Yevgeny Semyonovich Matveyev (, ; 8 March 1922 – 1 June 2003) was a

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 ...

and

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 ...

actor and film director who was named a

People's Artist of the USSR People's Artist of the USSR, also sometimes translated as National Artist of the USSR, was an honorary title granted to artists of the Soviet Union. The term is confusingly used to translate two Russian language titles: Народный арти ...

in 1974. He is best known as Nagulnov in '' Virgin Soil Upturned'', based on

Mikhail Sholokhov Mikhail Aleksandrovich Sholokhov ( rus, Михаил Александрович Шолохов, p=ˈʂoləxəf; – 21 February 1984) was a Russian novelist and winner of the 1965 Nobel Prize in Literature. He is known for writing about life ...

's novel; and Nekhludov in ''

Resurrection Resurrection or anastasis is the concept of coming back to life after death. Reincarnation is a similar process hypothesized by other religions involving the same person or deity returning to another body. The disappearance of a body is anothe ...

'' (), based on

Leo Tolstoy Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy Tolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; ,Throughout Tolstoy's whole life, his name was written as using Reforms of Russian orthography#The post-revolution re ...

novel A novel is an extended work of narrative fiction usually written in prose and published as a book. The word derives from the for 'new', 'news', or 'short story (of something new)', itself from the , a singular noun use of the neuter plural of ...

Early years

Yevgeny Matveyev was born in the village of

Novoukrainka Novoukrainka (, ) is a city in Kirovohrad Oblast, Ukraine. It serves as the administrative center of Novoukrainka Raion. It hosts the administration of Novoukrainka urban hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine. Population: History The terr ...

in the Mykolaiv Governorate of the

Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, abbreviated as the Ukrainian SSR, UkrSSR, and also known as Soviet Ukraine or just Ukraine, was one of the Republics of the Soviet Union, constituent republics of the Soviet Union from 1922 until 1991. ...

(now

Kherson Oblast Kherson Oblast (, ; ), also known as Khersonshchyna (, ), is an administrative divisions of Ukraine, oblast (province) in southern Ukraine. It is located just north of Crimea. Its administrative center is Kherson, on the northern or right bank ...

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 ...

) to Semyon Kalinovich Matveyev, a Russian

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 ...

serviceman was stationed in the region at the end of the

Russian Civil War The Russian Civil War () was a multi-party civil war in the former Russian Empire sparked by the 1917 overthrowing of the Russian Provisional Government in the October Revolution, as many factions vied to determine Russia's political future. I ...

, and Nadezhda Fyodorovna Kovalenko, a Ukrainian

peasant A peasant is a pre-industrial agricultural laborer or a farmer with limited land-ownership, especially one living in the Middle Ages under feudalism and paying rent, tax, fees, or services to a landlord. In Europe, three classes of peasan ...

woman, on 8 March 1922. His father left Nadezhda shortly after he was born. He attended school in the nearby town of Tsyurupinsk, where he saw his first play and left school after the ninth grade to pursue a career in acting. He made his first step on the professional stage at the Kherson Theater, in 1939. One of his first small stage roles was a part of a musician in ''Bestalanna''. Russian actor Nikolay Cherkasov noticed the young talent and advised Matveyev to continue his acting career, by moving to

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, ...

to study with

Alexander Dovzhenko Alexander Petrovich Dovzhenko, also Oleksandr Petrovych Dovzhenko (, ; November 25, 1956), was a Soviet film director and screenwriter of Ukrainian origin. He is often cited as one of the most important early Soviet filmmakers, alongside Sergei ...

. Doing so, Matveyev studied under Dovzhenko at the acting school of the Kiev Film Studio in 1940 and 1941. Matveyev joined the

after the German invasion in 1941, and went to military school in

Tyumen Tyumen ( ; rus, Тюмень, p=tʲʉˈmʲenʲ, a=Ru-Tyumen.ogg) is the administrative center and largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city of Tyumen Oblast, Russia. It is situated just east of the Ural Mountains, along the Tura ( ...

