislav Sucharda. Winkler graduated from the school in 1908 and engaged in arts.

World War I, that started in 1914, changed his life. He was a photographer at the Russian-German front and was taken captive. As a prisoner of war, he was sent to Omsk. Omsk Railway Administration, Commercial School, Chrystal Palace cinema, Court of Justice, Russian Asiatic Society.

In early 1918, Winkler went with Czechoslovak Legion to Vladivostok, where he continued his work through the Civil War and several political system changes. New Theater's sculptural decoration, created in 1924, and the monumental composition "The proletarian, breaking the chains around the Earth" on the Palace of Labour mark his Soviet period.