Andrey Aleksandrovich Goncharov (russian: Андре́й Алекса́ндрович Гончаро́в, 2 January 1918 – 7 September 2001) was a Soviet and Russian theater director, pedagogue and author. Goncharov, the People's Artist of the USSR (1977), received numerous state awards, including Hero of Socialist Labour (1987) and

Order of Lenin The Order of Lenin (russian: Орден Ленина, Orden Lenina, ), named after the leader of the Russian October Revolution, was established by the Central Executive Committee on April 6, 1930. The order was the highest civilian decoration ...

(1987). In 1967–2001 Goncharov was the head of the Moscow

Mayakovsky Theatre Mayakovsky Theater (russian: Театр Маяковского; Московский академический театр имени Вл. Маяковского) is a theater in Moscow, Russia, founded in 1920, first as ''Terevsat'' (Theater of R ...

. He is the author of four acclaimed books on the drama theory.

Biography

Andrey Goncharov was born on 2 January 1918, in the Sinitsy village of the Ryazan Governorate (now part of Moscow Oblast) where he spent his early years. In 1920s the family moved to Moscow; his father worked as a piano teacher, his mother was a professional actress. In 1936 Goncharov enrolled into the

Russian Institute of Theatre Arts The Russian Institute of Theatre Arts (GITIS) (russian: Российский институт театрального искусства – ГИТИС) is the largest and oldest independent theatrical arts school in Russia. Located in Moscow, ...

; he studied in the actors' class of Vasily Toporkov, then moved to the director's group led by Nikolai Gorchakov. In 1940 in Ivanovo Goncharov presented his diploma production of

Oleksandr Korniychuk Oleksandr Yevdokymovych Korniychuk (russian: Алекса́ндр Евдоки́мович Корнейчу́к, uk, Олександр Євдокимович Корнійчук, 25 May 2 o.s. 1905 – 14 May 1972) was a Ukrainian playwright, lit ...

's ''In the Steppes of Ukraine''. In 1941 he graduated the Academy. As the

Great Patriotic War The Eastern Front of World War II was a theatre of conflict between the European Axis powers against the Soviet Union (USSR), Poland and other Allies, which encompassed Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Northeast Europe (Baltics), and Sou ...

broke out, Goncharov volunteered for the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army ( Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, afte ...

and went to the frontline. He was injured twice in the action and demobilized. In 1942 Goncharov became the head and the arts director of the 1st Frontline Theatre, formed by the All-Russian Theatre Society, performing all over the Western Front and at the Baltic Fleet military bases. In 1944 Andrey Goncharov joined the

Moscow Satire Theatre The Moscow Academic Theatre of Satire (russian: Московский академический театр сатиры) is a dramatic theatre in Moscow, Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spa ...

as its deputy director. His first production here was ''Belugin's Marriage'', by

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 ...

. Then he moved to the Moscow

Yermolova Theatre The Yermolova Theatre (russian: Москóвский теáтр им. М. Н. Ермóловой) is a theatre company in the Tverskoy District of central Moscow. It is under the artistic direction of Vladimir Andreyev (russian: Владимир ...

and produced several plays at the

Maly Theatre The Maly Theatre, or Mali Theatre, may refer to one of several different theatres: * The Maly Theatre (Moscow), also known as The State Academic Maly Theatre of Russia, in Moscow (founded in 1756 and given its own building in 1824) * The Maly Thea ...

. In 1958–1966 Goncharov was the artistic director at the Moscow Malaya Bronnaya Drama Theatre. In 1967 he joined the

which he was the head of for twenty years (1967–1987). For decades Goncharov taught at the

. He was the secretary of the Russian Theatre Union, and a chairman of the Moscow Art Awards committee. Goncharov died on 7 September 2001. He was interred in Novodevichy Cemetery.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Goncharov, Andrey 1918 births 2001 deaths Communist Party of the Soviet Union members Russian Academy of Theatre Arts alumni Heroes of Socialist Labour People's Artists of the RSFSR People's Artists of the USSR Recipients of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland", 3rd class Recipients of the Order of Lenin Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour Recipients of the Order of the Red Star Recipients of the USSR State Prize State Prize of the Russian Federation laureates Russian theatre directors Soviet military personnel of World War II Soviet theatre directors Burials at Novodevichy Cemetery