Pavel Borisovich Luspekayev (;с20 April 1927,

Luhansk Luhansk (, ; , ), also known as Lugansk (, ; , ), is a city in the Donbas in eastern Ukraine. As of 2022, the population was estimated to be making Luhansk the Cities in Ukraine, 12th-largest city in Ukraine. Luhansk served as the administra ...

— 17 April 1970,

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 ...

) was a Soviet actor who is best known for his role of Vereschagin in the classic Russian movie ''

White Sun of the Desert ''White Sun of the Desert'' () is a 1970 Soviet Ostern film. Its blend of action comedy, music and drama made it highly successful at the Soviet box-office and resulted in a number of memorable quotes. It retains high domestic approval. Its main ...

''. Laureate of the

State Prize of the Russian Federation The State Prize of the Russian Federation, officially translated in Russia as Russian Federation National Award, is a state honorary prize established in 1992 following the breakup of the Soviet Union. In 2004 the rules for selection of laureates ...

(1997, posthumously).

Biography

Pavel Luspekayev was born in Luhansk,

Ukrainian SSR 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. ...

in 1927. His father Bogdasar Luspekyan was an Armenian butcher from a village near

Nakhichevan-on-Don __NOTOC__ Nakhichevan-on-Don (, ''Naxičevan’-na-Donu''), also known as New Nakhichevan (, ''Nor Naxiĵevan''; as opposed to the "old" Nakhichevan), was an Armenian-populated town near Rostov-on-Don, in southern Russia founded in 1779 by Armen ...

(Russian city founded by Armenian settlers). His mother Seraphima Kovaleva came from

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 ...

. During the

Great Patriotic War The Eastern Front, also known as the Great Patriotic War (term), Great Patriotic War in the Soviet Union and its successor states, and the German–Soviet War in modern Germany and Ukraine, was a Theater (warfare), theatre of World War II ...

he joined the

Soviet partisans Soviet partisans were members of Resistance during World War II, resistance movements that fought a Guerrilla warfare, guerrilla war against Axis powers, Axis forces during World War II in the Soviet Union, the previously Territories of Poland an ...

at the age of 16 and fought shortly after with the

3rd Ukrainian Front The 3rd Ukrainian Front () was a Front of the Soviet Red Army during World War II. It was founded on 20 October 1943, on the basis of a Stavka order of October 16, 1943, by renaming the Southwestern Front. It included 1st Guards Army, 8th Gua ...

. When his feet suffered severe frostbite, he had to be demobilised in 1944. Luspekayev's lower limbs never fully recovered. In 1945 Luspekayev became student in the Mikhail Shchepkin Higher Theatre School in Moscow. After finishing the school in 1950 he performed in

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი, ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), ( ka, ტფილისი, tr ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia ( ...

's Griboedov Russian Drama Theatre, in 1956 in Kiev's

Lesya Ukrainka National Academic Theater of Russian Drama Lesya Ukrainka National Academic Theater (also referred to as ''Lesya Ukrainka Theater'') () is a theater in Kyiv, Ukraine. It is located in a building known as Bourgogne Theatre. The theatre traces its roots to the Solovtsov theatric troupe ...

. In 1959 he joined Leningrad's

Bolshoi Drama Theatre Tovstonogov Bolshoi Drama Theater (; literally ''Tovstonogov Great Drama Theater''), formerly known as Gorky Bolshoi Drama Theater () (1931–1992), often referred to as the Bolshoi Drama Theater and by the acronym BDT (), is a theater in Sa ...

where he performed in plays under director

Georgy Tovstonogov Georgy Aleksandrovich Tovstonogov (, – 23 May 1989) was a Russian-Georgians, Georgian theatre director. He was the leader of the Tovstonogov Bolshoi Drama Theater, Gorky Bolshoi Drama Theater which was renamed after him in 1992. Biography G ...

. In 1965 Luspekayev was awarded the title of

Meritorious Artist Merited Artist, Honored Artist, etc., is an honorary title in the Soviet Union, Russian Federation, Union Republics, and autonomous republics, also in some other Eastern Bloc states, as well as in a number of post-Soviet states. In Russian language ...

(Zasluzhenny aktyor) of

RSFSR The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (Russian SFSR or RSFSR), previously known as the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and the Russian Soviet Republic, and unofficially as Soviet Russia,Declaration of Rights of the labo ...

. The long-term effects of the suffered frostbite caused a

peripheral vascular disease Peripheral artery disease (PAD) is a vascular disorder that causes abnormal narrowing of arteries other than those that supply the heart or brain. PAD can happen in any blood vessel, but it is more common in the legs than the arms. When narro ...

in Luspekayev's legs when he was 26. The illness progressed, and after he finished the movie

The Republic of ShKID ''The Republic of ShKID'' () is an adventure, partly autobiographical children's novel by and written in 1926 and printed in 1927. The book is about the fate of Orphans in the Soviet Union, Russian street boys (''besprizorniks'') who landed i ...

(1966) both of his legs had to be amputated just below the knees. Nevertheless, he continued to perform on prosthesis, even though he was suffering from pain. During filming of ''

'' in 1969, Luspekayev's condition worsened, and he could barely walk. His wife was carrying a small folding chair, and Luspekayev had to take a rest every 20 steps. In the original script, the role of Vereschagin was a minor one, but during filming, the role began to expand, with some of the scenes being improvised on the spot. The connection between the actor and the role he was playing became so strong, that the crew began to call Vereschagin by name Pavel (Pasha), even though in the script his name was Alexander. Shortly after the ''White Sun of the Desert'' was released, Pavel Luspekayev died from a heart aneurysm. He was buried in the Northern Cemetery of

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 ...

.Луспекаев Павел Борисович (1927-1970)
see: m-necropol.ru ( Russ.)

Personal life

He was married to the BDT actress Inna Kirillova. They had one daughter and two grandchildren.

Filmography

References

External links

*
Pavel Luspekayev bio

{{DEFAULTSORT:Luspekaev, Pavel 1927 births 1970 deaths Soviet Armenians Soviet male actors Soviet amputees Ethnic Armenian male actors Soviet partisans Don Cossacks People from Luhansk State Prize of the Russian Federation laureates Honored Artists of the RSFSR Ukrainian anti-fascists