. After graduation, Lieutenant Matveyev was mobilized into the Red Army, and fought in

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 ...

. After the end of the war, Matveyev worked for a year at the military school in

, as a director of the school's amateur theater art group, where he met his future wife, Lidiya Matveyeva. They married in April 1947.

Stage and screen success

After completing his military service in 1946, Matveyev acted at the Tyumen Drama Theater for two years, and at the Red Torch Theater in

Novosibirsk Novosibirsk is the largest city and administrative centre of Novosibirsk Oblast and the Siberian Federal District in Russia. As of the 2021 Russian census, 2021 census, it had a population of 1,633,595, making it the most populous city in Siber ...

from 1948 to 1952. In 1952, Matveyev went 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 join the famed Maly Theater, where he continued his stage career until 1968. His various roles on the stage included Neznamov in

Alexander Ostrovsky Alexander Nikolayevich Ostrovsky (; ) was a Russian playwright, generally considered the greatest representative of the Russian realistic period. The author of 47 original plays, Ostrovsky "almost single-handedly created a Russian national repe ...

's drama ''Bez viny vinovatye'', Zvonorev in ''Port Arthur'', Yarovoy in ''Love of Yarovoy'' by Trenyev, Rodon in an adaptation of

William Makepeace Thackeray William Makepeace Thackeray ( ; 18 July 1811 – 24 December 1863) was an English novelist and illustrator. He is known for his Satire, satirical works, particularly his 1847–1848 novel ''Vanity Fair (novel), Vanity Fair'', a panoramic portra ...

's '' Vanity Fair'', Trofimov in Alyoshin's ''Leading Role'', Stolbov in ''Autumn Sunrise'', Erast in Ostrovsky's ''Heart Not a Stone'', and Osvald in

Ibsen Henrik Johan Ibsen (; ; 20 March 1828 – 23 May 1906) was a Norwegian playwright, poet and actor. Ibsen is considered the world's pre-eminent dramatist of the 19th century and is often referred to as "the father of modern drama." He pioneered ...

's ''

Ghosts In folklore, a ghost is the soul or Spirit (supernatural entity), spirit of a dead Human, person or non-human animal that is believed by some people to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely, from a ...

''. Matveyev broke into film in the 1950s, when he starred as Sudbinin in Andrey Frolov's 1955 film ''Good Morning'', a musical comedy. He played the leading part of Konstantin Davydov in ''The House I Live In'', a 1955 film by

Lev Kulidzhanov Lev Aleksandrovich Kulidzhanov (19 March 192417 February 2002, also Lev Aleksandri Kulijanyan) was a Soviet and Armenian film director, screenwriter and professor at the Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography. He was the head of the Union of Cin ...

and Yakov Segel that won the first prize at the

All-Union Film Festival The All-Union Film Festival (; tr.:''Vsesoyuznyy kinofestival'', also known as ВКФ; ''VKF'') was one of the most important film festivals of the Soviet Union. It was founded in 1958 and held regularly from 1964 to 1988. It was held annually fr ...

. Matveyev achieved greater fame when he starred as Nagulnov in ''Virgin Soil Upturned'', and played the role of Prince Nekhludov in Mikhail Shveitser's ''

'', an adaptation of

Tolstoy Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy Tolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; ,Throughout Tolstoy's whole life, his name was written as using pre-reform Russian orthography. ; ), usually referr ...

's novel. More of his notable roles during this period included the part of Fedotov in ''Blood Ties'', in 1963, starring opposite Vija Artmane. The film won special prizes at international film festivals, including the

Mar del Plata International Film Festival The Mar del Plata International Film Festival () is an List of film festivals, international film festival that takes place every November in the city of Mar del Plata, Argentina. It is the only competitive feature festival recognized by the FIAPF ...

and in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

, and also at the 1964

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 ...

