Igor Fokin (June 14, 1960 – September 21, 1996) was a
Russian
Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including:
*Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries
*Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...
puppeteer
A puppeteer is a person who manipulates an inanimate object, called a puppet, to create the illusion that the puppet is alive. The puppet is often shaped like a human, animal, or legendary creature. The puppeteer may be visible to or hidden from ...
and
street performer. He learned his craft in his hometown of
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 ...
. He moved from the former
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
to
Cambridge
Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...
,
, in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
, in 1993. He was able to bring his wife and son over in 1994, and was also granted a
visa
Visa most commonly refers to:
*Visa Inc., a US multinational financial and payment cards company
** Visa Debit card issued by the above company
** Visa Electron, a debit card
** Visa Plus, an interbank network
*Travel visa, a document that allows ...
which allowed him to continue to live and perform in the United States. He performed puppet shows on summer evenings on street corners in Cambridge. He used wooden
marionettes
A marionette (; french: marionnette, ) is a puppet controlled from above using wires or strings depending on regional variations. A marionette's puppeteer is called a marionettist. Marionettes are operated with the puppeteer hidden or revealed ...
set to traditional Russian music. The marionettes were carved and painted by him, and he also sewed the marionettes' clothing. In 1996, he performed shows as part of the festivities at the
Summer Olympics
The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inau ...
in
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
,
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to the ...
. He died early in the morning from
heart failure
Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome, a group of signs and symptoms caused by an impairment of the heart's blood pumping function. Symptoms typically include shortness of breath, excessive fatigue, a ...
on September 21, 1996, at the age of 36, just a few hours after returning home from a show in
Harvard Square
Harvard Square is a triangular plaza at the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue, Brattle Street and John F. Kennedy Street near the center of Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. The term "Harvard Square" is also used to delineate the busin ...
.
Soon after word of his death spread, several fund raisers were held for his family by area street performers and members of the local community. On September 22, 2001, five years and one day after his death, a sculpture by
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
n
sculptor
Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...
Konstantin Simun
Konstantin Simun (6 April 1934 – 4 September 2019) was a Russian sculptor living and working in Boston, United States. He was born in Saint Petersburg, Russia in 1934. He is most well known for his large-scale monuments, including "Broken Rin ...
, modeled after one of his marionettes, was erected in his memory on the street corner in
Brattle Square
Brattle is one of the settlements making up the dispersed village of Woodchurch in Kent, England. It is at the southern apex of the triangle of roads which are the main village.
Derivations
The surname Brattle is of geographical, place name orig ...
where he performed.
External links
Tribute Site*
ttp://www.igorfokinfamily.org Official Fokin family website* - film about Igor Fokin
1960 births
1996 deaths
Entertainers from Saint Petersburg
Russian buskers
Russian puppeteers
Harvard Square
20th-century Russian musicians
Russian emigrants to the United States
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