Boris Babochkin
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Boris Andreyevich Babochkin (18 January 190417 July 1975) was a Soviet and Russian film and theater
actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...
and director. Boris Babochkin was one of the first internationally recognized stars of the Soviet-Russian cinema. He rose to fame with the title role in the classic film '' Chapaev'' (1934) and later, in the 1950s, he played a sharp anti-communist character on stage in Moscow, for which he was censored by the
Communist Party of the Soviet Union The Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU),. Abbreviated in Russian as КПСС, ''KPSS''. at some points known as the Russian Communist Party (RCP), All-Union Communist Party and Bolshevik Party, and sometimes referred to as the Soviet ...
.


Biography


Life on the Volga

Babochkin was born on 18 January 1904, in
Saratov Saratov ( , ; , ) is the largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and administrative center of Saratov Oblast, Russia, and a major port on the Volga River. Saratov had a population of 901,361, making it the List of cities and tow ...
on the
Volga The Volga (, ) is the longest river in Europe and the longest endorheic basin river in the world. Situated in Russia, it flows through Central Russia to Southern Russia and into the Caspian Sea. The Volga has a length of , and a catchment ...
river in
Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
. His father, Andrei Babochkin, came from a family of Russian merchants and traders. The father had owned a successful trade business in the city of Saratov on Volga, then sold his business and worked for a railroad. The Babochkins lived in Krasny Kut, a small station near Saratov. His mother, a school teacher, was fond of Russian classical literature, and young Babochkin was brought up in an intellectually stimulating environment. Young Boris Babochkin and his brother were fond of acting and were involved in amateur theatre productions in Saratov. At age 14 Boris joined the
Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...
and served for one year in the same front on Volga and the
Urals The Ural Mountains ( ),; , ; , or simply the Urals, are a mountain range in Eurasia that runs north–south mostly through Russia, from the coast of the Arctic Ocean to the river Ural (river), Ural and northwestern Kazakhstan.
with the legendary commander Chapayev, whom he would later portray, although they never met.


Early career

In 1920 Babochkin entered a local
drama school A drama school, stage school, or theatre school is an undergraduate and/or graduate school or Academic department, department at a college or university, or a free-standing institution (such as the drama section at the Juilliard School) that ...
in Saratov, but he soon dropped out and moved to
Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...
to pursue an acting career. At first he enrolled in the well-known drama school of
Michael Chekhov Mikhail Aleksandrovich Chekhov (; 16 August 1891 – 30 September 1955), known as Michael Chekhov, was a Russian-American actor, Theatre director, director, author, and theatre practitioner. He was a nephew of the playwright Anton Chekhov an ...
affiliated with the
Moscow Art Theatre The Moscow Art Theatre (or MAT; , ''Moskovskiy Hudojestvenny Akademicheskiy Teatr'' (МHАТ) was a theatre company in Moscow. It was founded in by the seminal Russian theatre practitioner Konstantin Stanislavski, together with the playwright ...
. There Babochkin studied with Michael Chekhov for a few months. He admired Chekhov, but eventually their personalities clashed. In 1921, he left Chekhov's school to join "Molodye Mastera" studio, under , a well-connected figure in Soviet film and theatre. There, with his elder brother Vitaly Babochkin, Boris worked his first professional season on stage. In the following six years he played seasonal gigs on stage with various troupes in Moscow and Saratov, then in
Samarkand Samarkand ( ; Uzbek language, Uzbek and Tajik language, Tajik: Самарқанд / Samarqand, ) is a city in southeastern Uzbekistan and among the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities in Central As ...
and
Bishkek Bishkek, formerly known as Pishpek (until 1926), and then Frunze (1926–1991), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Kyrgyzstan. Bishkek is also the administrative centre of the Chüy Region. Bishkek is situated near the Kazakhstan ...
in
Central Asia Central Asia is a region of Asia consisting of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The countries as a group are also colloquially referred to as the "-stans" as all have names ending with the Persian language, Pers ...
, and then in
Voronezh Voronezh ( ; , ) is a city and the administrative centre of Voronezh Oblast in southwestern Russia straddling the Voronezh River, located from where it flows into the Don River. The city sits on the Southeastern Railway, which connects wes ...
,
Mogilev Mogilev (; , ), also transliterated as Mahilyow (, ), is a city in eastern Belarus. It is located on the Dnieper, Dnieper River, about from the Belarus–Russia border, border with Russia's Smolensk Oblast and from Bryansk Oblast. As of 2024, ...
in
Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...
, and
Berdichev Berdychiv (, ) is a historic city in Zhytomyr Oblast, northern Ukraine. It serves as the administrative center of Berdychiv Raion within the oblast. It is south of the administrative center of the oblast, Zhytomyr. Its population is approximat ...
in
Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...
.