Directing and acting

At the height of his fame, Matveyev's career as an actor came to a sudden end at a holiday celebration in Nikolaev, in what is now Ukraine: during a show, he fell off a malfunctioning cart; injuring his spine, crushing two disks, and jamming spinal nerves. After a long period of treatment, despite the opinion of his physician, he returned to work. Though the Soviet government had classified him in the third group of individuals with disabilities, those persons who had lost some capacity but were still capable of working, generally part-time; he quit performing on the stage and instead became a film director. His debut as a director was the 1967 film, ''The Gypsy'', an adaptation of Anatoly Kalinin's novel. He also starred as Budulay, acting alongside Lyudmila Khityaeva in that film. Matveyev's first picture was greeted with differing opinions in the Soviet Union; though a survey by the magazine ''

Soviet Screen ''Soviet Screen'' () was an illustrated magazine published in the USSR with varying frequency from 1925 to 1998 (with a break from 1941–1957Fifty years from the date of the first issue of Soviet Screen — 1975. — P. 18-19.) The magazine co ...

'' named him one of the best actors of 1967, there were a lot of critical remarks. From 1968 onward, Matveyev completely left theatre and continued his career in the film industry, as a director and an actor. He directed a historic-revolutionary film, ''Romance by Mail'', and a melodrama, ''Deadly Enemy'', and played the leading parts in both films; neither picture achieved great success, however. Among the many films Matveyev starred in during that period, perhaps Aleksei Saltykov's ''The Siberian Woman'' (), which garnered him a Best Actor award, and his part in ''

Taming of the Fire ''Taming of the Fire'' () is a 1972 film, directed by Daniil Khrabrovitsky and starring Kirill Lavrov. The film dramatizes the Soviet viewpoint of the Space Race, and features actual footage of the powerful, three-stage rockets built to launch t ...

'', that of a factory director, show him at his best. In the middle of the 1970s, Yevgeny Matveyev stepped in as a director again. He filmed ''

Earthly Love ''Earthy Love'' () is a 1974 Soviet romantic drama film directed by Yevgeny Matveyev and starring Matveyev, Olga Ostroumova, and Yury Yakovlev. The film was a screen adaptation of Pyotr Proskurin's novel ''Earthy Love'', and was viewed by 50.9 m ...

'' and ''

Destiny Destiny, sometimes also called fate (), is a predetermined course of events. It may be conceived as a predetermined future, whether in general or of an individual. Fate Although often used interchangeably, the words ''fate'' and ''destiny'' ...

''. These pictures have a big success and audience sympathy even these social stories have been polished, which was a necessity of

Soviet Era The history of the Soviet Union (USSR) (1922–91) began with the ideals of the Russian Bolshevik Revolution and ended in dissolution amidst economic collapse and political disintegration. Established in 1922 following the Russian Civil War, ...

. Matveyev starred as a chairman of

collective farm Collective farming and communal farming are various types of "agricultural production in which multiple farmers run their holdings as a joint enterprise". There are two broad types of communal farms: agricultural cooperatives, in which member-o ...

Zakhar Deryugin and

Olga Ostroumova Olga Mikhailovna Ostroumova (; born 21 September 1947) is a Soviet and Russian theater and film actress. Best known for her roles in films '' We'll Live Till Monday'' (1968, her debut), '' The Dawns Here Are Quiet'' (1972, Italian ''Silver Nymph'' ...

was his partner at this time. Another notable role in the 1970s was a part in ''Soldiers of Freedom'', where he played

Leonid Brezhnev Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev (19 December 190610 November 1982) was a Soviet politician who served as the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1964 until Death and state funeral of Leonid Brezhnev, his death in 1982 as w ...

General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union The General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. was the Party leader, leader of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU). From 1924 until the dissolution of the Soviet Union, country's dissoluti ...

