Grigori Lvovich Roshal (; 21 October 1899 – 11 January 1983) was a Soviet

film director A film director or filmmaker is a person who controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfillment of that Goal, vision. The director has a key role ...

screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...

and pedagogue.

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 ...

(1967).

Biography

Grigori Roshal was born on 21 in October 1899 (according to other sources either on 20 in October 1899 or in 1898 ), in the city of

Novozybkov Novozybkov (; ) is a historical town in Bryansk Oblast, Russia with a population, in 2021, of 38,680. The city is home to a branch of the Bryansk State University. History It was founded in 1701 and was granted town status in 1809. Novozybkov ...

(now

Bryansk Oblast Bryansk Oblast (), also known as Bryanshchina (, ), is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its administrative center is the city of Bryansk. As of the 2021 Census, its population was 1,169,161. Geography Bryansk Oblast lies in weste ...

, Russia). After graduating from the Tenishev School in

Saint Petersburg 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 was employed at the

People's Commissariat for Education The People's Commissariat for Education (or Narkompros; , directly translated as the "People's Commissariat for Enlightenment") was the Soviet agency charged with the administration of public education and most other issues related to culture. In 1 ...

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 ...

and

Crimea Crimea ( ) is a peninsula in Eastern Europe, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, almost entirely surrounded by the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov. The Isthmus of Perekop connects the peninsula to Kherson Oblast in mainland Ukrain ...

between the years 1918 and 1919. Since 1919 he was an instructor at the People's Commissariat of

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

, selected as head of the artistic and educational part of the children's playground in

Zheleznovodsk Zheleznovodsk () is a town in Stavropol Krai, Russia. Population: Etymology The name of the town literally means ''iron-water-place'', as the mineral waters springing from the earth in Zheleznovodsk were believed to have high content of iron. ...

. In 1921 he 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 work in the People's Commissariat for Russia as an instructor in the school theater, was chairman of the Council on Arts Education Main Department of Social Education and taught the subject of theater at the Central House of the communist education of the working youth. Between 1921-1923 he studied at the State Higher Director's Workshops of

Vsevolod Meyerhold Vsevolod Emilyevich Meyerhold (; born ; 2 February 1940) was a Russian and Soviet theatre director, actor and theatrical producer. His provocative experiments dealing with physical being and symbolism in an unconventional theatre setting m ...

(GVYRM) created in 1921 by Vsevolod Meyerhold and his pupil

Konstantin Derzhavin Konstantin Nikolayevich Derzhavin (, in Batumi – 2 November 1956 in Leningrad) was a Russian Soviet literary and theater critic, translator, and writer.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 ...

, the studio Belgoskino,

Mezhrabpomfilm Mezhrabpomfilm (), from the word ''film'', and the Russian acronym for Workers International Relief or Workers International Aid (, was a German-Russian film studio, formerly Mezhrabpom-Rus, from 1928-1936. Currently “ Gorky Film Studio” Hi ...

and

All-Ukrainian Photo Cinema Administration The All-Ukrainian Photo Cinema Administration (, or ) was a cinematographic state monopoly that united the entire film industry in Ukraine (1922–1930). VUFKU was vertically integrated: it controlled production, distribution, and exhibition of fil ...

(VUFKU). As of 1931 he was the director of

Mosfilm Mosfilm (, ''Mosfil’m'' , initialism and portmanteau of Moscow Films) is a film studio in Moscow which is among the largest and oldest in the Russian Federation and in Europe. Founded in 1924 in the USSR as a production unit of that nation's fi ...

and director of the

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 ...

film studio in the years 1947-1954. In 1949 he wrote a chapter on Soviet cinema for the book "Experiment in Film". Was appointed as teacher at the

Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography The Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography, officially the S. A. Gerasimov All-Russian University of Cinematography (, meaning ''All-Russian State Institute of Cinematography named after S. A. Gerasimov''), a.k.a. VGIK, is a film school in Moscow, ...

between the years 1953-1964. In 1957 he headed the All-Union Committee for Work with film enthusiasts under the rule of the Cinematographers Union of the USSR. In the 1970s he taught at the Moscow State Art and Cultural University giving a course for new specialist-teachers directing of amateur film studios. Founder and artistic director of the film department in this university. Grigori Roshal died in Moscow and was buried at the

Kuntsevo Cemetery The Kuntsevo Cemetery () is a cemetery servicing Kuntsevo, Moscow. It is located on the bank of the Setun River, to the south of the Mozhaisk Highway (the continuation of the Kutuzovsky Prospekt). The local five-domed church was commissioned in 16 ...

Family

Vera Stroyeva Vera Pavlovna Stroyeva (, (''Maiden and married names, née'' Richter); 21 September 1903 – 26 August 1991) was a Soviet film director and screenwriter. Between 1926 and 1983, she directed fifteen films and wrote ten screenplays. Her Boris ...

– wife, director and playwright. * Marianna Roshal-Stroyeva – daughter, director of feature films.

