Nikolay Konstantionovich Simonov (russian: Николай Константинович Симонов; December 4, 1901 – April 20, 1973) was a
Soviet
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
film and stage actor.
[Театральная энциклопедия. Гл. ред. С. С. Мокульский. Т. 1 — М.: Советская энциклопедия, А — «Глобус», 1961, 1214 стб. с илл., 12 л. илл. (стб. 707)] People's Artist 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 ...
(1950).
[Николай Симонов. Герой не нашего времени](_blank)
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Biography
Early life and education
Nikolay Simonov was born on December 4, 1901, in Samara, Russia
Samara ( rus, Сама́ра, p=sɐˈmarə), known from 1935 to 1991 as Kuybyshev (; ), is the largest city and administrative centre of Samara Oblast. The city is located at the confluence of the Volga and the Samara rivers, with a population of ...
. From 1917–1919 he studied art at Samara School of Art and Design. From 1919–1923 he studied art at the Imperial Academy of Arts
The Russian Academy of Arts, informally known as the Saint Petersburg Academy of Arts, was an art academy in Saint Petersburg, founded in 1757 by the founder of the Imperial Moscow University Ivan Shuvalov under the name ''Academy of the Thre ...
. From 1922–1924 he studied acting at the Saint Petersburg State Theatre Arts Academy
The Russian State Institute of Performing Arts (russian: Российский государственный институт сценических искусств), formerly known as St Petersburg Theatre Arts Academy, formerly Leningrad State ...
, from which he graduated with honors in 1924.[Николай Симонов. Герой не нашего времени](_blank)
/ref>
Career
From 1924–1973, He was a permanent member with the company of Pushkin Drama Theatre in St. Petersburg. During the 1950s and 1960s he was also the theatre's artistic director
An artistic director is the executive of an arts organization, particularly in a theatre or dance company, who handles the organization's artistic direction. They are generally a producer and director, but not in the sense of a mogul, since the ...
.Театральная Энциклопедия
/ref>
Simonov made his film debut in 1924 and played supporting roles in five Russian silent films. He shot to fame after his role of Commander Zhikharev in the classic film ''Chapaev'' (1934) by the Vasilyev brothers Georgi Vasilyev (russian: Георгий Николаевич Васильев, 1899 – 1946) and Sergei Vasilyev (russian: Серге́й Дмитриевич Васильев, 1900 – 1959), usually credited as Vasilyev brothers (russian ...
.
Simonov's portrayal of Peter the Great
Peter I ( – ), most commonly known as Peter the Great,) or Pyotr Alekséyevich ( rus, Пётр Алексе́евич, p=ˈpʲɵtr ɐlʲɪˈksʲejɪvʲɪtɕ, , group=pron was a Russian monarch who ruled the Tsardom of Russia from t ...
in ''The Conquests of Peter the Great'' (1937 and 1938) brought him international fame and numerous awards. This portrayal was the one used to define Peter the Great for American audiences in Frank Capra
Frank Russell Capra (born Francesco Rosario Capra; May 18, 1897 – September 3, 1991) was an Italian-born American film director, producer and writer who became the creative force behind some of the major award-winning films of the 1930s ...
's 1943 propaganda film ''The Battle of Russia
''The Battle of Russia'' (1943) is the fifth film of Frank Capra's ''Why We Fight'' documentary series. The longest film of the series, it has two parts. It was made in collaboration with Ukrainian-born Anatole Litvak as primary director under Ca ...
'', which used brief clips from the Soviet films.
Simonov was considered to be a patriarch of the St. Petersburg school of acting. Simonov's stage performances were legendary; several of his stage works were filmed for a historic record. His leading role in ''The Living Corpse
''The Living Corpse'' (russian: Живой труп, italic=yes, link=no) is a Russian play by Leo Tolstoy. Although written around 1900, it was only published shortly after his death—Tolstoy had never considered the work finished. An immediate ...
'', an adaptation of the book by Leo Tolstoy
Count Lev Nikolayevich TolstoyTolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; russian: link=no, Лев Николаевич Толстой,In Tolstoy's day, his name was written as in pre-refor ...
, is remembered as one of the highest achievements in stage acting in Russian theatre. Simonov's portrayal of Antonio Salieri
Antonio Salieri (18 August 17507 May 1825) was an Italian classical composer, conductor, and teacher. He was born in Legnago, south of Verona, in the Republic of Venice, and spent his adult life and career as a subject of the Habsburg monarchy ...
in '' Mozart and Salieri'' from ''The Little Tragedies'' by Alexander Pushkin
Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin (; rus, links=no, Александр Сергеевич ПушкинIn pre-Revolutionary script, his name was written ., r=Aleksandr Sergeyevich Pushkin, p=ɐlʲɪkˈsandr sʲɪrˈɡʲe(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ ˈpuʂkʲɪn, ...
won him a Stanislavski State Prize award in 1962. Simonov regarded acting on stage as superior to acting in film; he supported the similar position of Constantin Stanislavski
Konstantin Sergeyevich Stanislavski ( Alekseyev; russian: Константин Сергеевич Станиславский, p=kənstɐnʲˈtʲin sʲɪrˈgʲejɪvʲɪtɕ stənʲɪˈslafskʲɪj; 7 August 1938) was a seminal Soviet Russian th ...
and Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko
Vladimir Ivanovich Nemirovich-Danchenko (russian: Владимир Иванович Немирович-Данченко; , Ozurgeti – 25 April 1943, Moscow), was a Soviet and Russian theatre director, writer, pedagogue, playwright, producer an ...