. This event affected his career dramatically: he became a secretary of the Cinematographers’ Union of the USSR, and all his films received a "green light". But it affected Matveyev's life very quickly; in the middle of the 1980s,

perestroika ''Perestroika'' ( ; rus, перестройка, r=perestrojka, p=pʲɪrʲɪˈstrojkə, a=ru-perestroika.ogg, links=no) was a political reform movement within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) during the late 1980s, widely associ ...

came, and, with it, came official censure: In 1986, at the Fifth Congress of the Cinematographers' Union, Evgeniy Matveyev was dismissed from his post as secretary, and was punished for his "polished pictures" and his role as Brezhnev. Undaunted, at the end of the 1980s, Matveyev returned to cinematography, filming a tragic melodrama ''Vessel of Patience'' () where he played a leading part, again with

as his partner. ''Vessel of Patience'' was honored with a Spectator Sympathies Prize at the Constellation / Sozvezdie () film festival, but the picture remains relatively unknown. Later on, Matveyev took on roles in pictures about criminals, such as ''The Vacancy of Killer's Place'' and ''Clan''. In the latter, he re-created Brezhnev once more, but this time in a different context and from a different point of view.

Later years

In 1995, Matveyev directed ''To Love the Russian Way'', soon followed by ''To Love the Russian Way 2'', filmed in 1997 with money sent by his fans from all over Russia. His final work of as director and actor was ''To Love the Russian Way 3'', released in 1999. He died in Moscow from lung cancer on 1 June 2003, and was interred at

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 ...

Awards and honors

During his lifetime, among other awards and honors, Yevgeny Matveyev was honored with a

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 ...

in 1977 and the

Vasilyev Brothers State Prize of the RSFSR The Vasilyev Brothers State Prize of the RSFSR was an annual State Prize established by the Council of Ministers of the RSFSR (Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic) in 1965. Three Vasilyev Brothers prizes were awarded annually from 1966 unti ...

in 1978, a Dovzhenko Gold Medal for his role in ''High Title'' (1974), a Special Prize for the war film ''

'' at the 1979

, a best actor award for the role of Yemelyan Pugachev at the 1980 International Film Festival in

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

, and a best actor award for the leading part in ''To Love the Russian Way'' at the

Tashkent Tashkent (), also known as Toshkent, is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Uzbekistan, largest city of Uzbekistan. It is the most populous city in Central Asia, with a population of more than 3 million people as of April 1, 2024. I ...

International Film Festival (1997). Other awards and honors include: * Two

Orders of Lenin The Order of Lenin (, ) was an award named after Vladimir Lenin, the leader of the October Revolution. It was established by the Central Executive Committee on 6 April 1930. The order was the highest civilian decoration bestowed by the Soviet ...

(1971, 1982) *

Order of the October Revolution The Order of the October Revolution (, ''Orden Oktyabr'skoy Revolyutsii'') was instituted on 31 October 1967, in time for the 50th anniversary of the October Revolution. It was conferred upon individuals or groups for services furthering communis ...

(1986) *

Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" The Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" () is a state decoration of the Russian Federation. It was instituted on 2 March 1994 by Presidential Decree 442. Until the re-establishment of the Order of St. Andrew in 1998, it was the highest order of ...

: **2nd class (8 March 2002) for outstanding contributions to the development of national cinema **3rd class (6 October 1997) for outstanding contribution to the development of national cinematography *

Honored Artist of the RSFSR Honored Artist of the RSFSR (, ''Zasluzhenny artist RSFSR'') was an honorary title granted to Soviet artists, including theatre and film directors, choreographers, music performers, and orchestra conductors, who had outstanding achievements in the ...

(1958) *

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 ...

