Alexander Rodionovich Artemyev (russian: Александр Родионович Артемьев; 1842 – 16 May 1914) was a Russian stage actor, associated with

Moscow Art Theatre The Moscow Art Theatre (or MAT; russian: Московский Художественный академический театр (МХАТ), ''Moskovskiy Hudojestvenny Akademicheskiy Teatr'' (МHАТ)) was a theatre company in Moscow. It was f ...

and better known under his stage name Artyom (Артём).

Life

Born in Stolpovo,

Moscow Governorate Moscow Governorate (russian: Московская губерния; pre-reform Russian: ), or the Government of Moscow, was an administrative division (a '' guberniya'') of the Tsardom of Russia, the Russian Empire, and the Russian SFSR, which ...

to a serf peasant single mother, Artemyev managed to enroll into the

Moscow Art School The Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture (russian: Московское училище живописи, ваяния и зодчества, МУЖВЗ) also known by the acronym MUZHZV, was one of the largest educational insti ...

and, after graduating it in 1878, started to teach art, painting and calligraphy In early 1880s got interested in theatre and in 1888, after having seen cast as Schastlivtsev in an amateur production of

Alexander Ostrovsky Alexander Nikolayevich Ostrovsky (russian: Алекса́ндр Никола́евич Остро́вский; ) was a Russian playwright, generally considered the greatest representative of the Russian realistic period. The author of 47 origina ...

's '' The Forest'', he was invited to join Maly Theatre but preferred to become a member of the Art and Literature Society where he had met

Konstantin Stanislavski Konstantin Sergeyevich Stanislavski ( Alekseyev; russian: Константин Сергеевич Станиславский, p=kənstɐnʲˈtʲin sʲɪrˈgʲejɪvʲɪtɕ stənʲɪˈslafskʲɪj; 7 August 1938) was a seminal Russian Soviet Fe ...

a year earlier. In 1898 Artemyev became a member of the original Moscow Art Theatre troupe and in its first season made himself quite a name, having appeared in '' Tsar Fyodor Ioannovich'' (Bogdan Kryukov), '' Men Above the Law'' (Devochkin), ''

The Seagull ''The Seagull'' ( rus, Ча́йка, r=Cháyka, links=no) is a play by Russian dramatist Anton Chekhov, written in 1895 and first produced in 1896. ''The Seagull'' is generally considered to be the first of his four major plays. It dramatises t ...

'' (Shamrayev, all 1898), as well as ''

Uncle Vanya ''Uncle Vanya'' ( rus, Дя́дя Ва́ня, r=Dyádya Ványa, p=ˈdʲædʲə ˈvanʲə) is a play by the Russian playwright Anton Chekhov. It was first published in 1898, and was first produced in 1899 by the Moscow Art Theatre under the direct ...

'' (Telegin, 1899).

Anton Chekhov Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (; 29 January 1860 Old Style date 17 January. – 15 July 1904 Old Style date 2 July.) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer who is considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time. His career ...

referred to Artyom as his favourite MAT actor and wrote the part of Firs in ''

The Cherry Orchard ''The Cherry Orchard'' (russian: Вишнёвый сад, translit=Vishnyovyi sad) is the last play by Russian playwright Anton Chekhov. Written in 1903, it was first published by ''Znaniye'' (Book Two, 1904), and came out as a separate edition ...

'' especially for him. The master of episode, he was, according to Stanislavsky, "the epitome of modesty who never exposed himself, always preferring to rather shuffle into the background."Solovyova, Inna
Artyom' biography
at the Moscow Art Theatre site The mystery of Artyom's charismatic stage persona continued to intrigue theatre historians long after his death in 1914, one of them calling the actor "the embodiment of the human spirit in it its most basic form."Durylin, S. N. "Artyom, Stanislavsky and Chekhov" (Stanislavsky. Letters and Documents. Moscow, 1955) // Дурылин С. Н. Артем, Станиславский. Чехов // К. С. Станиславский. Материалы. Письма. Исследования. — М., 1955. — С. 408—443

References

Russian stage actors Moscow Art Theatre 1842 births 1914 deaths {{russia-actor-stub