Sergey Vladimirovich Obraztsov (russian: Серге́й Влади́мирович Образцо́в, 5 July ( O.S. 22 June), 1901 – 8 May 1992) was a

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

and

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...

n puppeteer who is credited by the

Encyclopædia Britannica The ( Latin for "British Encyclopædia") is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It is published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.; the company has existed since the 18th century, although it has changed ownership various ...

with "establishing

puppetry Puppetry is a form of theatre or performance that involves the manipulation of puppets – inanimate objects, often resembling some type of human or animal figure, that are animated or manipulated by a human called a puppeteer. Such a performan ...

as an art form in the Soviet Union." Puppet theaters in many countries owe their establishment to Obraztsov's influence. His collection of exotic puppets was the largest in

and one of the largest in the world.Sergey Vladimirovich Obraztsov

Obraztsov was born on 22 June 1901 in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

into the family of a schoolteacher and a railroad engineer. Between 1922 and 1931, he worked as an actor with

Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko Vladimir Ivanovich Nemirovich-Danchenko (russian: Владимир Иванович Немирович-Данченко; , Ozurgeti – 25 April 1943, Moscow), was a Soviet and Russian theatre director, writer, pedagogue, playwright, producer a ...

in one of the studios of the Moscow Art Theatre. During this period, he staged several

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic compositio ...

-style puppet shows before going on to set up the State Central Puppet Theatre in

in 1931. His theatre toured more than 350 cities in the USSR and 90 cities in foreign countries. During his numerous tours abroad, Obraztsov helped to popularize artistic puppetry in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

, and other countries. One of his best known shows, ''

An Unusual Concert ''An Unusual Concert'' (1946) (russian: Необыкновенный концерт, ''Neobyknovennyj Kontsert'') is one of Sergey Obraztsov's best known puppet shows. It is considered a masterpiece of puppeteering and satirizes bad performers. I ...

'' (1946), satirized bad performers. Besides more than 70 plays for children and grown-ups that he staged in his theatre, Obraztsov also directed the first short-length puppet film under the title ''Looking at a Polar Sunset Ray'' in 1938, and also a number of documentaries. In his later years, Obraztsov became enthusiastic about finger puppets. He was also skilled in puppeteering with his bare hands. Sergey Obraztsov was the President of the International Union of Puppeteers (1976–1984, and from 1984 the President Emeritus), a teaching professor of the

Russian Academy of Theatre Arts The Russian Institute of Theatre Arts (GITIS) (russian: Российский институт театрального искусства – ГИТИС) is the largest and oldest independent theatrical arts school in Russia. Located in Moscow, ...

(from 1973), and a member of the Writers’ Union of the USSR. Obraztsov authored an autobiography and a monograph on Chinese puppet theatre. He was awarded the

USSR State Prize The USSR State Prize (russian: links=no, Государственная премия СССР, Gosudarstvennaya premiya SSSR) was the Soviet Union's state honor. It was established on 9 September 1966. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, t ...

in 1946, named

People's Artist of the USSR People's Artist of the USSR ( rus, Народный артист СССР, Narodny artist SSSR), also sometimes translated as National Artist of the USSR, was an honorary title granted to artists of the Soviet Union. Nomenclature and significa ...

in 1952, and a Hero of Socialist Labour in 1971.Сергей Владимирович Образцов
Obraztsov Puppet Theatre Obraztsov died on 8 May 1992 and was buried in the

Novodevichy Cemetery Novodevichy Cemetery ( rus, Новоде́вичье кла́дбище, Novodevichye kladbishche) 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 touris ...

. The Obraztsov Foundation, established in 1998 by his family members and the Obraztsov Puppet Theatre, was aimed at preserving his rich creative legacy. In September 2001, the Sergey Obraztsov Theatre (Moscow State Puppet Theatre named after Obraztsov)Se
Information about Sergey Obraztsov Theatre
- puppet.ru hosted a week-long centennial celebration which included an international array of performers.

Books by Obraztsov

* ''My Profession'' (1950) Foreign Languages,

. Translated from the Russian by Ralph Parker and Valentina Scott. Contains many sepia plates of

puppet A puppet is an object, often resembling a human, animal or Legendary creature, mythical figure, that is animated or manipulated by a person called a puppeteer. The puppeteer uses movements of their hands, arms, or control devices such as rods ...

s plus a biography of Sergei Obraztsov.Further reprints can be found o
Amazon
/ref> * ''IMPRESSIONS OF LONDON: On What I Saw, Learned and Understood During Two Visits to London'' (1957) Sidgwick & Jackson, London * ''The Chinese Puppet Theatre'' (1961) Faber & Faber Limited, UK.

References

External links

Obraztsov's site

Biography of Sergey Obraztsov
{{DEFAULTSORT:Obraztsov, Sergey Soviet male actors Russian male actors People's Artists of the USSR Heroes of Socialist Labour UNIMA presidents Burials at Novodevichy Cemetery 1901 births 1992 deaths Russian puppeteers