Pyotr Gavrilovich Stepanov (russian: Пётр Гаврилович Степанов; 1800 – 15 May 1869) was a Russian stage actor, associated with the Moscow

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 ...

, one of the first stage professionals in Russia.

Biography

Born in 1800 (or 1806, according to other sources) into a family close to the Michael Maddox troupe, Stepanov received private lessons from actress Maria SinyavskayaStepanov's biography
at the Soviet Theatre Encyclopedia. before enrolling into the Moscow Theatre College which he graduated in 1825 to join the Maly Theatre troupe which he stayed with for the whole of his life.Grekov, Vladimir
Stepanov's biography
at the Great Biographical Encyclopedia] Stepanov became popular mostly for his comic and eccentric parts, but was also known as an

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...

baritone A baritone is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the bass and the tenor voice-types. The term originates from the Greek (), meaning "heavy sounding". Composers typically write music for this voice in the r ...

and even, occasionally, a

ballet dancer A ballet dancer ( it, ballerina fem.; ''ballerino'' masc.) is a person who practices the art of classical ballet. Both females and males can practice ballet; however, dancers have a strict hierarchy and strict gender roles. They rely on yea ...

(such occurrences weren't unusual at the time, formally the dance and the drama troupes had been separated in 1824, but in reality co-existed for quite some time). In all, Stepanov had more than 500 parts in Maly, some of them very tiny, by most of them memorable and expressive. Writers like

Vissarion Belinsky Vissarion Grigoryevich Belinsky ( rus, Виссарион Григорьевич БелинскийIn Belinsky's day, his name was written ., Vissarión Grigórʹjevič Belínskij, vʲɪsərʲɪˈon ɡrʲɪˈɡorʲjɪvʲɪdʑ bʲɪˈlʲinskʲ ...

and

Sergey Aksakov Sergey Timofeyevich Aksakov (russian: Серге́й Тимофе́евич Акса́ков) (—) was a 19th-century Russian literary figure remembered for his semi-autobiographical tales of family life, as well as his books on hunting and fi ...

were among his fans. On the Moscow stage Stepanov was the first performer of such parts as Prince Tugoukhovsky (''

Woe from Wit ''Woe from Wit'' (, also translated as "The Woes of Wit", "Wit Works Woe", ''Wit's End'', and so forth) is Alexander Griboyedov's comedy in verse, satirizing the society of post-Napoleonic Moscow, or, as a high official in the play styled it, "a ...

'', 1831, a particular favourite of

Tsar Nicholas I , house = Romanov-Holstein-Gottorp , father = Paul I of Russia , mother = Maria Feodorovna (Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg) , birth_date = , birth_place = Gatchina Palace, Gatchina, Russian Empire , death_date = ...

), Tyapkin-Lyapkin (''

Revizor ''The Government Inspector'', also known as ''The Inspector General'' ( rus, links=no, Ревизор, Revizor, literally: "Inspector"), is a satirical play by Russian dramatist and novelist, Nikolai Gogol. Originally published in 1836, the pla ...

'', 1836), Yaichnitsa (''

Marriage Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between ...

'', 1843) and Shvokhnev ('' The Gamblers'', 1839), by

Gogol Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol; uk, link=no, Мико́ла Васи́льович Го́голь, translit=Mykola Vasyliovych Hohol; (russian: Яновский; uk, Яновський, translit=Yanovskyi) ( – ) was a Russian novelist, ...

. Among his best remembered roles were those in the plays 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 ...

(''

Stay in Your Own Sled ''Stay in Your Own Sled'' (russian: Не в свои сани не садись, an idiom meaning "Don't bite off more than you can chew,") is a play by Alexander Ostrovsky, written in 1852 and first published in the No.5 (March, book 1), 1853, iss ...

'', Malomalsky, 1853) and '' Live Not as You Would Like To'' (Yeryomka, 1854).

References

Male actors from the Russian Empire 1800 births 1869 deaths {{russia-actor-stub