Alexander Dovzhenko
Encyclopedia
Aleksandr Petrovich Dovzhenko , was a Soviet screenwriter
, film
producer
and director
of Ukrainian
descent. He is often cited as one of the most important early Soviet filmmakers, alongside Sergei Eisenstein
and Vsevolod Pudovkin
.
, a townlet
located in the Russian Empire
(now in the Chernihiv Oblast
in Ukraine
), to Petro Semenovych Dovzhenko and Odarka Ermolaivna Dovzhenko. His paternal ancestors were Cossacks who settled in Sosnytsia in the eighteenth century, coming from the neighbouring province of Poltava
. Alexandr was the seventh of fourteen children, but due to the horrific rate of child loss he became the oldest child by the time he turned eleven (only Alexandr and his sister Polina survived).
Although his parents were uneducated, Dovzhenko's semi-literate grandfather encouraged him to study, leading him to become a teacher at the age of 19. He escaped military service during both World War I
and the Russian Revolution
because of a heart condition, but did join the Communist Party
in the early 1920s. He even served as an assistant to the Ambassador in Warsaw
as well as Berlin
. Upon his return to USSR in 1923, he began illustrating books and drawing cartoons in Kharkiv
.
Dovzhenko turned to film in 1926 when he landed in Odessa
. His ambitious drive led to the production of his second-ever screenplay
, Vasya the Reformer (which he also co-directed). He gained greater success with Zvenyhora
in 1928 which established him as a major filmmaker of his era. His following "Ukraine Trilogy" (Zvenigora
, Arsenal
, and Earth
), although underappreciated by some contemporary Soviet critics (who found some of its realism counter-revolutionary), is his most well-known work in the West. For his film Shchors
, Dovzhenko was awarded the Stalin Prize (1941); eight years later, in 1949, he was awarded another Stalin Prize for his film Michurin
.
Dovzhenko served as a wartime journalist for the Red Army
during World War II
. After spending several years writing, co-writing and producing films at Mosfilm Studios
in Moscow
, he turned to writing novels. Over a 20 year career, Dovzhenko personally directed only 7 films.
He was a mentor to the young Soviet filmmakers Larisa Shepitko
and Serhiy Paradzhanov. Dovzhenko died of a heart attack
on November 25, 1956 in his dacha
in Peredelkino
. His wife, Yulia Solntseva continued his legacy by producing films of her own and completing projects Dovzhenko was not able to create.
The Dovzhenko Film Studios in Kiev
were named after him in his honour following his death.
Aleksandr Petrovich Dovzhenko , was a Soviet screenwriter
, film
producer
and director
of Ukrainian
descent. He is often cited as one of the most important early Soviet filmmakers, alongside Sergei Eisenstein
and Vsevolod Pudovkin
.
, a townlet
located in the Russian Empire
(now in the Chernihiv Oblast
in Ukraine
), to Petro Semenovych Dovzhenko and Odarka Ermolaivna Dovzhenko. His paternal ancestors were Cossacks who settled in Sosnytsia in the eighteenth century, coming from the neighbouring province of Poltava
. Alexandr was the seventh of fourteen children, but due to the horrific rate of child loss he became the oldest child by the time he turned eleven (only Alexandr and his sister Polina survived).
Although his parents were uneducated, Dovzhenko's semi-literate grandfather encouraged him to study, leading him to become a teacher at the age of 19. He escaped military service during both World War I
and the Russian Revolution
because of a heart condition, but did join the Communist Party
in the early 1920s. He even served as an assistant to the Ambassador in Warsaw
as well as Berlin
. Upon his return to USSR in 1923, he began illustrating books and drawing cartoons in Kharkiv
.
Dovzhenko turned to film in 1926 when he landed in Odessa
. His ambitious drive led to the production of his second-ever screenplay
, Vasya the Reformer (which he also co-directed). He gained greater success with Zvenyhora
in 1928 which established him as a major filmmaker of his era. His following "Ukraine Trilogy" (Zvenigora
, Arsenal
, and Earth
), although underappreciated by some contemporary Soviet critics (who found some of its realism counter-revolutionary), is his most well-known work in the West. For his film Shchors
, Dovzhenko was awarded the Stalin Prize (1941); eight years later, in 1949, he was awarded another Stalin Prize for his film Michurin
.
Dovzhenko served as a wartime journalist for the Red Army
during World War II
. After spending several years writing, co-writing and producing films at Mosfilm Studios
in Moscow
, he turned to writing novels. Over a 20 year career, Dovzhenko personally directed only 7 films.
He was a mentor to the young Soviet filmmakers Larisa Shepitko
and Serhiy Paradzhanov. Dovzhenko died of a heart attack
on November 25, 1956 in his dacha
in Peredelkino
. His wife, Yulia Solntseva continued his legacy by producing films of her own and completing projects Dovzhenko was not able to create.
The Dovzhenko Film Studios in Kiev
were named after him in his honour following his death.
Aleksandr Petrovich Dovzhenko , was a Soviet screenwriter
, film
producer
and director
of Ukrainian
descent. He is often cited as one of the most important early Soviet filmmakers, alongside Sergei Eisenstein
and Vsevolod Pudovkin
.
