Aleksei (born Lazar) Yakovlevich Kapler (also Alexei, russian: link=no, Алексей (born Лазарь) Яковлевич Каплер; 28 September 1903 – 11 September 1979) was a prominent Soviet filmmaker, screenwriter, actor and writer. He was known as screenwriter of many Soviet movies, such as '' Lenin in 1918'', '' Amphibian Man'', '' The Blue Bird'' and '' Striped Trip'', as well as one of the anchors and directors of TV program '' Kinopanorama'' (a cinema overview). In 1941, Kapler was awarded the Stalin Prize.

Internments in the Gulag

Kapler is also known as the first love of

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secreta ...

's then teenage daughter

Svetlana Alliluyeva Svetlana Iosifovna Alliluyeva, born Stalina (); ka, სვეტლანა იოსების ასული ალილუევა () (28 February 1926 – 22 November 2011), later known as Lana Peters, was the youngest child and only ...

, who was more than 20 years his junior. According to Stalin's daughter, that was the reason for Kapler to be sentenced in 1943 to five years in exile on charges of

anti-Soviet agitation Anti-Soviet agitation and propaganda (ASA) (russian: антисове́тская агита́ция и пропага́нда (АСА)) was a criminal offence in the Soviet Union. To begin with the term was interchangeably used with counter-revol ...

. He was sent to

Vorkuta Vorkuta (russian: Воркута́; kv, Вӧркута, ''Vörkuta''; Nenets for "the abundance of bears", "bear corner") is a coal-mining town in the Komi Republic, Russia, situated just north of the Arctic Circle in the Pechora coal basin ...

region, where he worked as a photographer and lived in a tiny room partitioned off in the corner of the local photo studio. In 1948, he was convicted a second time and spent five more years in

Inta Inta (russian: Инта́, kv, Инта) is a town in the Komi Republic, Russia. Population: History Inta was founded circa 1940 as a settlement to support a geological expedition to explore coal deposits and projecting of mines. The city's n ...

labour camps, being finally released only in July 1953, after Stalin's death.Biography of Aleksei Kapler
on kino-teatr.ru After returning from the

Gulag The Gulag, an acronym for , , "chief administration of the camps". The original name given to the system of camps controlled by the State Political Directorate, GPU was the Main Administration of Corrective Labor Camps (, )., name=, group= ...

, Kapler continued working on cinema and TV.

Personal life

His first wife was the actress Tatiana Tarnowska (1898–1994), daughter of Countess Maria Tarnowska. With Tatiana he had a son, Anatoly (b. 1927). Kapler's last wife was poet

Yulia Drunina Yulia Vladimirovna Drunina ( rus, Ю́лия Влади́мировна Дру́нина, p=ˈjʉlʲɪjə vlɐˈdʲimʲɪrəvnə ˈdrunʲɪnə, a=Yuliya Vladimirovna Drunina.ru.vorb.oga; May 10, 1924 – November 20, 1991) was a Soviet poet w ...

Filmography

*1926 ''

The Overcoat "The Overcoat" (russian: Шине́ль, translit. Shinyél’; sometimes translated as "The Cloak") is a short story by Russian author Nikolai Gogol, published in 1842. The story has had a great influence on Russian literature. Eugène-Me ...

'' (actor) *1930 ''Pravo Na Zhenshchinu'' ('' A Licence to Have a Woman'') (

silent film A silent film is a film with no synchronized Sound recording and reproduction, recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) ...

, Ukrainfilm studio,

Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...

, director), shown at the XXV

Moscow International Film Festival The Moscow International Film Festival (russian: Моско́вский междунаро́дный кинофестива́ль, translit. ''Moskóvskiy myezhdunaródniy kinofyestivál''; abbreviated as MIFF) is the film festival first he ...

, 2003 *1931 ''Shakhta 12–28'' ('' Mine 12-28'') (director) *1939 ''Lenin v 1918 Godu'' ('' Lenin in 1918'') (screenwriter) *1942 ''Slavny Maly'' ('' A Good Lad'') (screenwriter) *1943 ''Den za Dnyom'' ('' Day After Day'') (screenwriter) *1957 ''Za Vitrinoy Univermaga'' ('' Behind Show-Window'') (screenwriter) *1976 ''Sinyaya Ptitsa'' ('' The Blue Bird'') (screenwriter) *1987 ''Soshedshie s nebes'' (''

Descended From the Heavens Descendant(s) or descendent(s) may refer to: * Lineal descendant, a consanguinous (i.e. biological) relative directly related to a person ** Collateral descendant, a relative descended from a brother or sister of an ancestor Books * "The Descen ...

''),

Lenfilm Lenfilm (russian: link=no, Ленфильм) is a Russian production 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 shared betwe ...

studio, is based on Kapler's story, ''Two of Twenty Millions''. *1996 ''Vozvrashchenie bronenostsa'' (''

Return of the Battleship Return may refer to: In business, economics, and finance * Return on investment (ROI), the financial gain after an expense. * Rate of return, the financial term for the profit or loss derived from an investment * Tax return, a blank document or ...

'') is based on Kapler's story, ''Return of the Battleship''

Notes and references

External links

* *Nicholas Thompson
"My Friend, Stalin’s Daughter: The complicated life of Svetlana Alliluyeva."
''The New Yorker'', March 24, 2014. {{DEFAULTSORT:Kapler, Aleksei 1903 births 1979 deaths Film people from Kyiv People from Kiev Governorate Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography faculty High Courses for Scriptwriters and Film Directors faculty Stalin Prize winners Recipients of the Order of Lenin Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour Gulag detainees Male screenwriters Jewish male actors Jewish Ukrainian actors Jewish Ukrainian writers Ukrainian Jews Soviet film directors Soviet rehabilitations Soviet screenwriters Soviet television presenters Deaths from cancer in Russia