Leningrad

From 1927 to 1940 Babochkin lived and worked in
Leningrad Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...
. He married a young ballerina, Yekaterina Georgieva, and they became involved in the city's cultural life. Babochkin continued his studies of theatre and film, and made his film acting debut at
Lenfilm Lenfilm (, acronym of Leningrad Films) is a Russian production and distribution company with its own film studio located in Saint Petersburg (the city was called Leningrad from 1924 to 1991, thus the name). It is a corporation with its stakes s ...
Studio in 1927. In 1934 he played the leading role in ''Chapaev'', a classic film that brought him global fame and local jealousy. During the 1930s he played leading roles at the Leningrad State Pushkin Drama Theater and at the
Bolshoi Drama Theater Tovstonogov Bolshoi Drama Theater (; literally ''Tovstonogov Great Drama Theater''), formerly known as Gorky Bolshoi Drama Theater () (1931–1992), often referred to as the Bolshoi Drama Theater and by the acronym BDT (), is a theater in Sa ...
under director
Aleksei Dikiy Aleksei Dikiy () (24 February 1889 – 1 October 1955) was a Soviet actor and director who worked at Moscow Art Theatre and later worked with Habima Jewish theatre in Tel Aviv. He was arrested and imprisoned in Gulag under the dictatorship of J ...
. In 1937, when Dikiy was arrested and imprisoned in the Gulag camps, Babochkin was hurt and suffered an emotional crisis. However, he survived the first wave of Stalin's
Great Purge The Great Purge, or the Great Terror (), also known as the Year of '37 () and the Yezhovshchina ( , ), was a political purge in the Soviet Union that took place from 1936 to 1938. After the Assassination of Sergei Kirov, assassination of ...
. In 1937 Babochkin stepped in as artistic director of the Bolshoi Drama Theater (BDT) in Leningrad and worked in that position until 1940.


Moscow

In 1940 Babochkin was summoned by the Soviet leadership and moved back to Moscow, a move that he later described as the biggest mistake in his life. During
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
he made several trips to Leningrad, besieged by the
Nazis Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...
, where he supported the defenders of Leningrad under the
Siege A siege () . is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition, or by well-prepared assault. Siege warfare (also called siegecrafts or poliorcetics) is a form of constant, low-intensity conflict charact ...
and helped lift their spirits with his performances, while they were struggling to survive. After the war he started a teaching career at the Moscow State Film Institute (VGIK). In 1952 Babochkin became artistic director of the Moscow Drama Theater named after Pushkin. There he invited his old director Aleksei Dikiy to direct ''Shadows'', a play by
Saltykov-Shchedrin Mikhail Yevgrafovich Saltykov-Shchedrin ( rus, Михаи́л Евгра́фович Салтыко́в-Щедри́н, p=mʲɪxɐˈil jɪvˈɡrafəvʲɪtɕ səltɨˈkof ɕːɪˈdrʲin; – ), born Mikhail Yevgrafovich Saltykov and known during ...
. In ''Shadows'' Babochkin played one of his best roles ever — Klaverov, a corrupt career politician, resembling a typical
Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
bureaucrat. For this role Babochkin was viciously attacked in the main Soviet newspaper ''
Pravda ''Pravda'' ( rus, Правда, p=ˈpravdə, a=Ru-правда.ogg, 'Truth') is a Russian broadsheet newspaper, and was the official newspaper of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, when it was one of the most in ...
''. His critic was none other than
Yekaterina Furtseva Yekaterina Alexeyevna Furtseva (; 7 December 1910 – 24 October 1974) was a Soviet politician and member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU). She was the second woman to be elected member of the CPSU Presidium ( 20th term) and ...
, who was then
Mayor of Moscow The Mayor of Moscow () is the head and the highest-ranking official of Moscow, who leads the Government of Moscow, the main executive body of the city. Moscow is both a city and separate federal subject, according to the Constitution of ...
and later was made
Minister of Culture of the Soviet Union The Ministry of Culture of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) (), formed in 1936, was one of the most important government offices in the Soviet Union. It was formerly (until 1946) known as the State Committee on the Arts (). The Minis ...
. Furtseva used all her official power to destroy Babochkin. She banned the play and restricted the world-famous actor, known as Chapayev, from public performances. Furtseva personally ordered that all film studios and drama companies of the USSR should refuse him any jobs, keeping him practically
unemployed Unemployment, according to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), is the proportion of people above a specified age (usually 15) not being in paid employment or self-employment but currently available for Work (hu ...
for three years until he was finally forced to apologize to the Communist Party. Official
Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
censorship, which was under the control of Furtseva, spared no effort in taming the famous actor and manipulating his star power. After that, Babochkin's acting career was restricted to playing only positive, exemplary Soviet characters.


Later career

Babochkin's acting career was suppressed until the death of his high-ranking Communist opponent Furtseva. The rare exception was his last role in ''
The Flight of Mr. McKinley ''The Flight of Mr. McKinley'' () is a 1975 Soviet two-part science fiction film directed by Mikhail Schweitzer. Plot A scientist invents the colloid gas — a creation that allows a person to hibernate for a hundred and more years, and wake up in ...
'' (1975) for which he was awarded the
State Prize of the USSR The USSR State Prize () was one of the Soviet Union’s highest civilian honours, awarded from its establishment in September 1966 until the dissolution of the USSR in 1991. It recognised outstanding contributions in the fields of science, mathem ...
. From 1955 until his death in 1975, Babochkin was a permanent member of the troupe at the Maly Theatre in Moscow. From 1946 to 1975 he also taught an acting class at State Film Institute (VGIK), where he became a professor in 1966. In his acting career spanning over 55 years, Babochkin played over 200 roles on stage and 25 roles in movies and on television, but his role as Chapayev in the eponymous 1934 film remained the unsurpassed highlight of his film career.


