Anatoly Anatolyevich Durov (sometimes spelled ''Durow'') (russian: Анато́лий Анато́льевич Ду́ров) (1887–1928) was a renowned 20th century

animal trainer Animal training is the act of teaching animals specific responses to specific conditions or stimuli. Training may be for purposes such as companionship, detection, protection, and entertainment. The type of training an animal receives will vary ...

. He was a member of the Durov family of performers who raised the quality and prestige of the Russian circus.

Background

Anatoly Anatolyevich's great-grandmother, Nadezhda Durova, was the first female officer in the Russian Army, who became a decorated soldier in the Russian cavalry during the

Napoleonic wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

. His mother, née Tereza Stadler, was a talented circus horse rider of

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and owned the

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n Circus] Long and successful tours led her to make Russia her home. His father, Anatoly Durov, was born to an old noble family and broke with it to join a traveling troupe. Anatoly (Jr.) was a good acrobat, a magician, and a monologue reciter. Anatoly (Sr.) and

Vladimir Durov Vladimir may refer to: Names * Vladimir (name) for the Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Macedonian, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak and Slovenian spellings of a Slavic name * Uladzimir for the Belarusian version of the name * Volodymyr for the Ukra ...

were the first of the Durov clan to gain fame as circus entertainers.

Career

Anatoly (Jr.) made his circus debut in 1914 in the Nikitin brothers' circus in the city of Ryazan. His real fame came in the years following the Russian Revolution of 1917. The younger Anatoly Durov performed with a large and varied group of animals. His performance commentary was always biting and topical. He toured abroad in 1921. In

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...

he performed in the city of

Subotica Subotica ( sr-cyrl, Суботица, ; hu, Szabadka) is a List of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative center of the North Bačka District in the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. Formerly the largest city of Vojvodina region, ...

in the variety show Alhambra; in the city of

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in the Music Hall; in the city of

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ; cyrl, Сарајево, ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 275,524 in its a ...

in the Winter Garden. In November 1921, he signed a contract for performances in the cities of

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and

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

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with the international circus Orpheus for 500,000 kronor plus travel expenses. In 1922-1923 he toured throughout the

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

, performing in

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( Padova),

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(Genova),

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(Atria), and other places. At the request of Queen

Elena of Italy Elena of Montenegro (; 8 January 1873 – 28 November 1952) was a Montenegrin princess as the daughter of King Nicholas I of Montenegro and his wife, Queen Milena. She was Queen of Italy from 1900 until 1946 as wife of King Victor Emmanuel II ...

, Anatoly (Jr.) gave a private performance at the royal villa. His performing dog ''Petit'' lived in the queen's apartment for three days. Queen Elena granted Anatoly Durov Jun. a golden cigarette-case and a letter of thanks. After his tours across

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and the

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, Anatoly Durov returned to Soviet Russia and founded an entertainment program that gained international recognition. In 1926 he settled in the city of Taganrog on Shevchenko street 111, where he founded ''The Taganrog Animal Theater of Anatoly Durov''. Anatoly Anatolyevich Durov died in 1928 in a hunting accident near

Izhevsk Izhevsk (russian: Иже́вск, p=ɪˈʐɛfsk; udm, Ижкар, ''Ižkar'', or , ''Iž'') is the capital city of Udmurtia, Russia. It is situated along the Izh River, west of the Ural Mountains in Eastern Europe. It is the 21st-largest city i ...

. Anatoly Durov was interred at

Taganrog Old Cemetery The Taganrog Old Cemetery is a historic cemetery on the outskirts of Taganrog's historical downtown district that was closed for new burials in 1971. History The cemetery was officially established in 1809 as a Christian cemetery, although the s ...

. His nephews, Vladimir Grigorievich Durov (1909-1972) and Yury Vladimirovich Durov (1909-1971) continued in his footsteps. Both became

People's Artists of the USSR People's Artist of the USSR ( rus, Народный артист СССР, Narodny artist SSSR), also sometimes translated as National Artist of the USSR, was an honorary title granted to artists of the Soviet Union. Nomenclature and significan ...

. Currently the Durov Theater in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

is run by Tereza Durova (b. September 5, 1926), a niece.

External links and references

* "Энциклопедия Таганрога". — Ростов-на-Дону: Ростиздат, 2003. — 512 с. — .
Anatoly Durov Jun. Museum in Taganrog
{{DEFAULTSORT:Durov, Anatoly 1887 births 1928 deaths Animal trainers Soviet circus performers Russian circus performers Russian and Soviet-German people Hunting accident deaths Accidental deaths in the Soviet Union