Aleksei Yakovlevich Kapler (also Alexei, , born Lazar Yankelevich Kapler; 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 Kinopanorama is a three-lens, three-film widescreen film format. Although Kinopanorama was initially known as ''Panorama'' (, ''panoramnyy film'') in the Soviet Union the name was later revised to include its current name prior to the premiere scr ...

'' (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 Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

's then teenage daughter

Svetlana Alliluyeva Svetlana Iosifovna Alliluyeva (née Stalina; 28 February 1926 – 22 November 2011), later known as Lana Peters, was the youngest child and only daughter of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin and his second wife Nadezhda Alliluyeva. In 1967, she bec ...

, 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) () was a criminal offence in the Soviet Union. Initially, the term was interchangeably used with counter-revolutionary agitation. The latter term was in use immediately after the October Revolution of 1917 ...

. He was sent to

Vorkuta Vorkuta (; ; Nenets languages, Nenets for "the abundance of bears", "bear corner") is a coal-mining types of inhabited localities in Russia, town in the Komi Republic, Russia, situated just north of the Arctic Circle in the Pechora coal basin a ...

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 (, ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, town in the Komi Republic, Russia. Population: History Inta was founded around 1940 as a settlement to support a geological expedition to explore coal deposits and projecting of mines. The ...

labour camps, being finally released only in July 1953, after Stalin's death. After returning from the

Gulag The Gulag was a system of Labor camp, forced labor camps in the Soviet Union. The word ''Gulag'' originally referred only to the division of the Chronology of Soviet secret police agencies, Soviet secret police that was in charge of runnin ...

, Kapler continued working on cinema and TV.

Personal life

His first wife (married 1921–1930) was the actress Tatiana Tarnowska (1898–1994), daughter of Countess Maria Tarnowska. With Tatiana he had a son, Anatoly (b. 1927). His second wife (married 1953–1960) was actress Valentina Tokarskaya (1906–1996) whom he met in exile. After his remarriage, he had another affair with

. Kapler's last wife (married 1960 till his death in 1979) was poet

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

(1924–1991).

Filmography

*1926 ''

The Overcoat "The Overcoat" (, translit. Shinyél’; sometimes translated as "The Cloak" or "The Mantle") is a short story by Nikolai Gogol, published in 1842. The story has had a great influence on Russian literature. Eugène-Melchior de Vogüé, ...

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

silent film A silent film is a film without synchronized 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) or key lines of dialogue may, w ...

, Ukrainfilm studio,

Kyiv Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

, director), shown at the XXV

Moscow International Film Festival The Moscow International Film Festival (, Transliteration, translit. ''Moskóvskiy myezhdunaródniy kinofyestivál''; abbreviated as MIFF) is a film festival first held in Moscow in 1935 and became regular since 1959. From its inception to ...

, 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 Behind may refer to: * ''Behind'' (album), a 1992 album by Superior * Behind (Australian rules football), a method of scoring in Australian rules football, awarding one point * "Behind" (song), a 2008 single by Flanders * Behind (restaurant), in ...

'') (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 Descend ...

''),

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, is based on Kapler's story, ''Two of Twenty Millions''. *1996 ''Vozvrashchenie bronenostsa'' ('' Return of the Battleship'') 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 Academic staff of the Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography Academic staff of High Courses for Scriptwriters and Film Directors Recipients of the Stalin Prize Recipients of the Order of Lenin Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour Gulag detainees Soviet male screenwriters Jewish male actors Jewish Ukrainian actors Jewish Ukrainian writers 20th-century Ukrainian male actors 20th-century Ukrainian writers 20th-century Ukrainian Jews Soviet film directors Soviet rehabilitations Soviet screenwriters Soviet television presenters Deaths from cancer in the Soviet Union