Selected filmography

Director

* ''

His Excellency Excellency is an honorific style (manner of address), style given to certain high-level officers of a sovereign state, officials of an international organization, or members of an aristocracy. Once entitled to the title "Excellency", the holder ...

'' (1927) * ''

Salamander Salamanders are a group of amphibians typically characterized by their lizard-like appearance, with slender bodies, blunt snouts, short limbs projecting at right angles to the body, and the presence of a tail in both larvae and adults. All t ...

'' (1928; together with

Mikhail Doller Mikhail Ivanovich Doller (, 1889 – 15 March 1952) was a Soviet film director and screenwriter. He worked as co-director with Vsevolod Pudovkin and was awarded Stalin Prize twice in 1941. Life Mikhail Doller was born in Vilno, Russian Em ...

) * '' A Petersburg Night'' (1934; together with

) * '' Dawn of Paris'' (1936) * ''

The Oppenheim Family The Oppenheim Family () is a 1938 (released in May 1939 in the USA) Soviet drama film, directed by Grigori Roshal. One of the earliest film directly dealing with the persecution of Jews in Nazi Germany, it is based on the 1993 novel by Lion Feuc ...

'' (1938) * ''

The Artamonov Business ''The Artamonov Business'' (), also translated as ''The Artamonovs'' or ''Decadence'', is a novel by Maxim Gorky written during his 10-year emigration from Soviet Russia. It was published in Berlin in 1925 by ''Verlag "Kniga"''. Critics often call ...

'' (1941) * ''

Ivan Pavlov Ivan Petrovich Pavlov (, ; 27 February 1936) was a Russian and Soviet experimental neurologist and physiologist known for his discovery of classical conditioning through his experiments with dogs. Pavlov also conducted significant research on ...

'' (1949) * ''

Mussorgsky Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky (; ; ; – ) was a Russian composer, one of the group known as "The Five (composers), The Five." He was an innovator of Music of Russia, Russian music in the Romantic music, Romantic period and strove to achieve a ...

'' (1950) * ''

Rimsky-Korsakov Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov. At the time, his name was spelled , which he romanized as Nicolas Rimsky-Korsakow; the BGN/PCGN transliteration of Russian is used for his name here; ALA-LC system: , ISO 9 system: .. (18 March 1844 – 2 ...

'' (1953; together with

Gennadi Kazansky Gennadi Kazansky (1 December 1910 – 14 September 1983) was a Soviet film director of the Soviet era.Goble p.355 Life and career Gennadi Kazansky was born on 18 November 18 or December 1910 in Voronezh. He studied art history at the Leningrad ...

) *'' The Sisters'' (1957) *''

Judgment of the Mad ''Judgment of the Mad'' () is a 1961 Soviet science fiction drama film directed by Grigori Roshal. Plot The film takes place in Germany in the 1930s. The film tells about a scientist named Johannes Werner, who discovered the rays of the life-g ...

'' (1961) *'' Year as Long as Life'' (1966)

Screenwriter

* ''

The New Gulliver ''The New Gulliver'' (, ''Novyy Gullivyer'') is a Soviet stop motion-animated cartoon, and the first to make such extensive use of puppet animation, running almost all the way through the film (it begins and ends with short live-action sequences). ...

'' (1935; together with

Aleksandr Ptushko Aleksandr Lukich Ptushko (, – 6 March 1973) was a Soviet animation and fantasy film director, and a People's Artist of the USSR (1969). Ptushko is frequently (and somewhat misleadingly) referred to as "the Soviet Walt Disney," because of his p ...

) * ''Dawn of Paris'' (1936; together with Georgy Shakhovskoy) * ''The Oppenheim Family'' (1938; together with Serafima Roshal) * ''Mussorgsky'' (1950; together with Anna Abramova) * ''

Aleko The Moskvitch-2141, also known under the trade name Aleko (Russian: "АЛЕКО", derivative from the name of the automaker "Автомобильный завод имени Ленинского Комсомола", ''Avtomobilnyj zavod imeni Len ...

'' (1953; together with Anna Abramova) * ''Rimsky-Korsakov'' (1953; together with Anna Abramova) * ''Judgment of the Mad'' (1961) * ''Year as Long as Life'' (1966; together with

Galina Serebryakova Galina Iosifovna Serebryakova (; 30 June 1980) was a Polish-Russian writer and Gulag survivor. Family Serebryakova was the daughter of professional revolutionaries. In childhood, she shared her surname with her mother, Bronislava Sigismundowna ...

)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Roshal, Grigori 1899 births 1983 deaths 20th-century Russian screenwriters People from Novozybkov Academic staff of the Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography Academic staff of Moscow State Art and Cultural University People's Artists of the RSFSR People's Artists of the USSR Recipients of the Order of the Badge of Honour Recipients of the Order of Lenin Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour Recipients of the Stalin Prize Russian film directors Russian male screenwriters Russian theatre directors Soviet film directors Soviet screenwriters Soviet male screenwriters Soviet theatre directors Burials at Kuntsevo Cemetery