Ivan Marianenko

(pseudonym of I. A. Petlishchenko). Born May 28 (June 9), 1878, in the village of Mar’ianovka, in present-day Kirovograd Oblast; died Nov. 4, 1962, in Kharkov. Soviet Ukrainian actor. People’s Artist of the USSR (1944).

Mar’ianenko made his stage debut in 1895 as a member of the troupe directed by the actor and playwright M. L. Kropivnitskii. From 1899, Mar’ianenko worked with the troupes of O. Z. Suslov and N. K. Sadovskii, in the Kiev State Theater of Drama, and in other theaters. From 1923 to 1958 (except for 1925) he acted at the T. G. Shevchenko Kharkov Theater of Drama (formerly the Berezil’ Theater). His best roles included Gonta in The Haidamaks after Shevchenko, Omel’ko in Karpenko-Kary’s Martyn Borulia, Prokhor in Gorky’s Vassa Zheleznova, the title roles in Korneichuk’s Bogdan KhmeVnitskii and in Kocherga’s laroslav Mudryi (State Prize of the USSR, 1947), Pushkar’ in Dmiterko’s Together Forever, and Zemlianika in Gogol’s The Inspector-General. Mar’ianenko continued the realistic artistic tradition of M. L. Kropivnitskii, N. K. Sadovskii, and M. K. Zan’kovetskaia. From 1917 he was a teacher, becoming a professor in 1946. Mar’ianenko was awarded the Order of Lenin, three other orders, and various medals.