Recognition

Boris Babochkin was the youngest actor designated
People's Artist of the RSFSR People's Artist of the RSFSR (, ''Narodnyj artist RSFSR'') was an honorary title granted to Soviet Union artists, including theatre and film directors, actors, choreographers, music performers, and orchestra conductors, who had outstanding achiev ...
(1935). He was awarded the Stalin Prize (twice: in 1941 and 1951) and
USSR State Prize The USSR State Prize () was one of the Soviet Union’s highest civilian honours, awarded from its establishment in September 1966 until the dissolution of the USSR in 1991. It recognised outstanding contributions in the fields of science, mathem ...
(1977, posthumously). He also received numerous awards and decorations in recognition of his best known film role as Chapaev.


Personal life

Babochkin was married to Yekaterina Mikhailovna Babochkina (née Georgieva), and the couple had two daughters, Natalia and Tatiana. Outside of his acting career, Babochkin taught a class at Moscow Film School (VGIK); he also wrote numerous articles and critical works about film and theatre. In 1968 he published his autobiography ''In theatre and film'' which became a bestseller in the USSR. Boris Babochkin died of a heart attack while driving his
Volga The Volga (, ) is the longest river in Europe and the longest endorheic basin river in the world. Situated in Russia, it flows through Central Russia to Southern Russia and into the Caspian Sea. The Volga has a length of , and a catchment ...
on 17 July 1975, in Moscow, and was interred in
Novodevichy Cemetery Novodevichy Cemetery () is a cemetery in Moscow. It lies next to the southern wall of the 16th-century Novodevichy Convent, which is the city's third most popular tourist site. History The cemetery was designed by Ivan Mashkov and inaugurated ...
.После смерти у звезды фильма «Большая перемена» пропали фамильные драгоценности
/ref>


Sources

*Biography of Boris Babochkin in English by: Steve Shelokhonov (2007). *Autobiography in Russian: ()


Filmography

* ''
Mutiny Mutiny is a revolt among a group of people (typically of a military or a crew) to oppose, change, or remove superiors or their orders. The term is commonly used for insubordination by members of the military against an officer or superior, ...
'' (1928) as Karavaev * '' The Return of Nathan Becker'' (1932) as Mikulich * '' Chapaev'' (1934) as
Vasily Chapayev Vasily Ivanovich Chapayev (; 5 September 1919) was a Russian soldier and Red Army commander during the Russian Civil War. Biography Chapayev was born into a poor peasant family in a village called , now part of Cheboksary. During World War I ...
*'' Girl Friends'' (1936) as Andrei *''
Friends ''Friends'' is an American television sitcom created by David Crane (producer), David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994, to May 6, 2004, lasting List of Friends episodes, ten seasons. With an ensemble cast ...
'' (1938) as Aleksei *''
The Defense of Tsaritsyn The Defense of Tsaritsyn, () is a 1942 Soviet war film directed by Vasilyev brothers. Plot The film tells about the Battle of Tsaritsyn, defense of Tsaritsyn by the Red Army during the Russian Civil War, under the leadership of Stalin and Voro ...
'' (1942) as Moldavsky *''
Actress An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...
'' (1943) as Pyotr Nikolayevich Markov *''
The Front ''The Front'' is a 1976 American drama film set against the Hollywood blacklist in the 1950s, when artists, writers, directors, and others were rendered unemployable, having been accused of subversive political activities in support of Communi ...
'' (1943) as Ognyov *''
Tale of a True Man Tale of a True Man () is a Soviet feature film directed by Aleksandr Stolper, shot on the :ru:Повесть о настоящем человеке, same name book by Boris Polevoy. For the participation in the film, a number of film actors and ...
'' (1948) as regiment commander *'' Annushka'' (1959) as Ivan Ivanovich *''
The Flight of Mr. McKinley ''The Flight of Mr. McKinley'' () is a 1975 Soviet two-part science fiction film directed by Mikhail Schweitzer. Plot A scientist invents the colloid gas — a creation that allows a person to hibernate for a hundred and more years, and wake up in ...
'' (1975) as Sam Boulder


Notes


References


External links

* *Boris Babochkin o
Актёр Борис Бабочкин
(Russian) {{DEFAULTSORT:Babochkin, Boris 1904 births 1975 deaths Male actors from Saratov Communist Party of the Soviet Union members Academic staff of the Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography Heroes of Socialist Labour People's Artists of the RSFSR People's Artists of the USSR Recipients of the Stalin Prize Recipients of the Order of Lenin Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour Recipients of the USSR State Prize Soviet film directors Soviet male film actors Soviet male stage actors Soviet military personnel of the Russian Civil War Soviet theatre directors Burials at Novodevichy Cemetery Residents of the Benois House