, a townlet
located in the Russian Empire
(now in the Chernihiv Oblast
in Ukraine
), to Petro Semenovych Dovzhenko and Odarka Ermolaivna Dovzhenko. His paternal ancestors were Cossacks who settled in Sosnytsia in the eighteenth century, coming from the neighbouring province of Poltava
. Alexandr was the seventh of fourteen children, but due to the horrific rate of child loss he became the oldest child by the time he turned eleven (only Alexandr and his sister Polina survived).
Although his parents were uneducated, Dovzhenko's semi-literate grandfather encouraged him to study, leading him to become a teacher at the age of 19. He escaped military service during both World War I
and the Russian Revolution
because of a heart condition, but did join the Communist Party
in the early 1920s. He even served as an assistant to the Ambassador in Warsaw
as well as Berlin
. Upon his return to USSR in 1923, he began illustrating books and drawing cartoons in Kharkiv
.
Dovzhenko turned to film in 1926 when he landed in Odessa
. His ambitious drive led to the production of his second-ever screenplay
, Vasya the Reformer (which he also co-directed). He gained greater success with Zvenyhora
in 1928 which established him as a major filmmaker of his era. His following "Ukraine Trilogy" (Zvenigora
, Arsenal
, and Earth
), although underappreciated by some contemporary Soviet critics (who found some of its realism counter-revolutionary), is his most well-known work in the West. For his film Shchors
, Dovzhenko was awarded the Stalin Prize (1941); eight years later, in 1949, he was awarded another Stalin Prize for his film Michurin
.
Dovzhenko served as a wartime journalist for the Red Army
during World War II
. After spending several years writing, co-writing and producing films at Mosfilm Studios
in Moscow
, he turned to writing novels. Over a 20 year career, Dovzhenko personally directed only 7 films.
He was a mentor to the young Soviet filmmakers Larisa Shepitko
and Serhiy Paradzhanov. Dovzhenko died of a heart attack
on November 25, 1956 in his dacha
in Peredelkino
. His wife, Yulia Solntseva continued his legacy by producing films of her own and completing projects Dovzhenko was not able to create.
The Dovzhenko Film Studios in Kiev
were named after him in his honour following his death.
* codirected by Yuliya Solntseva
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
, film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
producer
Film producer
A film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...
and director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
of Ukrainian
Ukrainians
Ukrainians are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine, which is the sixth-largest nation in Europe. The Constitution of Ukraine applies the term 'Ukrainians' to all its citizens...
descent. He is often cited as one of the most important early Soviet filmmakers, alongside Sergei Eisenstein
Sergei Eisenstein
Sergei Mikhailovich Eisenstein , né Eizenshtein, was a pioneering Soviet Russian film director and film theorist, often considered to be the "Father of Montage"...
and Vsevolod Pudovkin
Vsevolod Pudovkin
Vsevolod Illarionovich Pudovkin was a Russian and Soviet film director, screenwriter and actor who developed influential theories of montage...
.
Biography
Alexander Dovzhenko was born in the district of Viunyshche in SosnytsiaSosnytsia
Sosnytsia is a townlet and administrative center of the Sosnytsky Raion of the Chernihiv Oblast in north-central Ukraine. The townlet is located on the west bank of the Ubid' river, a tributary of the Desna river, some from Chernihiv, the province center.Sosnytsia was the birthplace of...
, a townlet
Urban-type settlement
Urban-type settlement ; , selyshche mis'koho typu ) is an official designation for a type of locality used in some of the countries of the former Soviet Union...
located in the Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
(now in the Chernihiv Oblast
Chernihiv Oblast
Chernihiv Oblast is an oblast of northern Ukraine. The administrative center of the oblast is the city of Chernihiv.-Geography:The total area of the province is around 31,900 km²....
in Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
), to Petro Semenovych Dovzhenko and Odarka Ermolaivna Dovzhenko. His paternal ancestors were Cossacks who settled in Sosnytsia in the eighteenth century, coming from the neighbouring province of Poltava
Poltava
Poltava is a city in located on the Vorskla River in central Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Poltava Oblast , as well as the surrounding Poltava Raion of the oblast. Poltava's estimated population is 298,652 ....
. Alexandr was the seventh of fourteen children, but due to the horrific rate of child loss he became the oldest child by the time he turned eleven (only Alexandr and his sister Polina survived).
Although his parents were uneducated, Dovzhenko's semi-literate grandfather encouraged him to study, leading him to become a teacher at the age of 19. He escaped military service during both World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
and the Russian Revolution
Russian Revolution of 1917
The Russian Revolution is the collective term for a series of revolutions in Russia in 1917, which destroyed the Tsarist autocracy and led to the creation of the Soviet Union. The Tsar was deposed and replaced by a provisional government in the first revolution of February 1917...
because of a heart condition, but did join the Communist Party
Communist Party of the Soviet Union
The Communist Party of the Soviet Union was the only legal, ruling political party in the Soviet Union and one of the largest communist organizations in the world...
in the early 1920s. He even served as an assistant to the Ambassador in Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
as well as Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
. Upon his return to USSR in 1923, he began illustrating books and drawing cartoons in Kharkiv
Kharkiv
Kharkiv or Kharkov is the second-largest city in Ukraine.The city was founded in 1654 and was a major centre of Ukrainian culture in the Russian Empire. Kharkiv became the first city in Ukraine where the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic was proclaimed in December 1917 and Soviet government was...
