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1-11 of 11
- Leonid Andreev was born on August 21, 1871 in Orel, Russia. His father, named Nikolai Ivanovich Andreev, was a member of the provincial Russian Nobility and worked as a land inspector for the government. His mother, Named Anastasia Nikolaevna Andreeva (Pazkovska) belonged to the Polish Nobility. Andreev graduated from the Orel Gymnasium, went to study law at the St. Petersburg University, and graduated from the Moscow University. His work as a crime reporter for "Moscovski Vestnik" (Moscow daily paper) provided material for his stories. He was fond of reading Fyodor Dostoevsky, Lev Tolstoy, and Anton Chekhov. He also red then popular Friedrich Nietzsche and Schopenhauer. After the death of his father and a painful first love experience in 1894 he was depressed and tried to shoot himself in a suicide attempt. He survived and worked hard to support his mother and his two sisters and two younger brothers. He successfully passed the Russian Law Bar in 1897 and practiced law as an attorney for five years from 1897-1902.
Andreev published his first story "Bargamot and Garaska" in 1898. It was noticed by Maxim Gorky, who promoted Andreev to the circle of writers and publishers, called Znanie (Knowledge). In 1901 his first book of stories was published by Znanie. His story "Bezdna" (Abyss, 1902), about a teenager's experience with a prostitute ending in her murder and his suicide, was attacked by Lev Tolstoy. But Andreev became an instant celebrity in Russia. After his anti-war story "Krasny Smekh" (Red Laughter, 1904), written during the Russian-Japanese war, he got involved with anti-Czar revolutionaries. Andreev was arrested and jailed by the Czar's secret service in 1905, after that he emigrated to Europe and lived in Capri, Italy as a guest of Maxim Gorky. While developing his expressionist style, Andreev wrote a bluntly realistic anti-war story "Rasskaz o semi poveshennykh" (A Story About the Seven Hung, 1909) and a realist novel "Sashka Zhegulev" (1911). After the war and the first Russian revolution of 1905, Andreev was writing a play every year. His plays were staged at the Moscow Art Theatre and theatres in Vienna, Berlin, Odessa and Kazan by directors Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko and Vsevolod Meyerhold among others. His best plays "Anathema", "Tsar-Golod" (Czar-hunger), "Samson v okovakh" (Samson in Handcuffs, 1914) were banned by Russian censorship under the Czar. Andreev built a big villa in Kuokkala, Finland, where many Russian intellectuals lived, just 50 km. West of St. Petersburg. He was a regular member of the circle of Korney Ivanovich Chukovskiy and maintained friendship with Maxim Gorky. Leonid Andreev also was a friend of writers Aleksandr Kuprin, Vladimir Korolenko, Ivan Bunin, Vikenti Veresaev, and singer Feodor Chaliapin Sr.. During WWI he was a strong critic of German aggression. In 1917 he opposed the Bolshevik Revolution.
Leonid Andreev was the founder of the Russian Expressionism in literature. He modernized his style through experiments with spiritualism, symbolism, eroticism and mysticism, and also studied a range of occult and religious traditions. His literary parallel was the American writer H.P. Lovecraft. Andreev remained in his villa in Finland after it's separation from Russia during the Russian revolution of 1917. He was a staunch critic of the Soviet communism and wrote powerful articles about the atrocities of communists in Russia. He died on September 12, 1919, at his home in Kuokkala, Finland, at the age of 48. Some mystery was haunting his burial; his grave in Finland was later on the Soviet territory since WWII. His magnificent villa was destroyed. In 1957 Leonid Andreev's remains were exhumed and moved to the prestigious "Poet's Alley" at the "Literatorskie Mostki" (Literary burials) near the graves of Ivan Turgenev, Ivan Goncharov, Nikolai Leskov and other Russian cultural luminaries at the Volkovo Cemetery in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg). - Composer
