Yuri Lyubimov facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Yuri Lyubimov Юрий Любимов
Lyubimov in 2007
Born	Yuri Petrovich Lyubimov (1917-09-30)30 September 1917 Yaroslavl, Russian Republic
Died	5 October 2014(2014-10-05) (aged 97) Moscow, Russia
Occupation	Stage actor, theatre director
Years active	1935–2014
Spouse(s)	Katalin Lyubimova (1978-2014)
Awards	Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" (Russia,2nd class) Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" (3rt class) Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" (4th class) Order of the Rising Sun (Japan,4th Class) Order of the Star of Italian Solidarity (Grand Officer) Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (France,Commandeur) Order of the Polar Star (Sweden,Commandeur) Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland (Knight's Cross) Order of the Lion of Finland (Commander) Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (Officer) Order of the Red Banner of Labour (USSR) State Prize of the Russian Federation Stalin Prize (USSR)  EU: Europe Theatre Prize - Special Prize, 2011

Yuri Petrovich Lyubimov (Russian: Ю́рий Петро́вич Люби́мов; September 30, 1917 – October 5, 2014) was a famous Soviet and Russian stage actor and director. He founded the well-known Taganka Theatre in 1964. Lyubimov was one of the most important people in Russian theatre for many years.

Life and Career of a Theatre Legend

Yuri Lyubimov was born in Yaroslavl, Russia, in 1917. His family moved to Moscow in 1922. He studied at the Institute for Energy in Moscow.

Early Acting Days

Lyubimov started his acting career in the 1930s. He was part of Mikhail Chekhov's Second Moscow Art Theater from 1934 to 1936. During this time, he also met Vsevolod Meyerhold, a famous director known for his new ideas. Lyubimov also worked in the Song and Dance Ensemble of the NKVD. There, he became friends with important artists like Dmitri Shostakovich.

Becoming a Director

After serving in the Red Army during World War II, Lyubimov joined the Vakhtangov Theatre. In 1953, he received the USSR State Prize for his acting. Lyubimov began teaching in 1963. The next year, he created the Taganka Theatre.

Founding the Taganka Theatre

Lyubimov's amazing production of Bertold Brecht's play The Good Person of Setzuan helped him become the artistic director of the Taganka Theatre. He was inspired by great theatre minds like Meyerhold and Brecht. Lyubimov preferred to use poetry and stories for his plays instead of typical Soviet dramas. He also took classic stories and presented them in new, thought-provoking ways.

Under Lyubimov's leadership, the Taganka Theatre became the most popular theatre in Moscow. Famous actors like Vladimir Vysotsky and Alla Demidova worked there. In 1971, his production of Shakespeare's Hamlet was a huge success. He even won the BITEF First Prize for Hamlet in 1976.

Bringing Stories to Life

Lyubimov was known for creating a new style of theatre called "poetic theatre." In this style, everything in the play revolves around one main idea or metaphor. He also created new ways to tell stories, often including historical details and facts about people's lives.

His plays, like Antiworlds and Listen!, were full of poetic energy. He even used poems by World War II poets in his performance Fallen and Living. In 1977, he brought Mikhail Bulgakov's famous novel The Master and Margarita to the Russian stage.

Challenges and Return

After Vladimir Vysotsky died in 1980, the government banned many of Lyubimov's plays. In 1984, he lost his Soviet citizenship. This meant he could not live in the Soviet Union. He then worked as a director in other countries.

He returned to the Taganka Theatre in 1989 when his Russian citizenship was given back. His play Eugene Onegin opened at the Taganka on his 85th birthday and was highly praised.

Working Around the World

While he was living outside Russia, Lyubimov directed many plays and operas. In the United States, he directed Crime and Punishment and Lulu. In London, his 1983 production of Crime and Punishment won him the Evening Standard Award for Best Director. He also directed St Matthew Passion in Italy in 1985.

Later Years and Legacy

In June 2011, Lyubimov decided to leave the Taganka Theatre. This happened after some actors refused to rehearse unless they were paid first. He paid them himself and said he was tired of the problems. He officially retired from the theatre the following week.

In June 2013, Lyubimov directed Alexander Borodin's opera Prince Igor at the Bolshoi Theatre. Audiences and critics really liked it. He made the opera shorter and more exciting.

Lyubimov directed over 100 plays and operas during his long career. He said that people often called his theatre "political," but he believed he was focused on making theatre more artistic and creative. He wanted to explore new ways to use space and style on stage.

As an actor, he appeared in 37 plays and 17 films. Some of his films are still considered classics today. Vladimir Vysotsky, the famous singer and actor, even dedicated some of his songs to Yuri Lyubimov.

Yuri Lyubimov, a director who had a huge impact on Russian theatre for 50 years, passed away in Moscow in 2014 at the age of 97.

Awards and Recognition

Yuri Lyubimov received many awards for his work in theatre.

• Medal "For the Defence of Leningrad" (1943)
• Medal "For the Defence of Moscow"
• Medal "For the Victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945"
• State Prize of the USSR, 2nd class (1952)
• BITEF First Prize for Hamlet (1976)
• First Prize of “Theatrical Meetings in Warsaw” II International Festival, Poland (1980)
• London Evening Standard Award for “Crime and Punishment” (1983)
• People's Artist of Russia (1991)
• Spectator’s Sympathy Prize of the International Theatrical Festival in Athens (1995)
• Order of Merit for the Fatherland, 3rd class, Russia (1997)
• State Prize of the Russian Federation (1997)
• Honorary Medal of the President of the Hungarian Republic (1997)
• Grand Prix of the International Festival in Saloniki (1999)
• “Golden Mask” in the nomination “For Honour and Dignity”, Moscow (2000)
• Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters (France, 2002)
• Grand Officer of the Order of the Star of Italian Solidarity (2003)
• Knight of the Order of the Polar Star (Sweden, 2004)
• Silver Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland (2004)
• Order of the Rising Sun, 4th Class, Gold Rays with Rosette, (Japan, 2007)
• Order of Merit for the Fatherland, 2nd class (Russia, 2007)
• Honorary Member of Russian Academy of Arts
• Jubilee Medal "50 Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945"
• Zhukov Medal
• Honoured Artist of the RSFSR
• Europe Theatre Prize - Special Prize by the Jury (2011)

Selected Productions by Lyubimov

Selected Films Featuring Lyubimov

• Days and Nights (1944) as Misha Maslennikov
• Duel (1944) as a KGB officer (uncredited)
• A Noisy Household (1946) as Jacques Larochelle
• Robinzon Kruzo (1946) as Friday
• Blue Roads (1947) as Vetkyn
• Boy from the Outskirts (1947) as Kostya Smirnov
• Three Encounters (1948) as Rudnikov
• Michurin (1948) as a translator
• Cossacks of the Kuban (1949) as Andrei
• Farewell, America (1951) as correspondent Blake
• The Composer Glinka (1952) as Alexander Dargomyzhsky
• Belinsky (1953) as a doctor Alexei Frolov
• Behind the Footlights (1956) as Graf Zefirov
• Kain XVIII (1963) as the First Minister

See also

In Spanish: Yuri Liubímov para niños