Simonov N.K., (1901-1973), actor

Categories / Art/Cinema
Categories / Art/Music, Theatre/Personalia
SIMONOV Nikolay Konstantinovich (1901-1973, Leningrad), actor, People's Artist of the USSR (1950), Hero of Socialist Labor (1971). Studied at the Industrial School of Art in Samara (1918-20). Lived in Petrograd (Leningrad) from 1921. Studied at the Faculty of Painting at the Academy of Arts (1921-22) and at the Dramatics Institute; upon graduating, worked as an actor at the Leningrad Academic Drama Theatre (Pushkin Academic Drama Theatre) in 1924-31, and again from 1934. Young Simonov's best-known parts were roles created by his contemporaries, including Pavel in Virineya by L.N. Seyfullina and V.P. Pravdukhin (1926), Vilenchuk in Calm by V.N. Bill-Belotserkovsky, Vershinin in Armoured Train 14-69 by V.V. Ivanov (1927), and Berest in Platon Krechet by A.E. Korneichuk (1935). Simonov's works from this period concentrated on the "typical person," and were dominated by high spirits, romantic elation, and his explosive spirit. The heroic and romantic elements in Simonov's acting grew, and he pulled out a common-human nature from the characters of Count de Risoor (Flanders by V. Sardou, 1940), General Muravyev (Victors by B.F. Chirskov, 1946), and Satin (M. Gorky's The Lower Depths, 1956). Dramatic tension increased to a tragic scale in his portrayal of Protasov (The Living Corpse by L.N. Tolstoy, 1950), Salieri (Little Tragedies by Alexander Pushkin, 1962), and Matthias Clausen (Before Sunset by G. Hauptmann, 1963). Simonov's acting was based on a contained intensity, profundity of emotions, and the violence of his characters' passion, all determining the core of his characters, and expressing their inner struggle, spiritual failure, and dramatic insight. From the classical repertoire, Simonov's most important roles include Pushkin's Boris Godunov (1934 and 1949), Lavretsky in Home of the Gentry by I.S. Turgenev (1941), and Astrov in Uncle Vanya by A.P. Chekhov (1946). The same qualities were typical of Simonov's film work, which he started in 1924, going on to play over 30 roles, including Zhikharev in Chapaev (1934), Peter the Great in Peter I (1937-39), Protasov in The Living Corpse (1952), Cardinal Montanelli in The Gadfly (1955), Flyagin in The Charming Traveller (1961), Professor Salvator in The Amphibian Man (1962), and Berlach in The Last Case of Commissar Berlach (1972). He was awarded the Stalin Prize (1941, 1947 and 1950) and the Stanislavsky State Prize of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (1966). In 1946-73, Simonov lived at 11 Furmanova Street (today Gagarinskaya Street, memorial plaque installed). Buried at Literatorskie Mostky. In 1977, the street between Prosveshchenia Avenue and Suzdalsky Avenue was named after Simonov.

References: Берковский Н. Я. Русский трагик: (О Н. К. Симонове) // Берковский Н. Я. Литература и театр: Ст. разных лет. М., 1969. С. 589-619; Цимбал С. Л. Николай Симонов. Л., 1973; Любомудров М. Н. Николай Симонов в Петрограде - Ленинграде. Л., 1988.

A. A. Kirillov. Bill-Belotserkovsky Vladimir Naumovich
Chekhov Anton Pavlovich
Chirskov Boris Fedorovich
Gorky Maxim (Alexey Maximovich Peshkov)
Hauptmann Gerhard
Ivanov Vsevolod Vyacheslavovich
Korneychuk Alexander Evdokimovich
Pravdukhin V.P.
Pushkin Alexander Sergeevich
Sardou Victorien
Seyfullina Lidia Nikolaevna
Simonov Nikolay Konstantinovich
Stalin (real name Dzhugashvili) Iosif Vissarionovich
Stanislavsky Konstantin Sergeevich
Tolstoy Lev Nikolaevich, Count
Turgenev Ivan Sergeevich
Gagarinskaya St./Saint Petersburg, city, house 11
Prosveshcheniya Ave/Saint Petersburg, city
Simonova St./Saint Petersburg, city
Suzdalsky Ave/Saint Petersburg, city
Берковский Н. Я. Русский трагик: (О Н. К. Симонове) // Берковский Н. Я. Литература и театр: Ст. разных лет. М., 1969
Цимбал С. Л. Николай Симонов. Л., 1973
Любомудров М.Н. Николай Симонов в Петрограде - Ленинграде. Л., 1988 Academy of Arts
Academy of Arts
Alexandrinsky Theatre
Literatorskie (Literary) Mostki, the museum-necropolis