Vasily Shukshin, biography, news, photos

Vasily Shukshin is a man who has been repeatedly called the most "popular" director of the Soviet Union. His films told about the hardships and joys of a simple rural life, and therefore, the stories he told were always very close to ordinary viewers. To some extent, this is precisely why Vasily Shukshin and his work have become a true milestone of their time - a kind of mark in the history of the USSR, which has forever remained imprinted in the paintings of the great author.

In this biographical article, we will try to trace the main stages of Vasily Shukshin's work, as well as reveal some of the secrets of his life and fate.

Early years, childhood and the family of Vasily Shukshin

The future famous director was born into a simple peasant family. His father, Makar Shukshin, was shot during collectivization. Mom, Maria Sergeevna, married a second time and raised children from her first marriage together with her new husband.

All the relatives of our today's hero were ordinary peasants, and therefore, in early childhood, Vasily Shukshin did not even count on the fact that one day he could become a famous director. After graduating from the “seven-year plan” in the village of Srostki, he moved to the city of Biysk, where he soon entered an automobile technical school. In this place, the future director studied for two and a half years, but never received a diploma. In 1945, he returned to his native village, where he soon got a job on a collective farm. In this place, he worked for another year and a half, but in the end he decided to change his occupation again.

In 1947, he began working as a locksmith. In this capacity, he traveled to many cities and various enterprises. He visited Kaluga, Vladimir, as well as the village of Butovo, from which he was soon drafted into the army.

In 1949 he joined the Navy. In this capacity, he served in the city of Baltiysk, and then on the Black Sea. It is noteworthy that it was in his army years that Vasily Shukshin first became interested in creativity. In his free time, he wrote various poems and stories, which he later read to his colleagues.

Returning to his native village in 1953, our today's hero graduated from high school as an external student and began working as a teacher of the Russian language, and then as the director of the Srostka school for working youth. Having worked in this capacity for only a few months, Vasily Shukshin thought about moving to Moscow. Having collected all his savings, he bought a train ticket and soon arrived in the capital of the USSR. In this city, our today's hero entered the directing department of VGIK, and at the same time began to send his stories to various literary publications. Thus, in 1958, the writer's debut of our today's hero took place - his first story "Two on a Cart" was published in the magazine "Change".

Life in art: Vasily Shukshin in literature and cinema

Subsequently, Vasily Shukshin often wrote various novels and stories. His bibliography lists only two full-fledged novels, but a huge number of novels and short stories more than compensate for this circumstance. In parallel with literary work, Vasily Shukshin also often worked in the cinema. In 1956, he played an episodic role in the film Quiet Flows the Flows Flows the Don, and since then he has been filming and filming quite often.

In 1958, while still a student at VGIK, Vasily Shukshin played his first major role in the film Two Fedors. This was followed by other acting work. Everything went very well, but at some point our today's hero realized that he wanted to personally create cinematic works, prescribing the actions of the characters from beginning to end.

The first such work of Vasily Makarovich was the tape "From Lebyazhye they report." Shukshin took part in the work on the creation of this picture not only as an actor, but also as a director and screenwriter. The author's debut turned out to be very successful and soon our today's hero was thinking about new cinematic projects.

In total, during his career, Vasily Makarovich made six films, in which he most often took part as a screenwriter. In parallel with this, our today's hero also worked fruitfully as an actor. In his filmography, there are about thirty roles, each of which has become bright and interesting in its own way.

For his outstanding contribution to art, the actor and director was awarded many prestigious awards, including the State Prize of the RSFSR, the Lenin Prize, as well as the title of Honored Artist of the RSFSR.

Shukshin gave all of himself to creativity, and therefore it is not at all surprising that even his death coincided with the filming of the next film. In the mid-seventies, he suffered from an aggravated stomach ulcer, however, despite this, he continued to work on new projects. Serious attacks were observed during the filming of the film "Kalina Krasnaya". Some time later, while working on another tape - "They fought for the Motherland" - one of these attacks became fatal for Shukshin.

The actor lying on the deck was found by his close friend Georgy Burkov. At that moment, Vasily Makarovich's heart was no longer beating.

Personal life and legacy of Vasily Shukshin

After the death of our today's hero, many of his stories and novels were filmed by other directors. A number of streets in the cities of the RSFSR were named after him, and several documentaries were shot about his life and fate.

In addition, the legacy of the great Soviet director is his children. From his marriage to Victoria Safronova, Vasily Makarovich has a daughter, Katerina. In addition, Shukshin also has two children from a love union with actress Lydia Fedoseeva. Both daughters - Maria and Olga - are currently famous Russian actresses.