Aleksandr Alekseevich Khanzhonkov ( rus, Александр Алексеевич Ханжонков, p=ɐlʲɪˈksandr ɐlʲɪˈksʲejɪvʲɪtɕ xənˈʐonkəf; — 26 September 1945) was a pioneering

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

''Peter Rollberg (2016)''
Historical Dictionary of Russian and Soviet Cinema
—

Rowman & Littlefield Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group is an American independent academic publishing company founded in 1949. Under several imprints, the company offers scholarly books for the academic market, as well as trade books. The company also owns ...

, p. 366 cinema entrepreneur, film director and screenwriter. He is known for producing '' Defence of Sevastopol'', Russia's first

feature film A feature film or feature-length film (often abbreviated to feature), also called a theatrical film, is a film (Film, motion picture, "movie" or simply “picture”) with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole present ...

, as well as Ladislas Starevich's ground-breaking

stop motion Stop-motion (also known as stop frame animation) is an animated filmmaking and special effects technique in which objects are physically manipulated in small increments between individually photographed frames so that they will appear to exh ...

animation. Most of his career was in Russian Empire. During 1923-1926 he worked in the Soviet Union, where his career ended with a financial scandal, however his past achievements earned him a personal pension and an apartment from the state.

Early years

Khanzhonkov was born in the small village of Khanzhonkova of the Don Host Oblast (modern-day

Makiivka Makiivka (, ), formerly Dmytriivsk () until 1931, is an industrial city in Donetsk Oblast, eastern Ukraine, located east from Donetsk. The two cities are practically a conurbation. It has a population of It hosts the administration of Makiivka ...

Donetsk Oblast Donetsk Oblast, also referred to as Donechchyna (, ), is an Oblasts of Ukraine, oblast in eastern Ukraine. It is Ukraine's most populous province, with around 4.1 million residents. Its capital city, administrative centre is Donetsk, though d ...

) into a

noble A noble is a member of the nobility. Noble may also refer to: Places Antarctica * Noble Glacier, King George Island * Noble Nunatak, Marie Byrd Land * Noble Peak, Wiencke Island * Noble Rocks, Graham Land Australia * Noble Island, Gr ...

family of

Don Cossacks Don Cossacks (, ) or Donians (, ), are Cossacks who settled along the middle and lower Don River (Russia), Don. Historically, they lived within the former Don Cossack Host (, ), which was either an independent or an autonomous democratic rep ...

. His father Alexei Petrovich Khanzhonkov was a landlord who went bankrupt. His mother Paraskeva Sergeevna Khanzhonkova (née Dmitrieva) came from a colonel's family who owned a

Singer Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define singi ...

shop in

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 ...

. The noble title was first granted to Aleksandr's great-grandfather Vasily Khanzhonkov.''Irina Orlova (2007)''. Dedicate My Life to Cinema. — Donetsk: Promin, 127 pages (Biography)Maxim Medvedev.
A slave of cinema in the garden of the parting paths
'' article at Chastny Korrespondent, August 8, 2014 (in Russian) He studied in the

Novocherkassk Novocherkassk () is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city in Rostov Oblast, Russia, located near the confluence of the Tuzlov and Aksay Rivers, the latter a distributary of the Don (river), Don River. Novocherkassk is best known as the ...

Cossack School and was sent to serve in the Moscow host after his graduation in 1886. He took part in the

Russo-Japanese War The Russo-Japanese War (8 February 1904 – 5 September 1905) was fought between the Russian Empire and the Empire of Japan over rival imperial ambitions in Manchuria and the Korean Empire. The major land battles of the war were fought on the ...

which undermined his health. In 1905, upon a discharge from military training due to health issues, Khanzhonkov sat in on a screening of

Train Pulling into a Station A train (from Old French , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles that run along a railway track and Passenger train, transport people or Rail freight transport, freight. Trains are typically pulled or pushed by l ...

by the Lumiere Brothers.

Career

In 1906 Khanzhonkov founded Russia's first cinema factory, A. Khanzhonkov and Co., whose main financial backer was

Ivan Ozerov Ivan Khristoforovich Ozerov ( – May 10, 1942), who also wrote under the pseudonym Ikhorov, was a Russian professor, financier, economist, urban planning specialist, and prose writer. Biography Ozerov was born in 1869 to a peasant family. Afte ...

, an influential banker and member of the Russian State Council. Initial productions were shot on stage in the vein of Melies and were overshadowed by the work of

Alexander Drankov Alexander Osipovich Drankov (; 1879–1949) was a Russian and Soviet photographer, cameraman, film director, and film producer. He is considered a pioneer of Russian pre-revolutionary cinematography. Biography Drankov was born Abram Iosifovich D ...

. Known for his unabashed commercialism, Drankov would remain a competitor up to the revolution of 1917. It wasn't until 1911 that Khanzhonkov's factory would receive widespread acclaim with the release of '' Defence of Sevastopol''. One of the earliest full length Russian feature films, it was equally notable for its technical aspects. By the end of 1912, Khanzhonkov had established a permanent studio in Moscow and went on to produce over a hundred films over the course of the next several years. Much of Khanzhonkov's work during this time period went "virtually unseen by the Russian masses" and often took aim at aristocratic sensibilities or adapted great Russian novels of the 19th century. Nonetheless, Khanzhonov helped create many standards in Russian cinema production; the first confirmed use of artificial light in the Russian film industry takes place in a Khanzhonkov documentary piece. During the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution, social change in Russian Empire, Russia, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia Dissolution of the Russian Empire, abolish its mona ...

, Khanzhonkov fled Russia to

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

and

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, and, despite previous affiliation with the royal family, returned upon invitation to the

USSR 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 ...

in 1923 and was appointed director of the new Soviet studio Proletkino and later as a production consultant for

Goskino Goskino USSR () is the abbreviated name for the USSR State Committee for Cinematography (Государственный комитет по кинематографии СССР) in the Soviet Union. It was a central state directory body for Sovi ...

. His career in the

Soviet Union 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 ...

ended in 1926: he was forced to abdicate after a corruption scandal struck Proletkino, and never worked in cinema again. Khanzhonkov spent the rest of his life in

Yalta Yalta (: ) is a resort town, resort city on the south coast of the Crimean Peninsula surrounded by the Black Sea. It serves as the administrative center of Yalta Municipality, one of the regions within Crimea. Yalta, along with the rest of Crime ...

, living on a personal pension from the state. There he survived the Nazi occupation of Crimea in 1941–1944, and died in Yalta after many years of declining health on September 26, 1945.

Legacy

* Monument to Aleksandr Khanzhonkov

Bibliography

* ''Aleksandr Khanzhonkov (1937)''. First Years of Russian Cinema. Memoirs. — Moscow/Leningrad: Iskusstvo // Moscow: Karamzin, 254 pages * M. Kuznetsova. ''Aleksandr Khanzhonkov: Life Behind the Frame'' article from Profile magazine № 29, 1997 * Rashit Yangirov.
An addition to A. A. Khanzhonkov's biography: New angle
' article from Cinema Historian's Notes magazine № 55, 2011 * Tetiana Avdashkova.
Ukrainian Cossack that made it in Hollywood
' article from The Day newspaper № 43, 9 August 2012

References

External links