Great men and torn-down statues

A statue is made of stone or of bronze and is meant to stand for several generations. Often it is a statue of “a great man”. Who were these men who were to be remembered forever, and why were the statues set up? And why do some people get furious at the sight of them now, so furious that they tear them down? According to the British historian and screenwriter Alex von Tunzelmann, history doesn’t disappear with torn-down statues – it is made. 

Alex von Tunzelmann has written the book Fallen idols about pulled-down statues all over the world – for example the statue of Stalin in Budapest (1951–1956), of Saddam Hussein in Baghdad (2002–2003) and of Cecil Rhodes in Cape Town (1934–2015). She meets Michelle Tisdel, social anthropologist and research librarian at the National Library, for a conver­sation.