Short answers, pulled from the story.
Vasily Bazhenov was a Russian neoclassical architect, graphic artist, and architectural theorist born in 1737 or 1738. He is considered one of the leading architects of the Russian Enlightenment alongside Matvey Kazakov and Ivan Starov, and according to Dmitry Shvidkovsky, became in the 1770s the first Russian architect to create a national architectural language since the 17th century.
Bazhenov's Grand Kremlin Palace was cancelled by Catherine II in 1775, two years after groundbreaking. Construction had already demolished part of the southern Kremlin wall, including Taynitskaya Tower and the First Unnamed Tower, before Catherine halted the project, citing damage to the Cathedral of the Archangel and unsuitable geology.
Catherine II ordered Bazhenov's Tsaritsyno palace demolished in 1786 primarily for political reasons: her relationship with her son Paul had deteriorated to the point where she considered removing him from the succession, making the twin-residence design politically unacceptable. Bazhenov was dismissed in early 1786 and Matvey Kazakov was awarded the rebuilt commission.
Pashkov House in Moscow, conceived around 1784 and completed in 1787, is the most reliably attributed extant building, supported by 19th-century tradition and the majority of 20th-century researchers. The belltower of the Church of All Sorrows on Bolshaya Ordynka Street is unconditionally attributed to him. Most other buildings once credited to Bazhenov, including numerous private residences, are now listed under an unknown architect.
Bazhenov trained in Paris at the workshop of Charles De Wailly, where he competed successfully at the French Academy of Architecture. He was subsequently elected to the Roman Academy of Saint Luke, the Academy of Fine Arts of Florence, and the Academy of Fine Arts of Bologna before returning to Russia in May 1765.
The "Bazhenov myth" refers to the life story of Bazhenov as reconstructed by Igor Grabar and popularized by Soviet-era historians, which modern critics regard as unreliable because it rests on uncertain attributions, conjecture, and a sketchy paper trail. Even basic biographical facts, including his year of birth, place of birth, and the location of his grave, remain unknown.