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
Isaak Shvarts was a prominent Soviet and Russian composer of Jewish descent. Born in Ukraine (Soviet Union), his family soon moved to Leningrad (present day St. Petersburg) in 1930. By the age of 12 young Isaac has already given his major concert performance at Leningrad Philharmonic Hall. In 1936, during Stalin repressions, his father was arrested (later executed in 1938) and the family was sent in exile to Frunze (present day Bishkek), Kyrgyzstan. He got married in 1943 and had a daughter Galina. He remained in exile until 1945 and upon his return to St. Petersburg began his studies at the city's Conservatory. Graduating in 1951, he began his life-long career of a composer for stage plays and motion pictures. He composed music for over 35 various plays for theaters of Leningrad and Moscow and for over 110 motion pictures, working with well-known directors. He was Akira Kurosawa's choice in composing music for award winning Dersu Uzala (1975). His other notable works on motion pictures include White Sun of the Desert (1970), One Hundred Days After Childhood (1975), Young Catherine (1991), Luna Park (1992), Muzhchina dlya molodoy zhenshchiny (1996). He received several international and local awards and nominations at various festivals and was an Acedemician of the National Academy of Cinematographic Arts, Russia.- Production Designer
- Art Director
Igor Vuskovich was born on 24 February 1904 in Odessa, Odessa uyezd, Kherson Governorate, Russian Empire [now Odessa Oblast, Ukraine]. He was a production designer and art director, known for Silva (1944), 713 prosit posadku (1962) and Krepostnaya aktrisa (1963). He died on 30 August 1992 in Gruzino, Vsevolozhsky District, Leningrad Oblast, Russia.- Writer
- Production Manager
- Additional Crew
Lev Kantorovich was born on 3 February 1911 in St. Petersburg, Russian Empire [now Russia]. He was a writer and production manager, known for Guest (1939) and Aleksandr Parkhomenko (1942). He died on 30 June 1941 in Vyborg, Karelo-Finnish SSR, USSR [now Leningrad oblast, Russia].- Semyon Berlin was born on 10 June 1921 in Saratov, RSFSR [now Russia]. He was an actor, known for Heavenly Swallows (1976), A Golden-coloured Straw Hat (1974) and Vsegda so mnoyu (1977). He died in 1992 in Krasnoye Selo, Leningrad Oblast, Russia.
- Actor
- Soundtrack
Mikhail Svetin was born on 11 December 1930 in Kiev, Ukrainian SSR, USSR [now Ukraine]. He was an actor, known for Sirano de Berzherak (1989), Twelve Chairs (1977) and Zolotoy telyonok (2006). He was married to Proskurnina Bronislav. He died on 30 August 2015 in Gatchina, Leningrad Oblast, Russia.- Mikhail Rosenberg was born on 22 March 1913 in St. Petersburg, Russian Empire [now Russia]. He was a writer, known for The Girl from Leningrad (1941) and Boyevoy kinosbornik 2 (1941). He died in December 1941 in near Lake Ladoga, Leningrad Oblast, RSFSR, USSR [now St. Petersburg, Russia].
- Marat Garipov was born on 11 September 1967. He was an actor, known for Gibel imperii (2005) and 1612: Khroniki smutnogo vremeni (2007). He died on 9 January 2016 in Gatchina, Leningrad Oblast, Russia.
- Cinematographer
- Actor
- Camera and Electrical Department
Eduard Rozovsky was born on 14 December 1926. He was a cinematographer and actor, known for Amphibian Man (1961), White Sun of the Desert (1970) and Kain XVIII (1963). He died on 26 July 2011 in Leningrad Oblast, Russia.- Writer
- Soundtrack
Nikolai Gumilev was born on 15 April 1886 in Kronstadt, Russian Empire [now St. Petersburg, Russia]. He was a writer, known for Svidanie v teatre pepla (2000) and Golos (2012). He was married to Anna Akhmatova. He died on 25 August 1921 in Berngardowka, Petrograd Governorate, RSFSR [now Leningrad Oblast, Russia].- Pyotr Lobanov was born on 21 June 1905 in Tarasova Gora, St. Petersburg Governorate, Russian Empire [now Leningrad Oblast, Russia]. He was an actor, known for Na ostrove dalnem (1957), Tiger Girl (1955) and The Rumyantsev Case (1956). He died on 1 January 1989 in Leningrad Oblast, RSFSR, USSR [now Russia].