Leonid Makarev

Born Aug. 12 (24), 1892, in Perm’. Soviet Russian actor, director, dramatist, and teacher. People’s Artist of the RSFSR (1956). Member of the CPSU (1940).

Makar’ev graduated from the history and philology department of St. Petersburg University (1917) and the Higher Pedagogical Courses (1919). He founded the first labor schools and taught and lectured. In 1919 he entered the studio of P. P. Gaideburov’s Touring Theater. Makar’ev was one of the founders and active figures in the Soviet children’s theater. He took part in the founding of the Leningrad Young People’s Theater, which opened in 1922. He has written several plays, including Timoshka’s Mine (1925; Leningrad Young People’s Theater), which was one of the first plays about contemporary life for children.

Makar’ev’s roles as an actor include Eino in Kron’s Rifle No. 492116, Professor Vedel’ in Brushtein’s To Be Continued, Franz Moor in Schiller’s The Robbers, and Tartuffe in Molière’s Tartuffe. He staged the plays Geraskina’s The School-leaving Certificate (1949), Rozov’s Her Friends (1950), and Del”s In the Garden of the Lycée (1957). In 1932, Makar’ev became a director and instructor at the studio of the Leningrad Young People’s Theater. In 1936 he became an instructor—and, in 1939, director and a professor—of the subdepartment of actors’ craftsmanship of the Leningrad Institute of Theater, Music, and Cinematography. Makar’ev has written many articles and a number of books, including From Morning Till Evening in the Theater (1930) and The History of the Creative Activity of the Leningrad Young People’s Theater (1933). He has been awarded three orders and a number of medals.