№ 340/окр. Series "Year of the theater". 125 years since the birth of Boris Shchukin (1894-1939), actor, teacher

Boris Shchukin (1894-1939) — actor, teacher, People’s Artist of the USSR.

He was born in Kashira, Tula province in the family of an employee. In 1920 he enrolled at the drama Studio under the direction of Eugene Vakhtangov theatre he staged. At the end of the Studio he was admitted to the troupe of the Vakhtangov Theater. Great influence on the work of the actor had the aesthetics of his teacher Vakhtangov with its bright theatricality, irony, proximity to the people's buffoonery, grotesque.

Shchukin was one of the largest representatives of the Soviet realistic school, brilliantly combining in his art Comedy and drama. He was one of the first Soviet actors who embodied the image of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin on stage and in the cinema and laid the tradition of performing this role. He also acted as a Director, took part in the production of performances: "Temp" N. A. Pogodina, "Human Comedy" by O. de Balzac, etc. Led pedagogical work at the school at the theater.

His name was given to the theater school at the Vakhtangov theater (now Theatre Institute named after Boris Shchukin).

The original stamp depicts theatrical symbols: a curtain, masks and a lyre; the main image depicts a portrait of Boris Shchukin and a scene from the play in which the actor played the role of Vladimir Lenin.