Calendar

march 1

1937

This is the 65th birthday of Moldovan com-poser Yevgeny Doga. He is known to Russians as author of the beautiful waltz which is the title song of the film My Gentle and Tender Beast. Doga wrote music for over 100 films, the best known being A Dormitory is Allocated to Singles, Portrait of an Artist’s Wife, and Anna Pavlova. 

march 2

1952

Today is the 50th birthday of Sergei Stepashin. This former teacher at an MVD (Ministry of Internal Affairs) academy held the posts of Interior Minister and head of the FSB (Federal Security Service), and later succeeded Yevgeny Primakov as Prime Minister. Yet Stepashin’s own tenure was short-lived, and he was soon replaced by yet another premier—Vladimir Putin, who later turned out to be the right man in the right place at the right time. Today Stepashin holds the important post of Chairman of the Control Chamber of the Russian Federation, which audits the financial activities of different state bodies in order to prevent corruption. 

march 5

1922

Semyon Gudzenko (1922-1953), a poet-frontovik, i.e. a poet who wrote of the war front, was born on this day. In July 1941, he volunteered for the army. Gudzenko fought in the Battle for Moscow and was wounded in the Smolensk region. After his recovery, he worked as the editor of a military journal. He published his first verses in the military press in 1941. His later books were: Regiment Mates (1944), Verses and Ballads (1945), After The March (1947), The Battle (1948), New Regions (1953). One of his most memorable lines was: “We won’t die from old age but rather from old wounds.” The line was also prophetic. On February 15, 1953, Gudzenko died at the age of 31.

march 6

1937

Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova was born on this day. On June 16, 1963, Tereshkova became the first woman in space, orbiting Earth for 70 hours, 40 minutes and 49 seconds aboard Vostok-6. A Hero of the Soviet Union, she was also the first woman in the world to obtain the title of Major General (1995).

march 8

1922

Today is the birthday of film actor and director Yevgeny Matveev, who began his career as an apprentice to famous director Alexander Dovzhenko. Matveev fought in the Second World War and the themes of war were later reflected in his art. Matveev was a star of the Moscow Maly Theater, acting in many classic Russian and foreign plays. A talented film actor, he is perhaps best known for his portrayal of Neklyudov in Resurrection, based on Leo Tolstoy’s book, and in the title role in Emelyan Pugachev (1979). His war serial Earthly Love (1975) and Fate (1978) was very popular with cinema goers. In the 1990s, he shot a TV serial “To Love a la Russe,” parts 1 and 2.

march 10

1802

On this day, the actor Vasily Karatygin (1802-1853), one of the most beloved students of Pyotr Katenin, was born. Katenin introduced Karatygin to the creme de la creme of Russian culture: Alexander Pushkin, Ivan Krylov and Wilhelm Kugelbekker. Alongside his career as an actor, Karatygin became a professional translator, with a special interest in the plays of Shakespeare (he translated “King Lear”) and dramas by Dumas (translating his plays “Anthony” and “Therese”). Later, Karatygin wrote plays such as “The Family Trial.”

march 24

1782

One of the first Russian romantic artists, Orest Kiprensky (1782-1836), was born on this day. Kiprensky was the illegitimate son of a Russian nobleman—Dyakonov—and a female serf. His father invented a new family name for the future artist: “Kipreysky,” which later turned into “Kiprensky.” Orest was a serf of his father until age 6, when he was freed. Upon graduation from the Art Academy in 1803, specializing in historical painting, Kiprensky received a Gold Medal for his graduation work, “Dmitry Donskoy on Kulikovo Field.” In 1809-1811, Kiprensky became the shining star of art exhibits, earning fame for such canvasses as “Self-Portrait,” “Portrait of the Hussar Yevgeny Davydov,” and “The Rastopchin Couple.” In 1816, he went to work and study in Italy. His best known work was his portrait of the poet Alexander Pushkin (see the cover of Russian Life, June/July 1999). Pushkin truly loved the work, commenting: “I see myself as in a mirror, but this mirror flatters me.” 

march 31

1872

Politician Alexandra Kollontai (1872-1952) was born on this day. Born Domontovich, Kollontai actively participated in the social-democrat movement and later joined the Bolsheviks. After the October Revolution, Kollontai took the post of People’s Commissar on Social Issues and, beginning in 1920, headed the Department on Women’s Affairs under the Central Committee of the Bolshevik party. Kollontai is known as one of the first Russian feminists. She advocated free love in her famous “glass of water” theory (see Russian Life, Feb/Mar 1999). In 1923 she was placed in diplomatic service. In 1926 she was Soviet ambassador and trade representative in Norway; in 1926-1927, in Mexico. In 1930-1945 she served as plenipotentiary councilor, then ambassador to Sweden. Thanks to her astute diplomacy, Sweden refrained from supporting Finland in the Russo-Finnish war of 1939-1940. Her activities in Sweden became the subject of a famous film starring Yulia Borisova, Ambassador of the Soviet Union. From 1946 until her death, Kollontai served as an advisor to the USSR Foreign Ministry. 

