Boris Mikhaylovich Sushkevich (russian: Борис Михайлович Сушкевич, 7 February 1887 — 10 July 1946) was a

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

-born Russian, Soviet actor, theatre director and reader in drama, honoured with the titles Meritorious Artist of RSFSR (1933) and

People's Artist of RSFSR 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 ...

(1944).К. Э�
Boris Sushkevich
Biography at the Theatre Encyclopedia // Сушкевич, Борис Михайлович. Театральная энциклопедия (под ред. П. А. Маркова). Советская энциклопедия. 1961—1965/том 4

Theatre

A Moscow University alumnus, Sushkevich joined the Moscow Art Theatre in 1912. A co-founder of the First Studio and one of its leaders, along with

Yevgeny Vakhtangov Yevgeny Bagrationovich Vakhtangov (also spelled Evgeny or Eugene; russian: Евге́ний Багратио́нович Вахта́нгов; 13 February 1883 – 29 May 1922) was a Russian-Armenian actor and theatre director who founded the ...

, working under

Leopold Sulerzhitsky Leopold Antonovich Sulerzhitsky (russian: Леопольд Антонович Сулержицкий; September 27, 1872 – December 30, 1916) was a Russian theatre director, painter and pedagogue of Polish descent. He is associated with the Mosc ...

, after the latter's death in 1916, he became its director and held this post until in 1924 it was re-organized into MAT-2, with Mikhail Chekhov at the helm. In 1919 Sushkevich directed ''

The Robbers ''The Robbers'' (', ) is the first drama by German playwright Friedrich Schiller. The play was published in 1781 and premiered on 13 January 1782 in Mannheim, Germany, and was inspired by Leisewitz' earlier play '' Julius of Taranto''. It ...

'' Friedrich Schiller at the just opened Great Drama Theater in Petrograd.Московский Художественный театр второй
Театральная энциклопедия (под ред. П. А. Маркова). Советская энциклопедия. 1961—1965. 2 том In 1933 he moved to

Leningrad Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

and became the director of the

Alexandrinsky Theatre The Alexandrinsky Theatre (russian: Александринский театр) or National Drama Theatre of Russia is a theatre in Saint Petersburg, Russia. The Alexandrinsky Theatre was built for the Imperial troupe of Petersburg (Imperial tr ...

, and in 1937 took up the directorship of the New Theatre (later Lensovet Theatre), where he remained the head of till his death in 1946. His artistic peak is considered to be the 1940 production of

Gerhart Hauptmann Gerhart Johann Robert Hauptmann (; 15 November 1862 – 6 June 1946) was a German dramatist and novelist. He is counted among the most important promoters of literary naturalism, though he integrated other styles into his work as well. He rece ...

's ''Before Sunrise'' in which he himself played the leading role.

Teaching

In 1933 Sushkevich became a professor and, from 1936, the director of the Leningrad Theatre Institute.The Lensovet Theatre history
История театра. Санкт-Петербургский театр им. Ленсовета

Film

Between 1914 and 1927 Sushkevich was cast in five Soviet films, including ''Tsar Ivan Vasilyevich Grozny'' (Malyuta Skuratov, 1915) with

Fyodor Shalyapin Feodor Ivanovich Chaliapin ( rus, Фёдор Ива́нович Шаля́пин, Fyodor Ivanovich Shalyapin, ˈfʲɵdər ɪˈvanəvʲɪtɕ ʂɐˈlʲapʲɪn}; April 12, 1938) was a Russian opera singer. Possessing a deep and expressive bass v ...

in the lead. He authored the book ''Seven Aspects of Working Upon the Part'' (Семь моментов работы над ролью, 1933).Борис Михайлович Сушкевич
at the Moscow Art Theatre site

Personal life

Actress, theatre director and writer Nadezhda Bromley was his wife.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sushkevich, Boris Male actors from the Russian Empire Theatre directors from Saint Petersburg Soviet drama teachers Soviet male actors Male actors from Saint Petersburg Moscow Art Theatre 1887 births 1946 deaths