.
Dovzhenko turned to film in 1926 when he landed in Odessa
Odessa
Odessa or Odesa is the administrative center of the Odessa Oblast located in southern Ukraine. The city is a major seaport located on the northwest shore of the Black Sea and the fourth largest city in Ukraine with a population of 1,029,000 .The predecessor of Odessa, a small Tatar settlement,...
. His ambitious drive led to the production of his second-ever screenplay
Screenplay
A screenplay or script is a written work that is made especially for a film or television program. Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writing. In them, the movement, actions, expression, and dialogues of the characters are also narrated...
, Vasya the Reformer (which he also co-directed). He gained greater success with Zvenyhora
Zvenigora
Zvenigora, or Zvenyhora is a 1928 Soviet silent film by Ukrainian director Alexander Dovzhenko. Regarded as a silent revolutionary epic, Dovzhenko's initial film in his "Ukraine Trilogy" is almost religious in its tone, relating a millennium of Ukrainian history through the story of an old man...
in 1928 which established him as a major filmmaker of his era. His following "Ukraine Trilogy" (Zvenigora
Zvenigora
Zvenigora, or Zvenyhora is a 1928 Soviet silent film by Ukrainian director Alexander Dovzhenko. Regarded as a silent revolutionary epic, Dovzhenko's initial film in his "Ukraine Trilogy" is almost religious in its tone, relating a millennium of Ukrainian history through the story of an old man...
, Arsenal
Arsenal (film)
Arsenal is a 1928 Soviet film by Ukrainian director Alexander Dovzhenko. It is the second film in his "Ukraine Trilogy", the first being Zvenigora and the third being Earth ....
, and Earth
Earth (1930 film)
Earth is a 1930 Soviet film by Ukrainian director Alexander Dovzhenko, concerning an insurrection by a community of farmers, following a hostile takeover by Kulak landowners...
), although underappreciated by some contemporary Soviet critics (who found some of its realism counter-revolutionary), is his most well-known work in the West. For his film Shchors
Shchors (film)
Shchors is a 1939 Soviet film by Ukrainian director Alexander Dovzhenko. Commissioned by Joseph Stalin, the film is a biography of the partisan leader and Ukrainian Bolshevik Nikolai Shchors. Shchors is played by Yevgeny Samoylov ....
, Dovzhenko was awarded the Stalin Prize (1941); eight years later, in 1949, he was awarded another Stalin Prize for his film Michurin
Michurin (film)
Michurin is a 1948 Soviet film directed by Alexander Dovzhenko about the life of Russian practitioner of selection Ivan Vladimirovich Michurin...
.
Dovzhenko served as a wartime journalist for the Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. After spending several years writing, co-writing and producing films at Mosfilm Studios
Mosfilm
Mosfilm is a film studio, which is often described as the largest and oldest in Russia and in Europe. Its output includes most of the more widely-acclaimed Soviet films, ranging from works by Tarkovsky and Eisenstein , to Red Westerns, to the Akira Kurosawa co-production and the epic Война и Мир...
in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
, he turned to writing novels. Over a 20 year career, Dovzhenko personally directed only 7 films.
He was a mentor to the young Soviet filmmakers Larisa Shepitko
Larisa Shepitko
-Early Life:She went to the All-Union State Institute of Cinematography in Moscow as a student of Alexander Dovzhenko. She was a student of Dovzhenko's for 18 months until he died in 1956. Shepitko graduated from VGIK in 1963 with her prize winning diploma film Heat, made when she was 22 years old...
and Serhiy Paradzhanov. Dovzhenko died of a heart attack
Myocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...
on November 25, 1956 in his dacha
Dacha
Dacha is a Russian word for seasonal or year-round second homes often located in the exurbs of Soviet and post-Soviet cities. Cottages or shacks serving as family's main or only home are not considered dachas, although many purpose-built dachas are recently being converted for year-round residence...
in Peredelkino
Peredelkino
Peredelkino is a dacha complex situated just to the southwest of Moscow, Russia.-History:The settlement originated as the estate of Peredeltsy, owned by the Leontievs , then by Princes Dolgorukov and by the Samarins. After a railway passed through the village in the 19th century, it was renamed...
. His wife, Yulia Solntseva continued his legacy by producing films of her own and completing projects Dovzhenko was not able to create.
The Dovzhenko Film Studios in Kiev
Kiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....
were named after him in his honour following his death.
Filmography
- Love's BerriesLove's BerriesLove's Berries is a 1926 Soviet film by Ukrainian director Alexander Dovzhenko. Dovzhenko's debut film, it deals with a dandified barber's attempts to get rid of his "love berry" - his illegitimate offspring....
' onMouseout='HidePop("68334")' href="/topics/Romanization_of_Russian">translit.Romanization of RussianRomanization of the Russian alphabet is the process of transliterating the Russian language from the Cyrillic alphabet into the Latin alphabet...