.
Marriage and children
Simonov was also the father of a remarkable family. His wife was an actress and his son, Nikolay Nikolaevich Simonov, was a famous surgeon in Russia.
Death and afterward
Nikolay Simonov died on April 20, 1973, in St. Petersburg and was laid to rest in the Necropolis of Masters of Arts at Alexander Nevsky Lavra
Saint Alexander Nevsky Lavra or Saint Alexander Nevsky Monastery was founded by Peter I of Russia in 1710 at the eastern end of the Nevsky Prospekt in Saint Petersburg, in the belief that this was the site of the Neva Battle in 1240 when Ale ...
.[Николай Симонов. Герой не нашего времени](_blank)
/ref>
Filmography
* ''Red Partisans
''Red Partisans'' (russian: Красные партизаны, Krasnye partizany) is a 1924 Soviet silent war film directed by Vyacheslav Viskovsky.Christie & Taylor p.432
The film's art direction was by Vladimir Yegorov and Yevgeni Yenej.
...
'' (1924) as Dolgov
*''Katerina Izmailova'' (1927) as Sergey
*''Khabu'' (1928) as Yegor
*'' Kastus Kalinovskiy'' (1928) as Kastus Kalinovskiy
*''Brother'' (1929) as Fyodor Gorbachyov
* ''A Lad from the Banks of the Missouri'' (1932) as Iogann Timan
* ''Chapaev'' (1934) as Zhikharev
* ''Miracles'' (1934) as Fyodor, his son
*''Hectic Days
Red Army Days (russian: Горячие денечки, Goryachie denyochki) is a 1935 Soviet comedy film directed by Alexander Zarkhi and Iosif Kheifits.
Plot
In the provincial town for exercises come tank units of the Red Army. Tank commande ...
'' (1935) as Tank Commander Mikhail Trofimovich Belokon
*''Peter the Great
Peter I ( – ), most commonly known as Peter the Great,) or Pyotr Alekséyevich ( rus, Пётр Алексе́евич, p=ˈpʲɵtr ɐlʲɪˈksʲejɪvʲɪtɕ, , group=pron was a Russian monarch who ruled the Tsardom of Russia from t ...
I'' (1937) as Peter the Great
Peter I ( – ), most commonly known as Peter the Great,) or Pyotr Alekséyevich ( rus, Пётр Алексе́евич, p=ˈpʲɵtr ɐlʲɪˈksʲejɪvʲɪtɕ, , group=pron was a Russian monarch who ruled the Tsardom of Russia from t ...
*''Peter the Great II'' (1938) as Peter the Great
*'' The Battle of Stalingrad, Part I'' (1949) as Lt. Gen. Vasily Chuikov
Vasily Ivanovich Chuikov (russian: link=no, Васи́лий Ива́нович Чуйко́в; ; – 18 March 1982) was a Soviet military commander and Marshal of the Soviet Union. He is best known for commanding the 62nd Army which saw he ...
*'' The Battle of Stalingrad, Part II'' (1949) as Lt. Gen. Chuikov
*''Living Dead'' (1952) as Fyodor Protasov
*'' Belinsky'' (1953) as landlord
* ''The Gadfly'' (1955) as Cardinal Montanelli
* ''Geroite na Shipka'' (1955) as Otto von Bismarck
Otto, Prince of Bismarck, Count of Bismarck-Schönhausen, Duke of Lauenburg (, ; 1 April 1815 – 30 July 1898), born Otto Eduard Leopold von Bismarck, was a conservative German statesman and diplomat. From his origins in the upper class of J ...
* ''Amphibian Man'' (1962) as Prof. Salvator
* ''Workers' Quarters'' (1965) as Sotnikov
* ''Suspicion'' (1972) as Berlach
Awards and honors
*1938: 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 b ...
*1941: Stalin Prize Stalin Prize may refer to:
* The State Stalin Prize in science and engineering and in arts, awarded 1941 to 1954, later known as the USSR State Prize
The USSR State Prize (russian: links=no, Государственная премия СССР, ...
, 1st class
*1947: USSR State Prize, 2nd class
*1950: USSR State Prize
*1950: People's Artist 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 ...
for his role of General Chuikov
*1966: Stanislavsky State Prize of the RSFSR for the performance of roles Matthias Clausen and Salieri in productions of "Before Sunset" by Hauptmann, and "Little Tragedies" by Pushkin
*1967: Order of Lenin
*1971: Hero of Socialist Labour
The Hero of Socialist Labour (russian: links=no, Герой Социалистического Труда, Geroy Sotsialisticheskogo Truda) was an honorific title in the Soviet Union and other Warsaw Pact countries from 1938 to 1991. It repre ...
*1971: Order of Lenin
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Simonov, Nikolai
1901 births
1973 deaths
Actors from Samara, Russia
People from Samarsky Uyezd
Russian male film actors
Russian male silent film actors
Russian male stage actors
Soviet male silent film actors
Soviet male actors
Belarusfilm films
Russian State Institute of Performing Arts alumni
People's Artists of the USSR
Stalin Prize winners
Recipients of the USSR State Prize
Heroes of Socialist Labour
Recipients of the Order of Lenin