Vasily Shukshin
Encyclopedia
Vasily Makarovich Shukshin was a notable Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

/Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

n actor, writer, screenwriter and movie director from the Altay
Altay Mountains
The Altai Mountains are a mountain range in East-Central Asia, where Russia, China, Mongolia and Kazakhstan come together, and where the rivers Irtysh and Ob have their sources. The Altai Mountains are known as the original locus of the speakers of Turkic as well as other members of the proposed...

 region who specialized in rural themes. Upon his death, Shukshin was interred at Novodevichy Cemetery
Novodevichy Cemetery
Novodevichy Cemetery is the most famous cemetery in Moscow, Russia. It is next to the 16th-century Novodevichy Convent, which is the city's third most popular tourist site. It should not be confused with the Novodevichy Cemetery in Saint Petersburg....

 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...

.

Biography

Vasiliy Makarovich Shukshin was born on 25 July 1929 to a peasant family in the village of Srostki in Altai Krai
Altai Krai
Altai Krai is a federal subject of Russia . It borders with, clockwise from the south, Kazakhstan, Novosibirsk and Kemerovo Oblasts, and the Altai Republic. The krai's administrative center is the city of Barnaul...

, USSR. In 1933, his father, Makar Leont'evich Shukshin, was arrested and shot during repressions associated with mandated collectivization. His mother, Maria Sergeyevna (née Popov), had to look after the survival of the entire family. By 1943 Shukshin had finished 7 years of village school and entered an automobile technical school in Biysk
Biysk
Biysk is a city in Altai Krai, Russia. It is the second largest city of the krai . Population: -Geography:Biysk is situated in southwestern Siberia, on the Biya River . The city is called "the gates to the Altai Mountains", because of its position comparatively not far from this range...

. In 1945, after two and a half years at the school, but before finishing, he quit to work in a kolkhoz
Kolkhoz
A kolkhoz , plural kolkhozy, was a form of collective farming in the Soviet Union that existed along with state farms . The word is a contraction of коллекти́вное хозя́йство, or "collective farm", while sovkhoz is a contraction of советское хозяйство...

.

In 1946 Shukshin left his native village and worked as a metal craftsman at several enterprises in the trust Soyuzprommekhanizatsiya: at the turbine plant in Kaluga
Kaluga
Kaluga is a city and the administrative center of Kaluga Oblast, Russia, located on the Oka River southwest of Moscow. Population: It is served by Grabtsevo Airport.-History:...

, at the tractor plant in Vladimir
Vladimir
Vladimir is a city and the administrative center of Vladimir Oblast, Russia, located on the Klyazma River, to the east of Moscow along the M7 motorway. Population:...

, etc. In 1949, Shukshin was drafted into the Navy
Soviet Navy
The Soviet Navy was the naval arm of the Soviet Armed Forces. Often referred to as the Red Fleet, the Soviet Navy would have played an instrumental role in a Warsaw Pact war with NATO, where it would have attempted to prevent naval convoys from bringing reinforcements across the Atlantic Ocean...

. He first served as a sailor in the Baltic Fleet
Baltic Fleet
The Twice Red Banner Baltic Fleet - is the Russian Navy's presence in the Baltic Sea. In previous historical periods, it has been part of the navy of Imperial Russia and later the Soviet Union. The Fleet gained the 'Twice Red Banner' appellation during the Soviet period, indicating two awards of...

, then a radio operator on the Black Sea
Black Sea
The Black Sea is bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and the Aegean seas and various straits. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects that sea to the Aegean...

. In 1953 he was demobilized due to a stomach ulcer and returned to his native village. Having passed an external exam for high school graduation, he became a teacher of Russian, and later a school principal in Srostki.

In 1954 Shukshin entered the directors department of the VGIK, studied under Mikhail Romm
Mikhail Romm
Mikhail Ilych Romm was a Soviet film director.He was born in Irkutsk. His father was a social democrat of Jewish descent who had been exiled there. He graduated from gymnasium in 1917 and entered the Moscow College for Painting, Sculpture and Architecture...

 and Sergei Gerasimov, and graduated in 1960. While studying at VGIK in 1958, Shukshin had his first leading role in Marlen Khutsiyev's film Two Fedors and appeared in the graduation film by Andrei Tarkovsky
Andrei Tarkovsky
Andrei Arsenyevich Tarkovsky was a Soviet and Russian filmmaker, writer, film editor, film theorist, theatre and opera director, widely regarded as one of the finest filmmakers of the 20th century....

