Sergei Apollinarievich Gerasimov
Sergei Appolinarievich Gerasimov (
Сергей Апполинариевич "ерасимов; in Kundravy village,
Chelyabinsk Oblast -
26 November 1985,
Moscow) was one of the most reputable film directors and screenwriters in the
Soviet Union. The oldest film school in the world, the
VGIK, bears his name.
 |
A poster for Gerasimov's movie about the Young Guard. |
Gerasimov started his film acting career in
1924. At first he appeared in
Grigori Kozintsev's silent films, such as
The Overcoat and
New Babylon. Later, he was commissioned to produce screen versions of the literary classics of
Socialist realism. His epic screenings of
Alexander Fadeyev's
The Young Guard (1946) and
Mikhail Sholokhov's
And Quiet Flows the Don (1957-58) were extolled by the authorities as exemplary. During several decades of their teaching in the
VGIK Gerasimov and his wife
Tamara Makarova prepared many generations of
Russian actors. In his last movie Gerasimov played
Leo Tolstoy, while Makarova was cast as Tolstoy's wife. Gerasimov is buried in the
Novodevichy Cemetery of
Moscow.
Honours
*
People's Artist of the USSR, 1948
*
USSR State Prize, 1941,1949,1951,1971
*
Hero of Socialist Labour, 1974
*
Lenin Prize, 1984
*
