The great Russian literary critic Vissarion Belinsky lived in Chembar in the Penza Region, which was later renamed in his honour, and from 1825 to 1829 studied at Penza's Classical Gymnasium School No. 1 which now also bears his name. This monument to him was unveiled in 1954 on Tealtralnaya Ploschad (Theatre Square) opposite the Lunacharovsky Drama Theatre, which burned down in 2008 and was rebuilt in 2010.