april 5

1242

This is the date of the Ledovoye Poboische (“Ice Battle”), which took place on Chudskoye Lake. Russian forces, led by Prince Alexander Nevsky, defeated the Knights of the Livonian Order. At this fateful battle, Nevsky pronounced his famous words: “He who comes to us with a sword, will die by the sword.”

april 8

1902

Irina Maksakova (1902-1974) was born on this day. Maksakova began to sing at the Bolshoi Theater in 1923. A bright and talented singer, she had a captivatingly beautiful voice, which listeners heard in such operas as “Aida,” “The Tsars’ Bride,” “The Snow Maiden,” and “Khovanschina.” But Mak-sakova was also a great chamber singer, and excelled in different genres, from romansy to folk songs. In 1953, Maksakova quit the stage and taught singing for 20 years at the State Institute of Theater and Arts (GITIS).

april 12

1922

This is the birthday of actor Efim Kopelyan, one of the stars of Leningrad’s Big Dramatic Theater (BDT). BDT’s most famous director, Georgy Tovstonogov, saw in Kopelyan an important artist who could play deep and controversial roles. Under Tovstonogov, Kopelyan played a variety of roles, from the romantic Don Cesare de Basan in Victor Hugo’s Ruy Blas, to Woe from Wit and Three Sisters. His heroes were, as a rule, “conflict-oriented” people, fighting with themselves and others. Kopelyan always said he religiously followed the precept of Konstantin Stanislavsky: “When acting the antagonist, look for something good in him”—and vice versa. Kopelyan starred in over 80 films, such as Crime and Punishment (1969), Nikolai Bauman (1967) and Dauria (1971). His quite distinctive voice also made him one of the most famous voice-over actors—working in over forty films, his most famous being in Seventeen Moments of Spring. In fact, some of his colleagues jokingly dubbed him “Za kadr Zakadrovich” (“Mr. Behind the Screens”). As film director Tatyana Lioznova recalled: “His voice sounds as if he knows more than he says.” 

april 13

1842

This is the birthday of Fyodor Plevako (1842-1908). A famous Russian lawyer, his talent, hard work and rhetorical gifts were brought to aid and defend all those who needed defense in court. He laid the basis of legal rhetoric in Russia and helped hundreds of people to avoid an unjust trial. Plevako was also famous for his improvisations in court. In one such speech, Plevako was very brief, yet compelling. When defending an aging priest, Plevako said: “Esteemed Jury! For thirty years the defendant has been absolving your sins. Now, forgive him his sins for once, Russian people!” It was enough for the priest to be acquitted.

april 19

1902

The writer Veniamin Kaverin (1902-1989) was born on this day. Prior to becoming a famous Soviet writer, Kaverin boasted a rather impressive academic career. In 1920, when he moved from Moscow University to the university in Petrograd, he also enrolled in the Institute of Oriental Languages, graduating from both institutions with distinction. In 1929 he defended his doctoral dissertation. Yet, to the millions of Russian youth, Kaverin is known as the author of the adventure book, Two Captains, whose famous quote, “To fight and search, find and never give up,” became a cliche for many generations. His other books included Execution of Wishes (1936), Open Book (1956), Before the Mirror (1971), and Verlioka (1981). Of special note was his novel about the Stalin era, Double Portrait (1966), which tells the story of a scientist who ended up in a labor camp after being denounced.

April 25 is the 50th birthday of Vladislav Tretyak (born 1952), left. the living legend of Russian hockey. Many times a European, World and Olympic champion, Tretyak is known to millions of fans worldwide, including in North America, where he coaches goalies on contract. At press time, Tretyak’s main headache was how best to prepare the goalies of the Russian national team for the Olympics in Salt Lake City.

Playwright Mikhail Shatrov (real name Marshak), was born 70 years ago on April 3. Shatrov entered the world of Russian drama in the 1950s with his play “In the Name of Revolution,” staged on the rather “revolutionary” theater of those times, Sovremennik. Shatrov continued to specialize in revolutionary-historical plays, representing in dramatic form the historical events and relations between key Bolsheviks leaders. His other plays include “July 6” and “So We Will Win” (1981). The play, “Onwards, Onwards, Onwards” was a signal event in the era of glasnost. As was typical in the Gorbachevian era, when the literary process was highly politicized, Shatrov’s plays were immensely popular with readers and theater goers, who sought in his plays hitherto hidden historical facts about Bolshevik leaders such as Lenin, Trotsky and Stalin. 

March 8: International Women’s Day.

March 11: The Large Shrovetide week (Maslenitsa) begins, marking the end of winter.

March 18: The Great Lent begins, ending on the eve of Easter, on May 5. 

April 1: April Fool’s Day.

April 7: Annunciation (Orthodox).

April 28: Palm Sunday (Orthodox).