Vasily Vasilyevich Samoylov (russian: Василий Васильевич Самойлов, 25 January 1813,

Saint 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 ...

Imperial Russia The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the List of Russian monarchs, Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended th ...

— 8 April 1887, Saint Petersburg, Imperial Russia) was a Russian

stage actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), lite ...

, associated with

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 trou ...

in Saint Petersburg. Initially an

opera singer 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 libretti ...

, he was also an artist whose several albums of paintings include the gallery of stage self-portraits, amounting to a visual autobiography.В.В. Самойлов
at the Russian Online encyclopedia Krugosvet

Biography

Samoylov was born into an artistic family of the opera singers Vasily Samoylov (1782—1839) and Sofya Chernikova (1787-1854) and was educated first at the Mining Engineering Corps (since 1829) and then the Forestry College (1832). He was about to start a military career when his father suggested that he should make a debut as an opera singer which he did in 1834 in Alexandrinka, taking up the leading part in

Étienne Méhul Étienne Nicolas Méhul (; 16 November 1765 ~ 24 December 1817) was a French composer of the Classical period (music), classical period. He was known as "the most important opera composer in France during the French Revolution, Revolution". He wa ...

's ''

Joseph Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the mo ...

''. After three years of opera singing he moved to this theatre's drama troupe and enjoyed his breakthrough in 1839, in the leading part of ''Makar Alekseyevich Gubkin'' by

Fyodor Koni Fyodor Alexeyevich Koni (Фёдор Алексеевич Кони, 21 March 1809, Moscow, Russian Empire, - 6 February 1879, Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire) was a Russian dramatist, theatre critic and literary historian, editor and memoirist. ...

. Several more creditable performances followed, including Prisypochka (''Petersburg Flats'', by Fyodor Koni), Almaviva (''

The Marriage of Figaro ''The Marriage of Figaro'' ( it, Le nozze di Figaro, links=no, ), K. 492, is a ''commedia per musica'' (opera buffa) in four acts composed in 1786 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with an Italian libretto written by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It premie ...

'' by

Pierre Beaumarchais Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais (; 24 January 1732 – 18 May 1799) was a French polymath. At various times in his life, he was a watchmaker, inventor, playwright, musician, diplomat, spy, publisher, horticulturist, arms dealer, satirist ...

), Mitya (''The Death of Lyapunov'' by

Stepan Gedeonov Stepan Alexandrovich Gedeonov (russian: Степан Александрович Гедеонов, 13 June 1816, Saint Petersburg, Imperial Russia — 17 September 1878, Saint Petersburg, Imperial Russia) was a Russian art scholar, playwright, c ...

), Shvokhnev ('' The Gamblers'' by

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

), Chyuzhbinin (''Talisman'' by

Grigory Kugushev Prince Grigory Vasilyevich Kugushev (russian: link=no, Григорий Васильевич Кугушев, 17 March 1824 – 3 October 1871) was a Russian writer, poet and playwright whose comedies, including ''Goluboi Kapot'' (Blue Hood), ''P ...

) The Old Man (''Love and Friendship'', by Adelaida Taltseva), among others. His best-remembered one was the 1846 performance as Puzyrechkin in Kondraty Efimovich's play ''The Retired Theatre Musician and the Princess'', staged as his benefit.Василий Васильевич Самойлов
at www.biografija.ru As the new Russian drama started to producing more and more worthy home-grown material, he continued to excel 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 ...

Ivan Turgenev Ivan Sergeyevich Turgenev (; rus, links=no, Ива́н Серге́евич Турге́невIn Turgenev's day, his name was written ., p=ɪˈvan sʲɪrˈɡʲe(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ tʊrˈɡʲenʲɪf; 9 November 1818 – 3 September 1883 (Old Style dat ...

Alexei Potekhin Alexei Antipovitch Potekhin (1829–1908) (russian: Алексей Антипович Потехин) was a Russian dramatist and novelist. Biography He was born at Kineshma, in Kostroma, studied at Jaroslav, and settled in Saint Petersburg ...

Alexey Pisemsky Aleksey Feofilaktovich Pisemsky (russian: Алексе́й Феофила́ктович Пи́семский) () was a Russian novelist and dramatist who was regarded as an equal of Ivan Turgenev and Fyodor Dostoyevsky in the late 1850s, but whos ...

Alexander Sukhovo-Kobylin Aleksandr Vasilyevich Sukhovo-Kobylin (russian: Александр Васильевич Сухово-Кобылин) (, Moscow - , Beaulieu-sur-Mer, France), was a Russian philosopher and playwright, chiefly known for his satirical plays criticizi ...

Pyotr Boborykin Pyotr Dmitryevich Boborykin (russian: Пётр Дми́триевич Боборы́кин; – 12 August 1921) was a Russian writer, playwright, and journalist. Biography Boborykin was born into the family of a landowner. He studied at Kazan ...

, Viktor Dyachenko,

Nikolai Chayev Nikolai Alexandrovich Chayev (russian: Николай Александрович Чаев; 8 May 1824 – 16 November 1914) was a Russian Literature, Russian writer, poet and playwright.

Viktor Krylov Viktor Alexandrovich Krylov (russian: Виктор Александрович Крылов, 2 February 1838 — 13 March 1908) was a Russian playwright (who occasionally used the pen name Viktor Alexandrov), theatre critic, librettist, Imperial ...

Alexander Palm Alexander Ivanovich Palm (Александр Иванович Пальм, , Krasnoslobodsk, Penza Governorate, Russian Empire, - , Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire) was a Russian poet, novelist and playwright, who also used the pseudonym P. Al ...

Dmitry Averkiyev Dmitry Vasilyevich Averkiyev (russian: Дмитрий Васильевич Аверкиев, (October 12, 1836, Yekaterinodar, Russian Empire, — January 20, 1905, Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire) was a Russian playwright, theatre critic, novel ...

Vladimir Sollogub Count Vladimir Alexandrovich Sollogub (russian: link=no, Влади́мир Алекса́ндрович Соллогу́б; german: link=no, Woldemar Graf Sollogub (Sollohub); 20 August 1813 in St. Petersburg – 17 June 1882 in Bad Homburg) was ...

. For his last ten years on stage Samoylov was the indisputable star of the Imperial Theatre in Saint Petersburg; his benefits included some grand productions like ''

King Lear ''King Lear'' is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare. It is based on the mythological Leir of Britain. King Lear, in preparation for his old age, divides his power and land between two of his daughters. He becomes destitute and insane an ...

'' and ''

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

'' by

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

References

External links

Василий Васильевич Самойлов
in ''

Vsemirnaya Illyustratsiya ''Vsemirnaya Illyustratsiya'' (russian: Всемирная иллюстрация, ''World Illustrated'') was a Russian weekly magazine founded by German Goppe and published by his own publishing house in Saint Petersburg in 1869–1898.

'', 1869, Vol.2, No. 42, pp. 250–251
Samoylov's Memoirs
''

Russkaya Starina ''Russkaya Starina'' ( rus, Русская старина, p=ˈruskəjə stərʲɪˈna; ''Russian Antiquity'') was a Russian history journal published monthly in St. Petersburg by amateur historian Mikhail Semevsky and his successors between 1870 ...

'', 1875 // Воспоминания В. В. Самойлова. Первые годы артистической деятельности. // Русская старина, 1875. — Т. 12. — № 1. — С. 197—219. {{DEFAULTSORT:Samoylov, Vasily 19th-century male actors from the Russian Empire Male actors from Saint Petersburg 1813 births 1887 deaths 19th-century opera singers from the Russian Empire Burials at Tikhvin Cemetery