Yagodki lyubvi, , translit.Romanization of UkrainianThe romanization or Latinization of Ukrainian is the representation of the Ukrainian language using Latin letters. Ukrainian is natively written in its own Ukrainian alphabet, a variation of Cyrillic....
Yahidky kokhannya), 1926 - Vasya the Reformer , 1926
- The Diplomatic Pouch (
Aleksandr Petrovich Dovzhenko , was a Soviet screenwriter
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
, film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
producer
Film producer
A film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...
and director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
of Ukrainian
Ukrainians
Ukrainians are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine, which is the sixth-largest nation in Europe. The Constitution of Ukraine applies the term 'Ukrainians' to all its citizens...
descent. He is often cited as one of the most important early Soviet filmmakers, alongside Sergei Eisenstein
Sergei Eisenstein
Sergei Mikhailovich Eisenstein , né Eizenshtein, was a pioneering Soviet Russian film director and film theorist, often considered to be the "Father of Montage"...
and Vsevolod Pudovkin
Vsevolod Pudovkin
Vsevolod Illarionovich Pudovkin was a Russian and Soviet film director, screenwriter and actor who developed influential theories of montage...
.
Biography
Alexander Dovzhenko was born in the district of Viunyshche in SosnytsiaSosnytsia
Sosnytsia is a townlet and administrative center of the Sosnytsky Raion of the Chernihiv Oblast in north-central Ukraine. The townlet is located on the west bank of the Ubid' river, a tributary of the Desna river, some from Chernihiv, the province center.Sosnytsia was the birthplace of...
, a townlet
Urban-type settlement
Urban-type settlement ; , selyshche mis'koho typu ) is an official designation for a type of locality used in some of the countries of the former Soviet Union...
located in the Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
(now in the Chernihiv Oblast
Chernihiv Oblast
Chernihiv Oblast is an oblast of northern Ukraine. The administrative center of the oblast is the city of Chernihiv.-Geography:The total area of the province is around 31,900 km²....
in Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
), to Petro Semenovych Dovzhenko and Odarka Ermolaivna Dovzhenko. His paternal ancestors were Cossacks who settled in Sosnytsia in the eighteenth century, coming from the neighbouring province of Poltava
Poltava
Poltava is a city in located on the Vorskla River in central Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Poltava Oblast , as well as the surrounding Poltava Raion of the oblast. Poltava's estimated population is 298,652 ....
. Alexandr was the seventh of fourteen children, but due to the horrific rate of child loss he became the oldest child by the time he turned eleven (only Alexandr and his sister Polina survived).
Although his parents were uneducated, Dovzhenko's semi-literate grandfather encouraged him to study, leading him to become a teacher at the age of 19. He escaped military service during both World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
and the Russian Revolution
Russian Revolution of 1917
The Russian Revolution is the collective term for a series of revolutions in Russia in 1917, which destroyed the Tsarist autocracy and led to the creation of the Soviet Union. The Tsar was deposed and replaced by a provisional government in the first revolution of February 1917...
because of a heart condition, but did join the Communist Party
Communist Party of the Soviet Union
The Communist Party of the Soviet Union was the only legal, ruling political party in the Soviet Union and one of the largest communist organizations in the world...
in the early 1920s. He even served as an assistant to the Ambassador in Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
as well as Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
. Upon his return to USSR in 1923, he began illustrating books and drawing cartoons in Kharkiv
Kharkiv
Kharkiv or Kharkov is the second-largest city in Ukraine.The city was founded in 1654 and was a major centre of Ukrainian culture in the Russian Empire. Kharkiv became the first city in Ukraine where the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic was proclaimed in December 1917 and Soviet government was...
.
Dovzhenko turned to film in 1926 when he landed in Odessa
Odessa
Odessa or Odesa is the administrative center of the Odessa Oblast located in southern Ukraine. The city is a major seaport located on the northwest shore of the Black Sea and the fourth largest city in Ukraine with a population of 1,029,000 .The predecessor of Odessa, a small Tatar settlement,...
. His ambitious drive led to the production of his second-ever screenplay
Screenplay
A screenplay or script is a written work that is made especially for a film or television program. Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writing. In them, the movement, actions, expression, and dialogues of the characters are also narrated...
, Vasya the Reformer (which he also co-directed). He gained greater success with Zvenyhora
Zvenigora
Zvenigora, or Zvenyhora is a 1928 Soviet silent film by Ukrainian director Alexander Dovzhenko. Regarded as a silent revolutionary epic, Dovzhenko's initial film in his "Ukraine Trilogy" is almost religious in its tone, relating a millennium of Ukrainian history through the story of an old man...
in 1928 which established him as a major filmmaker of his era. His following "Ukraine Trilogy" (Zvenigora
Zvenigora
Zvenigora, or Zvenyhora is a 1928 Soviet silent film by Ukrainian director Alexander Dovzhenko. Regarded as a silent revolutionary epic, Dovzhenko's initial film in his "Ukraine Trilogy" is almost religious in its tone, relating a millennium of Ukrainian history through the story of an old man...
, Arsenal
Arsenal (film)
Arsenal is a 1928 Soviet film by Ukrainian director Alexander Dovzhenko. It is the second film in his "Ukraine Trilogy", the first being Zvenigora and the third being Earth ....
