Sergey Vasilyevich Chesnokov (; 19 October 1820, in

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 ...

Imperial Russia Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor/empress, or imperialism. Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to: Places United States * Imperial, California * Imperial, Missouri * Imperial, Nebraska * Imperial, Pennsylvania * ...

– 18 February 1878, in Moscow, Imperial Russia) was a Russian stage actor better known under his stage name, Sergey Shumsky.

Career

A Shchepkin School graduate, Sergey Chesnokov made his stage debut as early as 1830, in the Nikolai Khmelnitsky's

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment which began in France in the middle of the 19th century. A ''vaudeville'' was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a drama ...

''Actors Among Themselves'', playing a character called Shumsky. The dramatist Fyodor Kokoshkin, who was the

Imperial Theatres Imperial Theatres of Russian Empire () was a theatrical organization financed by the Imperial exchequer and managed by a single directorate headed with a director; was pertain to the Ministry of the Imperial Court from 1742. The system operated i ...

's Moscow department director at the time, praised the boy's performance and suggested that he should keep this surname to himself, as a stage name.Sergey Shumsky
ath the Russian Theatre Encyclopedia, p.735Sergey Shumsky
at the Russian Biographical Dictionary. While still a student, Shumsky started to perform at the Maly Theatre where his appearance as Dobchinsky in

Gogol Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol; ; (; () was a Russian novelist, short story writer, and playwright of Ukrainian origin. Gogol used the grotesque in his writings, for example, in his works " The Nose", " Viy", "The Overcoat", and " Nevsky Prosp ...

's '' Revizor'' was noticed and lauded by

Vissarion Belinsky Vissarion Grigoryevich Belinsky (; Pre-reform spelling: Виссаріонъ Григорьевичъ Бѣлинскій. – ) was a Russian literary critic of Westernizing tendency. Belinsky played one of the key roles in the career of p ...

, who wrote: "Shumsky, as Dobchinsky is brilliant... This air of good-natured provincial idiocy which he is apparently so good at assuming, cannot be praised enough." Кругосвет
/ref> In 1841, after the graduation, Shumsky was invited to the Maly Theatre where for the next six years he played more than sixty parts, notably in plays by

Dmitry Lensky Dmitry Timofeevich Lensky () real name D. T. Vorobyov (Moscow, 1805–1860), was a Russian comic actor and author of vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment which began in France in the middle of the 19 ...

, Nikolai Gogol and

Alexander Griboyedov Alexander Sergeyevich Griboyedov (; 15 January 179511 February 1829) was a Russian diplomat, playwright, poet, and composer. His one notable work is the 1823 verse comedy '' Woe from Wit''. He was Russia's ambassador to Qajar Persia, where he and ...

.СЕРГЕЙ ВАСИЛЬЕВИЧ ШУМСКИЙ В РОЛИ ЧАЦКОГО
From "Remembering Moscow Theatre" by D.A.Koropchevsky. After a three-year stint at the Odessa Theatre he returned to the Maly to stay there for the rest of his life. During his forty years career as a stage actor Shumsky was engaged in more than 500 parts, some of them 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 plays, including Vikhorev ('' Stay in Your Own Sled'', 1853), Zhadov (''

A Profitable Position ''A Profitable Position'' (''Dokhodnoye mesto'', Доходное место) is a play by Alexander Ostrovsky. It was first published in No.1, January 1857 issue of '' Russkaya Beseda'' and came out as a separate edition later that year. Banned f ...

'', 1863); Obroshenov (''Jokers'', 1864); Krutitsky (''

Enough Stupidity in Every Wise Man ''Enough Stupidity in Every Wise Man'' (; translit. Na vsyakogo mudretsa dovolno prostoty), sometimes published in English under the title ''Too Clever By Half'', is a five- act comedy by Aleksandr Ostrovsky.Brockett and Hildy (2003, 370). ...

'', 1868), Dobrotvorsky ('' The Poor Bride'', 1853), Schastlivtsev ('' The Forest'', 1871), Margaritov (''The Belated Love'', 1873), Groznov (''Truth Is Good, But Happiness' Better'', 1876). In the late 1860s Sumsky retired to start teaching drama at the

Moscow Conservatory The Moscow Conservatory, also officially Tchaikovsky Moscow State Conservatory () is a higher musical educational institution located in Moscow, Russia. It grants undergraduate and graduate degrees in musical performance and musical research. Th ...

where in 1869 he produced the opera ''

A Life for the Tsar ''A Life for the Tsar'' ( ) is a "patriotic-heroic tragic" opera in four acts with an epilogue by Mikhail Glinka. During the Soviet era the opera was known under the name '' Ivan Susanin'' ( ), due to the anti-monarchist censorship. The original ...

'', by

Mikhail Glinka Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka ( rus, links=no, Михаил Иванович Глинка, Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka, mʲɪxɐˈil ɨˈvanəvʲɪdʑ ˈɡlʲinkə, Ru-Mikhail-Ivanovich-Glinka.ogg; ) was the first Russian composer to gain wide recognit ...

References

External links

Sergey Shumsky's page
at the Maly Theatre site {{DEFAULTSORT:Shumsky, Sergey Male actors from the Russian Empire Male actors from Moscow 1820 births 1893 deaths Academic staff of Moscow Conservatory