Sosnitsky I.I., (1794-1871), actor

Categories / Art/Music, Theatre/Personalia
SOSNITSKY Ivan Ivanovich (1794 - 1871, St. Petersburg), actor. Graduated from the Petersburg Drama School (1811). Studied drama under I.A. Dmitrevsky, and ballet under Ch. Didelot. For a year he performed at the school, and then acted with the Prince A.A. Shakhovsky's Young Troupe at the New (Kushelevsky) Theatre. Beginning in 1812, he performed as part of the Russian Court Drama Troupe, playing lovers and dandies in comedies and vaudevilles, including Arist in The Newly-Weds by A.S. Griboedov (1815), Lensky in Feigned Adultery by Griboedov and A.A. Zhandr (1818), Alnaskarov in Air-Castles by N.I. Khmelnitsky (1818), Count Olgin in The Lesson to Coquette, or Waters of Lipetsk (1815) by Shakhovsky, and others. Sosnitsky was acclaimed as an outstanding comic actor of the Russian Classical Theatre, an excellent dancer, and a virtuoso of intonation and transformation. He used the so-called portrayal method, imitating many well-known historical figures and contemporaries in his roles. In the 1830s, the satirical nature of his acting strengthened, and the scope of his abilities extended considerably, and he was able to play roles such as Repetilov in Griboedov's Woe from Wit (1830), The Governor in The Inspector General (1836), Kochkarev in The Marriage (1842) by N.V. Gogol, and others. A celebrated actor at the Alexandrinsky Theatre, he became the main director of the Petersburg Drama Troupe in 1837. Among his best-known roles are Figaro in The Marriage of Figaro by Beaumarchais, Tartuffe in Tartuffe, and Sganarelle in The School for Husbands by J.B. Moliere. In his late period, he sometimes played old men, but in general performed rarely, and was involved more in teaching. Originally buried at Novodevichye Cemetery, he was moved with his monument to a common grave with his wife, actress E.Y. Sosnitskaya, in 1936 to the Necropolis of Artists.

Reference: Бертенсон С. Л. Дед русской сцены: О жизни и деятельности Ивана Ивановича Сосницкого. Пг., 1916.

A. A. Kirillov. Beaumarchais Pierre Augustin
Didelot Charles Louis Frederic
Dmitrevsky (real name Narykov) Ivan Afanasievich
Gogol Nikolay Vasilievich
Griboedov Alexander Sergeevich
Khmelnitsky Nikolay Ivanovich
Moliere Jean-Baptiste
Shakhovskoy Alexander Alexandrovich
Sosnitskaya Elena Yakovlevna
Sosnitsky Ivan Ivanovich
Zhandr Andrey Andreevich
Бертенсон С. Л. Дед русской сцены: О жизни и деятельности Ивана Ивановича Сосницкого. Пг., 1916 Theatre College
Alexandrinsky Theatre
Novodevichye Cemetery
Novodevichye Cemetery
Necropolis of Artists