, and Earth
Earth (1930 film)
Earth is a 1930 Soviet film by Ukrainian director Alexander Dovzhenko, concerning an insurrection by a community of farmers, following a hostile takeover by Kulak landowners...
), although underappreciated by some contemporary Soviet critics (who found some of its realism counter-revolutionary), is his most well-known work in the West. For his film Shchors
Shchors (film)
Shchors is a 1939 Soviet film by Ukrainian director Alexander Dovzhenko. Commissioned by Joseph Stalin, the film is a biography of the partisan leader and Ukrainian Bolshevik Nikolai Shchors. Shchors is played by Yevgeny Samoylov ....
, Dovzhenko was awarded the Stalin Prize (1941); eight years later, in 1949, he was awarded another Stalin Prize for his film Michurin
Michurin (film)
Michurin is a 1948 Soviet film directed by Alexander Dovzhenko about the life of Russian practitioner of selection Ivan Vladimirovich Michurin...
.
Dovzhenko served as a wartime journalist for the Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. After spending several years writing, co-writing and producing films at Mosfilm Studios
Mosfilm
Mosfilm is a film studio, which is often described as the largest and oldest in Russia and in Europe. Its output includes most of the more widely-acclaimed Soviet films, ranging from works by Tarkovsky and Eisenstein , to Red Westerns, to the Akira Kurosawa co-production and the epic Война и Мир...
in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
, he turned to writing novels. Over a 20 year career, Dovzhenko personally directed only 7 films.
He was a mentor to the young Soviet filmmakers Larisa Shepitko
Larisa Shepitko
-Early Life:She went to the All-Union State Institute of Cinematography in Moscow as a student of Alexander Dovzhenko. She was a student of Dovzhenko's for 18 months until he died in 1956. Shepitko graduated from VGIK in 1963 with her prize winning diploma film Heat, made when she was 22 years old...
and Serhiy Paradzhanov. Dovzhenko died of a heart attack
Myocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...
on November 25, 1956 in his dacha
Dacha
Dacha is a Russian word for seasonal or year-round second homes often located in the exurbs of Soviet and post-Soviet cities. Cottages or shacks serving as family's main or only home are not considered dachas, although many purpose-built dachas are recently being converted for year-round residence...
in Peredelkino
Peredelkino
Peredelkino is a dacha complex situated just to the southwest of Moscow, Russia.-History:The settlement originated as the estate of Peredeltsy, owned by the Leontievs , then by Princes Dolgorukov and by the Samarins. After a railway passed through the village in the 19th century, it was renamed...
. His wife, Yulia Solntseva continued his legacy by producing films of her own and completing projects Dovzhenko was not able to create.
The Dovzhenko Film Studios in Kiev
Kiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....
were named after him in his honour following his death.
Filmography
- Love's BerriesLove's BerriesLove's Berries is a 1926 Soviet film by Ukrainian director Alexander Dovzhenko. Dovzhenko's debut film, it deals with a dandified barber's attempts to get rid of his "love berry" - his illegitimate offspring....
' onMouseout='HidePop("18605")' href="/topics/Romanization_of_Russian">translit.Romanization of RussianRomanization of the Russian alphabet is the process of transliterating the Russian language from the Cyrillic alphabet into the Latin alphabet...
Yagodki lyubvi, , translit.Romanization of UkrainianThe romanization or Latinization of Ukrainian is the representation of the Ukrainian language using Latin letters. Ukrainian is natively written in its own Ukrainian alphabet, a variation of Cyrillic....
Yahidky kokhannya), 1926 - Vasya the Reformer , 1926
- The Diplomatic Pouch (
Aleksandr Petrovich Dovzhenko , was a Soviet screenwriter
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
, film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
producer
Film producer
A film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...
and director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
of Ukrainian
Ukrainians
Ukrainians are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine, which is the sixth-largest nation in Europe. The Constitution of Ukraine applies the term 'Ukrainians' to all its citizens...
descent. He is often cited as one of the most important early Soviet filmmakers, alongside Sergei Eisenstein
Sergei Eisenstein
Sergei Mikhailovich Eisenstein , né Eizenshtein, was a pioneering Soviet Russian film director and film theorist, often considered to be the "Father of Montage"...
and Vsevolod Pudovkin
Vsevolod Pudovkin
Vsevolod Illarionovich Pudovkin was a Russian and Soviet film director, screenwriter and actor who developed influential theories of montage...
.
Biography
Alexander Dovzhenko was born in the district of Viunyshche in SosnytsiaSosnytsia
Sosnytsia is a townlet and administrative center of the Sosnytsky Raion of the Chernihiv Oblast in north-central Ukraine. The townlet is located on the west bank of the Ubid' river, a tributary of the Desna river, some from Chernihiv, the province center.Sosnytsia was the birthplace of...
, a townlet
Urban-type settlement
Urban-type settlement ; , selyshche mis'koho typu ) is an official designation for a type of locality used in some of the countries of the former Soviet Union...
located in the Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
(now in the Chernihiv Oblast
Chernihiv Oblast
Chernihiv Oblast is an oblast of northern Ukraine. The administrative center of the oblast is the city of Chernihiv.-Geography:The total area of the province is around 31,900 km²....
in Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
), to Petro Semenovych Dovzhenko and Odarka Ermolaivna Dovzhenko. His paternal ancestors were Cossacks who settled in Sosnytsia in the eighteenth century, coming from the neighbouring province of Poltava
Poltava
Poltava is a city in located on the Vorskla River in central Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Poltava Oblast , as well as the surrounding Poltava Raion of the oblast. Poltava's estimated population is 298,652 ....