. In 1958 Shukhin published his first short story "Two on the cart" in the magazine Smena. His first collection of stories Сельские жители (Village Dwellers) was published in 1963. That same year, he became staff director at the Gorky Film Studio
Gorky Film Studio
Gorky Film Studio is a film studio in Moscow, Russian Federation. By the end of the Soviet Union, Gorky Film Studio had produced more than 1,000 films...

 in Moscow. He wrote and directed Живёт такой парень (There Is Such a Lad). The film premiered in 1965, winning top honours at the All-Union Film Festival
All-Union Film Festival
The All-Union Film Festival was one of the most important film festivals of the Soviet Union. It was founded in 1958 and held regularly from 1964-1988. It was held annually from 1972 onwards, and bi-annually before that...

 in Leningrad
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...

 and the Golden Lion
Golden Lion
Il Leone d’Oro is the highest prize given to a film at the Venice Film Festival. The prize was introduced in 1949 by the organizing committee and is now regarded as one of the film industry's most distinguished prizes...

 at the XVI International Film Festival
Venice Film Festival
The Venice International Film Festival is the oldest international film festival in the world. Founded by Count Giuseppe Volpi in 1932 as the "Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica", the festival has since taken place every year in late August or early September on the island of the...

 in Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...

. Shukshin was decorated with the Order of the Red Banner of Labour
Order of the Red Banner of Labour
The Order of the Red Banner of Labour was an order of the Soviet Union for accomplishments in labour and civil service. It is the labour counterpart of the military Order of the Red Banner. A few institutions and factories, being the pride of Soviet Union, also received the order.-History:The Red...

 (1967), and was designated Distinguished Artist of the RSFSR (1969).

Shukshin died suddenly on 1974-10-02, on the motor ship Dunai, on the Volga river, while filming They fought for their motherland. He is buried in Novodevichy Cemetery
Novodevichy Cemetery
Novodevichy Cemetery is the most famous cemetery in Moscow, Russia. It is next to the 16th-century Novodevichy Convent, which is the city's third most popular tourist site. It should not be confused with the Novodevichy Cemetery in Saint Petersburg....

 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...

.

English translations

  • I Want to Live, Progress Publishers, 1978.
  • Snowball Berry Red and Other Stories, Ardis Publishers, 1979.
  • Short Stories, Raduga Publishers, 1990.
  • Roubles in Words, Kopeks in Figures, Marion Boyars, 1994.
  • Stories from a Siberian Village, Northern Illinois University Press, 1996.

Filmography

  • 1957: Тихий Дон, actor (cameo)
  • 1958 The Killers , actor
  • 1958: Два Фёдора, actor
  • 1959: Золотой эшелон, actor
  • 1960: Простая история, actor
  • 1961: Аленка, actor
  • 1961 When the Trees Were Tall
    When the Trees Were Tall
    When the Trees Were Tall is a 1961 Soviet drama film directed by Lev Kulidzhanov. It was shown at the 1962 Cannes Film Festival.-Plot:World War II veteran Kuzma Kuzmich Iordanov has become a heavy drinker with no interest in finding employment of any kind...

     
    , actor
  • 1961: Командировка, actor
  • 1961: Мишка, Серега и я, actor
  • 1962: Мы, двое мужчин, actor
  • 1964: Живет такой парень, director, screenwriter
  • 1964: Какое оно, море?, actor
  • 1965: Ваш сын и брат, director, screenwriter
  • 1967: Журналист, actor
  • 1967: Комиссар, actor
  • 1967: Три дня Виктора Чернышева, actor
  • 1968: Мужской разговор, actor
  • 1968: Освобождение
    Liberation (film series)
    Liberation is an epic five-part film series considered the most large-scale World War II film ever made in the Soviet Union. Filmed from 1967 to 1971, the first part was released during 1970 for the 25th anniversary of Victory Day...

    , actor
  • 1969: к/а «Странные люди», director, screenwriter
  • 1969 By the Lake
    By the Lake
    By the Lake is a two-part 1969 Soviet film directed by Sergei Gerasimov. In 1971 USSR State Prize for this film was awarded to Sergei Gerasimov, cinematographer Vladimir Rapoport, art director Pyotr Galadzhev, and the group of leading actors: Oleg Zhakov, Vasily Shukshin, Natalya...

    ,
    , actor
  • 1969: Эхо далеких снегов, actor
  • 1970: Любовь яровая, actor
  • 1971 Dauria
    Dauria (1971 film)
    Dauria is an Soviet 1971 historical action/drama set in Siberia, Russia. Adapted from the novel of the same name by Konstantin Sedykh and directed by Viktor Tregubovich....

     
    , actor
  • 1971: Пришел солдат с фронта, screenwriter
  • 1972: Печки-лавочки, actor, director, screenwriter
  • 1973: Калина красная, actor, director, screenwriter
  • 1974: Если хочешь быть счастливым, actor
  • 1974: Земляки, screenwriter
  • 1975 They Fought for Their Country
    They Fought for Their Country
    They Fought for Their Country is a 1975 Soviet war film directed by Sergei Bondarchuk. It was entered into the 1975 Cannes Film Festival. The film is the story of a Soviet platoon fighting a rearguard action during the German drive on Stalingrad.-Cast:...

     
    , actor
  • 1975: Прошу слова, actor
  • 1977: Позови меня в даль светлую, screenwriter
  • 1988: Yolki-palki, writer
  • 2004: High Boots , writer

External links

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