Mikhail Shatrov: biography and career

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Shatrov Mikhail Filippovich is a famous Soviet writer whose name is associated with a whole era of Russian drama. His plays are dedicated to the life of the country during the revolution and the Civil War and fully convey the romance of the bygone time with all its complexities and contradictions.

"Sixth of July", "Day of Silence", "Dictatorship of Conscience", "In the Name of Revolution", "Brest Peace", "Bolsheviks" are the most famous works of the talented author. Lenin, Trotsky, Sverdlov, Stalin - these historical figures are represented in Shatrov's plays by ordinary living people: thinking, doubting, committing rash acts and making mistakes.

Childhood of the writer

Mikhail (the real name of the writer is Marshak) - a native of Moscow, was born on April 3, 1932. His father, Philip Semenovich, worked as an engineer, and his mother, Cecilia Alexandrovna, taught German at a secondary school. The boy's childhood and youth are associated withsad, tragic events. In 1937, my own aunt was arrested, in 1938 my father was shot, in 1949 my mother was arrested. Mikhail, being at that time a schoolboy, was left without a livelihood. Trying to help the boy who was left completely alone, the teachers gathered a group of poorly prepared children and instructed Mikhail to take care of them, and grateful parents helped him with groceries.

At school, active by nature, Mikhail Shatrov was the secretary of the Komsomol organization. For the Nashe Slovo magazine, in which he worked as deputy editor, he wrote articles, mostly on political topics. For good progress in 1951, after graduating from school, he was awarded a silver medal.

Students

Further, the choice of the young man fell on the Mining Institute of Moscow, in which students were given uniforms and given the opportunity to earn extra money, which was extremely necessary for Mikhail. The young man passed student practice in Altai, working in parallel as a driller. With the money he earned, he went to his mother, who was in prison. Cecilia Alexandrovna was amnestied only in 1954.

Works by Mikhail Shatrov

Having chosen a literary path in his life, Mikhail, a relative of Samuil Marshak, decided to take the pseudonym of one of the heroes of his works and became Shatrov. The first printed publications were published in the local newspaper Gornaya Shoria.

Youth theme was one of the key in the writer's work. A striking example are such plays: "Clean Hands" (1954) and "A Place in Life" (1956),"The rain poured like a bucket" (1972).

The main drama of Mikhail Shatrov, which was strongly affected by the political situation in the country, is devoted to the revolutionary theme. The talented author ex alts the nobility, loy alty to the revolutionary dogmas and the honesty of the people who took part in the revolution, and expresses bitterness at the trampling of these ideals by the younger generation, which consigns to oblivion the achievements of their ancestors. The plays of Mikhail Shatrov were of particular importance in the period of the resurgent Stalinism, which had to be resisted. In his works, the playwright, who believed in "socialism with a human face", turned to the Leninist principles of party life and firmly believed that a society in which there are rich and poor will need the ideas of Vladimir Ilyich. Alluding to the many plays written about Lenin, Faina Ranevskaya said: "Mikhail Shatrov is Krupskaya today."

Mikhail Shatrov's productions have always caused a huge response. The Politburo of the Central Committee of the CPSU together with Leonid Brezhnev came to one of them at the Moscow Art Theater.

Creative achievements of Mikhail Shatrov

Mikhail Shatrov (photo of the last years of his life below in the article) collaborated with many theaters that easily conquered the audience thanks to his plays.

This is the Riga Youth Theatre, Sovremennik, Moscow Drama Theatre. Yermolova, Perm Drama Theatre, Moscow Art Theatre, Lenkom, Lomonosov Arkhangelsk Drama Theatre.

The most outstanding plays of the talented playwright:“Weather for Tomorrow”, “Dictatorship of Conscience”, “Revolutionary Study”, “In the Name of the Revolution”, “Brest Peace”, “Two Lines in Small Print”, “Weather for Tomorrow”, “Sixth of July”. Mikhail Filippovich also wrote scripts for the films The Sixth of July, Tehran-43, In the Name of the Revolution, Bolsheviks, My Love in the Third Year.

Mikhail Shatrov: personal life

Throughout his life, Mikhail Shatrov had four marriages, three of which were with actresses: Irina Miroshnichenko, Irina Mironova and Elena Gorbunova, who became the wife of Boris Berezovsky after a divorce. The last wife, Yulia Chernysheva, was 38 years younger than Mikhail. Their acquaintance took place thanks to the host of the famous television program “What? Where? When? Vladimir Voroshilov. From this marriage in 2000, the daughter Alexandra Michelle was born, who lives today in America.

Mikhail Shatrov passed away on May 23, 2010, the cause of death was a heart attack. His ashes rest at the Troekurovsky cemetery in Moscow.