. Alexandr was the seventh of fourteen children, but due to the horrific rate of child loss he became the oldest child by the time he turned eleven (only Alexandr and his sister Polina survived).
Although his parents were uneducated, Dovzhenko's semi-literate grandfather encouraged him to study, leading him to become a teacher at the age of 19. He escaped military service during both World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
and the Russian Revolution
Russian Revolution of 1917
The Russian Revolution is the collective term for a series of revolutions in Russia in 1917, which destroyed the Tsarist autocracy and led to the creation of the Soviet Union. The Tsar was deposed and replaced by a provisional government in the first revolution of February 1917...
because of a heart condition, but did join the Communist Party
Communist Party of the Soviet Union
The Communist Party of the Soviet Union was the only legal, ruling political party in the Soviet Union and one of the largest communist organizations in the world...
in the early 1920s. He even served as an assistant to the Ambassador in Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
as well as Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
. Upon his return to USSR in 1923, he began illustrating books and drawing cartoons in Kharkiv
Kharkiv
Kharkiv or Kharkov is the second-largest city in Ukraine.The city was founded in 1654 and was a major centre of Ukrainian culture in the Russian Empire. Kharkiv became the first city in Ukraine where the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic was proclaimed in December 1917 and Soviet government was...
.
Dovzhenko turned to film in 1926 when he landed in Odessa
Odessa
Odessa or Odesa is the administrative center of the Odessa Oblast located in southern Ukraine. The city is a major seaport located on the northwest shore of the Black Sea and the fourth largest city in Ukraine with a population of 1,029,000 .The predecessor of Odessa, a small Tatar settlement,...
. His ambitious drive led to the production of his second-ever screenplay
Screenplay
A screenplay or script is a written work that is made especially for a film or television program. Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writing. In them, the movement, actions, expression, and dialogues of the characters are also narrated...
, Vasya the Reformer (which he also co-directed). He gained greater success with Zvenyhora
Zvenigora
Zvenigora, or Zvenyhora is a 1928 Soviet silent film by Ukrainian director Alexander Dovzhenko. Regarded as a silent revolutionary epic, Dovzhenko's initial film in his "Ukraine Trilogy" is almost religious in its tone, relating a millennium of Ukrainian history through the story of an old man...
in 1928 which established him as a major filmmaker of his era. His following "Ukraine Trilogy" (Zvenigora
Zvenigora
Zvenigora, or Zvenyhora is a 1928 Soviet silent film by Ukrainian director Alexander Dovzhenko. Regarded as a silent revolutionary epic, Dovzhenko's initial film in his "Ukraine Trilogy" is almost religious in its tone, relating a millennium of Ukrainian history through the story of an old man...
, Arsenal
Arsenal (film)
Arsenal is a 1928 Soviet film by Ukrainian director Alexander Dovzhenko. It is the second film in his "Ukraine Trilogy", the first being Zvenigora and the third being Earth ....
, and Earth
Earth (1930 film)
Earth is a 1930 Soviet film by Ukrainian director Alexander Dovzhenko, concerning an insurrection by a community of farmers, following a hostile takeover by Kulak landowners...
), although underappreciated by some contemporary Soviet critics (who found some of its realism counter-revolutionary), is his most well-known work in the West. For his film Shchors
Shchors (film)
Shchors is a 1939 Soviet film by Ukrainian director Alexander Dovzhenko. Commissioned by Joseph Stalin, the film is a biography of the partisan leader and Ukrainian Bolshevik Nikolai Shchors. Shchors is played by Yevgeny Samoylov ....
, Dovzhenko was awarded the Stalin Prize (1941); eight years later, in 1949, he was awarded another Stalin Prize for his film Michurin
Michurin (film)
Michurin is a 1948 Soviet film directed by Alexander Dovzhenko about the life of Russian practitioner of selection Ivan Vladimirovich Michurin...
.
Dovzhenko served as a wartime journalist for the Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. After spending several years writing, co-writing and producing films at Mosfilm Studios
Mosfilm
Mosfilm is a film studio, which is often described as the largest and oldest in Russia and in Europe. Its output includes most of the more widely-acclaimed Soviet films, ranging from works by Tarkovsky and Eisenstein , to Red Westerns, to the Akira Kurosawa co-production and the epic Война и Мир...
in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
, he turned to writing novels. Over a 20 year career, Dovzhenko personally directed only 7 films.
