Monakhov N.F., (1875-1936), actor

Categories / Art/Music, Theatre/Personalia
Categories / Tsarskoe Selo and town of Pushkin. The digital chronological reference book/Pushkin personality
MONAKHOV Nikolay Fedorovich (1875, St. Petersburg - 1936, Leningrad), actor, People's Artist of Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (1932). Received some education at a school in St. Petersburg, and in the City School of Novgorod, but graduated from neither. In 1896-1904, he performed as an accordionist, singer, balalaika-player, and couplets singer on stages of cafes theatres throughout St. Petersburg, Moscow, and in the provinces. From 1904, he played mostly simpleton parts; then he got a part as a jeune premier in an operetta. He scored an instant and huge success and became an operetta leading actor. He performed on operetta stages in St. Petersburg (Buff, Passage, Panaev Theatre), Moscow, and the provinces. In 1913-14 he was an actor at K.A. Mardzhanov's Free Theatre in Moscow, and in 1915-27 as a guest actor in various operettas. In 1918-19, Monakhov took part in the establishment of the Bolshoy Drama Theatre. In 1919-36 he was one of the BDT principals, becoming the BDT's director in 1921-23. His first performance at the BDT (Philip II in Don Carlos by F. Schiller, 1919) confirmed Monakhov's reputation as an outstanding tragic actor who masterfully painted the images of his characters with large lavish strokes while accurately representing psychological undertones. On the drama stage, Monakhov demonstrated his musical talent and virtuoso synthesising technique. Monakhov's best-performed dramatic roles at the BDT included Iago in Othello and Shylock in The Merchant of Venice by W. Shakespeare (1920); Franz Moors in F. Schiller's The Robbers (1919), Tsarevitch Alexey in the play of the same name by D.S. Merezhkovsky (1920); and Captain Christopherson in Anna Christie E. O'Neill (1924). Monakhov's talent was also exhibited in the comic characters of Mascarille in The Pretentious Young Ladies and Sganarelle in The Doctor in Spite of Himself by J.-B. Moliere, Truffaldino in The Servant of Two Masters by C. Goldoni (1921). His most recognized achievements are considered the creation of characters from modern plays: Rasputin in The Plot of the Empress by A.N. Tolstoy and P.E. Shchegolev and Ruzaev in The Rebellion by B. A. Lavreneva (1925), Granatov in A Man with a Brief Case by A.M. Faiko (1928), Egor Bulychov in Egor Bulychov and others by M. Gorky (1932). In 1928 he began acting in films. He wrote the memoirs Story of Life (Leningrad, 1936 and Leningrad; Moscow, 1961) and was buried at Necropolis of Artists.

References: Николай Федорович Монахов: К 30-летию артистич. деятельности, 1896-1926. Л., 1926. (Дела и дни Большого драм. театра; № 2); Кугель А. Р. Театральные портреты. Л., 1967. С. 265-283.

A. A. Kirillov. Faiko Alexsey Mikhailovich
Goldoni Carlo
Gorky Maxim (Alexey Maximovich Peshkov)
Lavrenev Boris Andreevich
Mardzhanov Kote Alexandrovich
Merezhkovsky Dmitry Sergeevich
Moliere Jean-Baptiste
Monakhov Nikolay Fedorovich
O'Neill Eugene
Schiller Friedrich
Shakespeare William
Tolstoy Alexey Nikolaevich
Николай Федорович Монахов: К 30-летию артистич. деятельности, 1896-1926. Л., 1926
Кугель А. Р. Н. Ф. Монахов // Кугель А. Р. Театральные портреты. Л., 1967 Passage, department store
Tovstonogov Bolshoy Drama Theatre
Necropolis of Artists