(1964)Официальный сайт Малого театра
(in Russian) *

(1974)Veligzhanina, Anna (5 June 2003)
Любить по-русски это жалеть
''Komsomolskaya Pravda''. Retrieved 29 March 2011. *

(1978) for creating feature films ''Earthy Love'' and ''Destiny'' *

(1974) for creating an image of contemporary films in recent years * Winner of the

in the First Prize of the historical-revolutionary films for 1970 * Winner of the All-Union Film Festival in the Festival Special Prize (1978) * Winner of the All-Union Film Festival in the Festival Special Prize (1985) * Honorary Citizen of the Sverdlovsk Oblast

Filmography

Actor

*''To Love the Russian Way 3'' (1999) as governor Valerian Petrovich Mukhin *''To Love the Russian Way 2'' (1996) as Valerian Petrovich Mukhin *''Good Night (1992 film), Good Night'' (1992) as Pavel Pavlovich *''The Vacancy of Killer's Place'' (1990) as Knysh *''To Love the Russian Way'' (1995) as Valerian Petrovich Mukhin *''Fathers (1988 film), Fathers'' (1988) as father-in-law *''The Time of Sons'' (1986) as Semyon Petrovich Kordin *''Testament (1986 film), Testament'' (1986) as Ivan Krylov *''Anna and Anton'' (1985) as Anton *''Der Sieg '' (1984) as Karpov *''Front in the Rear of the Enemy'' (1981) as Semirenko *''Particularly Important Task'' (1979) as Kirillov *''Pugachev (1978 film), Pugachev'' (1978) as Yemelyan Pugachev *''Soldiers of Freedom'' (1977) as

*''Front Beyond the Front Line'' (1977) as Semirenko *''

'' (1977) as Zakhar Deriugin *''Earthy Love, Earthly Love'' (1974) as Zakhar Deriugin *''High Title (film), High Title'' (1973) as Shapavalov *''

'' (1972) as factory director *''Romance by Mail'' (1969) as Ivan Kovshov *''Crash (1968 film), Crash'' (1968) as Pavlovsky *''The Gypsy (1966 film), The Gypsy'' (1966) as Budulai *''Fury (1966 film), Fury'' (1966) as Vasily Gulyavin *''Mother and Stepmother'' (1964) as Nikolai Vasilyevich Kruglyakov *''Blood Ties (1964 film), Blood Ties (1963)'' as Fedotov *''

'' (1960) as Prince Nekhludov *'' Virgin Soil Upturned'' (1959) as Nagulnov *''The Variegateds Case'' (1958) as Lobanov *''The Sisters (1957 film), The Sisters'' (1958) as Ivan Sorokin *''The House I Live In (1957 film), The House I Live In'' (1957) as Konstantin Davydov *''Iskateli'' (1956) as Andrey Nikolaevich Lobanov *''Good Morning (1955 film), Good Morning'' (1955) as Sudybinin *''The Road (1955 film), The Road'' (1955) as Grisha

Director

*''To love Russian Way 3'' (1999) *''To love Russian Way 2'' (1996) *''To love Russian Way'' (1989) * ''Vessel of Patience'' (1989) *''The Time of Sons'' (1986) *''Victory'' (1985) *''Crazy Money'' (1981) *''Particularly Important Task'' (1979) *''Destiny (1977 film), Detiny'' (1977) *''

'' (1974) *''Deadly Enemy'' (1971) *''Romance by Mail'' (1969) *''The Gypsy'' (1966)

Screenwriter

*''Victory (1985 film), Victory'' (1985) *''Crazy Money'' (1981) *''

'' (1977) *''Earthy Love, Earthly Love'' (1974) *''The Gypsy'' (1966)

References

External links

*
Actor Yevgeny Matveyev. Peoples

The Orphan Yevgeny Matveyev at ''Arguments and the Facts'' newspaper

{{DEFAULTSORT:Matveyev, Yevgeny 1922 births 2003 deaths People from Kherson Oblast Communist Party of the Soviet Union members Recipients of the USSR State Prize Recipients of the Order of Lenin Recipients of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland", 2nd class Honored Artists of the RSFSR People's Artists of the RSFSR People's Artists of the USSR Recipients of the Vasilyev Brothers State Prize of the RSFSR Russian male film actors Russian male stage actors Soviet film directors Soviet male film actors Academic staff of the Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography Soviet military personnel of World War II Soviet screenwriters Soviet male screenwriters Male screenwriters Deaths from lung cancer in Russia Burials at Novodevichy Cemetery