He was a mentor to the young Soviet filmmakers Larisa Shepitko
Larisa Shepitko
-Early Life:She went to the All-Union State Institute of Cinematography in Moscow as a student of Alexander Dovzhenko. She was a student of Dovzhenko's for 18 months until he died in 1956. Shepitko graduated from VGIK in 1963 with her prize winning diploma film Heat, made when she was 22 years old...
and Serhiy Paradzhanov. Dovzhenko died of a heart attack
Myocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...
on November 25, 1956 in his dacha
Dacha
Dacha is a Russian word for seasonal or year-round second homes often located in the exurbs of Soviet and post-Soviet cities. Cottages or shacks serving as family's main or only home are not considered dachas, although many purpose-built dachas are recently being converted for year-round residence...
in Peredelkino
Peredelkino
Peredelkino is a dacha complex situated just to the southwest of Moscow, Russia.-History:The settlement originated as the estate of Peredeltsy, owned by the Leontievs , then by Princes Dolgorukov and by the Samarins. After a railway passed through the village in the 19th century, it was renamed...
. His wife, Yulia Solntseva continued his legacy by producing films of her own and completing projects Dovzhenko was not able to create.
The Dovzhenko Film Studios in Kiev
Kiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....
were named after him in his honour following his death.
Filmography
- Love's BerriesLove's BerriesLove's Berries is a 1926 Soviet film by Ukrainian director Alexander Dovzhenko. Dovzhenko's debut film, it deals with a dandified barber's attempts to get rid of his "love berry" - his illegitimate offspring....
' onMouseout='HidePop("11963")' href="/topics/Romanization_of_Russian">translit.Romanization of RussianRomanization of the Russian alphabet is the process of transliterating the Russian language from the Cyrillic alphabet into the Latin alphabet...
Yagodki lyubvi, , translit.Romanization of UkrainianThe romanization or Latinization of Ukrainian is the representation of the Ukrainian language using Latin letters. Ukrainian is natively written in its own Ukrainian alphabet, a variation of Cyrillic....
Yahidky kokhannya), 1926 - Vasya the Reformer , 1926
- The Diplomatic Pouch ' onMouseout='HidePop("41047")' href="/topics/Romanization_of_Russian">translit.Romanization of RussianRomanization of the Russian alphabet is the process of transliterating the Russian language from the Cyrillic alphabet into the Latin alphabet...
Sumka dipkuryera, , translit.Romanization of UkrainianThe romanization or Latinization of Ukrainian is the representation of the Ukrainian language using Latin letters. Ukrainian is natively written in its own Ukrainian alphabet, a variation of Cyrillic....
Sumka dypkuryera), 1927 - ZvenigoraZvenigoraZvenigora, or Zvenyhora is a 1928 Soviet silent film by Ukrainian director Alexander Dovzhenko. Regarded as a silent revolutionary epic, Dovzhenko's initial film in his "Ukraine Trilogy" is almost religious in its tone, relating a millennium of Ukrainian history through the story of an old man...
' onMouseout='HidePop("68874")' href="/topics/Romanization_of_Russian">translit.Romanization of RussianRomanization of the Russian alphabet is the process of transliterating the Russian language from the Cyrillic alphabet into the Latin alphabet...
Zvenigora, , translit.Romanization of UkrainianThe romanization or Latinization of Ukrainian is the representation of the Ukrainian language using Latin letters. Ukrainian is natively written in its own Ukrainian alphabet, a variation of Cyrillic....
Zvenyhora), 1928 - ArsenalArsenal (film)Arsenal is a 1928 Soviet film by Ukrainian director Alexander Dovzhenko. It is the second film in his "Ukraine Trilogy", the first being Zvenigora and the third being Earth ....
, 1928 - EarthEarth (1930 film)Earth is a 1930 Soviet film by Ukrainian director Alexander Dovzhenko, concerning an insurrection by a community of farmers, following a hostile takeover by Kulak landowners...
' onMouseout='HidePop("96702")' href="/topics/Romanization_of_Russian">translit.Romanization of RussianRomanization of the Russian alphabet is the process of transliterating the Russian language from the Cyrillic alphabet into the Latin alphabet...
Zemlya, , translit.Romanization of UkrainianThe romanization or Latinization of Ukrainian is the representation of the Ukrainian language using Latin letters. Ukrainian is natively written in its own Ukrainian alphabet, a variation of Cyrillic....
Zemlya), 1930 - IvanIvan (film)Ivan is a 1932 Soviet film by Ukrainian director Alexander Dovzhenko and his wife Yuliya Solntseva. After the critical lambasting of his film Earth, Dovzhenko returned with a more popular iteration of its main motifs. Much like Earth, Ivan concerns itself with the natural rhythms of country life,...
, 1932 - AerogradAerogradAerograd , is a 1935 Soviet film by Ukrainian director Alexander Dovzhenko, a coproduction between Mosfilm and VUFKU. It is an adventure story set in the Soviet Far East in the future.- Cast :*Stepan Shagaida as Stepan Glushak...
(Aerohrad, , , translit.Romanization of UkrainianThe romanization or Latinization of Ukrainian is the representation of the Ukrainian language using Latin letters. Ukrainian is natively written in its own Ukrainian alphabet, a variation of Cyrillic....
), 1935 - Bukovyna: a Ukrainian Land ' onMouseout='HidePop("53615")' href="/topics/Romanization_of_Russian">translit.Romanization of RussianRomanization of the Russian alphabet is the process of transliterating the Russian language from the Cyrillic alphabet into the Latin alphabet...
Bukovina, Zemlya Ukrainskaya, , translit.Romanization of UkrainianThe romanization or Latinization of Ukrainian is the representation of the Ukrainian language using Latin letters. Ukrainian is natively written in its own Ukrainian alphabet, a variation of Cyrillic....
, Bukovyna, Zemlya Ukrayins'ka), 1939 - ShchorsShchors (film)Shchors is a 1939 Soviet film by Ukrainian director Alexander Dovzhenko. Commissioned by Joseph Stalin, the film is a biography of the partisan leader and Ukrainian Bolshevik Nikolai Shchors. Shchors is played by Yevgeny Samoylov ....
* , 1939 - LiberationLIBERATION (film)Liberation is a 2009 film about the Shah of Iran. Centered on his exile in Cuernevaca Mexico, the film features actual archival footage from the Iranian Revolution of 1979 as well the Shah's interview with Sir David Frost....
* ' onMouseout='HidePop("30814")' href="/topics/Romanization_of_Russian">translit.Romanization of RussianRomanization of the Russian alphabet is the process of transliterating the Russian language from the Cyrillic alphabet into the Latin alphabet...
Osvobozhdeniye, , translit.Romanization of UkrainianThe romanization or Latinization of Ukrainian is the representation of the Ukrainian language using Latin letters. Ukrainian is natively written in its own Ukrainian alphabet, a variation of Cyrillic....
Vyzvolennya), 1940 - Battle for Soviet UkraineBattle for Soviet UkraineUkraine in Flames is a 1943 Soviet documentary war film by Ukrainian director Alexander Dovzhenko and Yuliya Solntseva. It is Dovzhenko's second World War II documentary, and dealt with the Battle of Kharkov. The film incorporates German footage of the invasion of Ukraine, which was later captured...
* ' onMouseout='HidePop("8014")' href="/topics/Romanization_of_Russian">translit.Romanization of RussianRomanization of the Russian alphabet is the process of transliterating the Russian language from the Cyrillic alphabet into the Latin alphabet...
Bitva za nashu Sovetskuyu Ukrainu, , translit.Romanization of UkrainianThe romanization or Latinization of Ukrainian is the representation of the Ukrainian language using Latin letters. Ukrainian is natively written in its own Ukrainian alphabet, a variation of Cyrillic....
Bytva za nashu Radyans'ku Ukrayinu), 1943 - Soviet Earth ' onMouseout='HidePop("10527")' href="/topics/Romanization_of_Russian">translit.Romanization of RussianRomanization of the Russian alphabet is the process of transliterating the Russian language from the Cyrillic alphabet into the Latin alphabet...
Strana rodnaya, , translit.Romanization of UkrainianThe romanization or Latinization of Ukrainian is the representation of the Ukrainian language using Latin letters. Ukrainian is natively written in its own Ukrainian alphabet, a variation of Cyrillic....
Krayina ridna), 1945 - Victory in the Ukraine and the Expulsion of the Germans from the Boundaries of the Ukrainian Soviet Earth ' onMouseout='HidePop("62412")' href="/topics/Romanization_of_Russian">translit.Romanization of RussianRomanization of the Russian alphabet is the process of transliterating the Russian language from the Cyrillic alphabet into the Latin alphabet...
Pobeda na Pravoberezhnoi Ukraine i izgnaniye nemetsikh zakhvatchikov za predeli Ukrainskikh sovietskikh zemel, , translit.Romanization of UkrainianThe romanization or Latinization of Ukrainian is the representation of the Ukrainian language using Latin letters. Ukrainian is natively written in its own Ukrainian alphabet, a variation of Cyrillic....
Peremoha na Pravoberezhniy Ukrayini), 1945 - MichurinMichurin (film)Michurin is a 1948 Soviet film directed by Alexander Dovzhenko about the life of Russian practitioner of selection Ivan Vladimirovich Michurin...
, 1948 - Farewell, America ' onMouseout='HidePop("15554")' href="/topics/Romanization_of_Ukrainian">translit.Romanization of UkrainianThe romanization or Latinization of Ukrainian is the representation of the Ukrainian language using Latin letters. Ukrainian is natively written in its own Ukrainian alphabet, a variation of Cyrillic....
Proshchay, Ameryko), 1949 - Poem of the Sea* ' onMouseout='HidePop("92753")' href="/topics/Romanization_of_Russian">translit.Romanization of RussianRomanization of the Russian alphabet is the process of transliterating the Russian language from the Cyrillic alphabet into the Latin alphabet...
Poema o more, , translit.Romanization of UkrainianThe romanization or Latinization of Ukrainian is the representation of the Ukrainian language using Latin letters. Ukrainian is natively written in its own Ukrainian alphabet, a variation of Cyrillic....
Poema pro more), 1959
External links
- Chris Fujiwara's review Neglected Giant: Alexander Dovzhenko at the MFA
- Ray Uzwyshyn Alexandr Dovzhenko's Silent Trilogy: A Visual Exploration
- John Riley "A (Ukrainian) Life in Soviet Film: Liber's Alexandr Dovzhenko", Film-Philosophy, vol. 7 no. 31, October 2003 — a review of George O. Liber (2002), Alexandr Dovzhenko: A Life in Soviet Film
- Landscapes of the Soul: The Cinema of Alexandr Dovzhenko,